10 Suites Taksim - Istanbul

The overall experience of staying at 10 Suites was fantastic. This hotel is more like a B&B, small enough so that the hotel owners/staff know everyone who is staying there, and go out of their way to make you feel welcome and at home. Although I had friends arriving a few days later, the first few days I was alone. The staff offered me tea and cookies when I came in at the end of the day, and chatted with me about Istanbul, answering any questions and helping me to adjust to life in such a busy city. The rooms are large, clean, and newly renovated. The hotel is located in Taksim, convenient for the subway and walking to many neighborhoods, but Taksim's liveliness is also its one drawback: there is street noise. (almost no noise within the hotel). I cannot sleep through some noise, but I slept through this, perhaps because it is just everywhere. Breakfast at 10 Suites was great, it included Simmit (related to bagels) Halvah, and feta cheese, as well as more usual N.Amer/European breakfast food like cereal. Good restaurants nearby, including a little hole in the wall (literally) fish restaurant out the back door. Internet was great - worked on every floor. I have friends who paid more at other hotels for rooms that were not nearly as modern or as spacious.