Guest Hotel Reviews of Hotels - Resorts - review resource for guests and hotels.

[brooksidechicago]

My husband and I and 15 yr old daughter traveled to Turkey for the first time in July. We were excited beyond words to experience this country and its culture.

We picked the Marmara Istanbul because it was in the middle of everything, right at Taksim Square where you can walk to restaurants, cafes and there is a pedestrian only street. Someone said that the hotel was noisy, but during the day you are not sleeping anyway and what do you expect from being smack in the middle of town. This did not bother us. Later in our trip we went to a quiet beach resort but here we wanted to be in the middle of everyting and the hotel was so convenient for this.

We found the staff to be very helpful and kind, not lazy at all like another reviewer said. I can’t imagine anyone saying the staff was more than accommodating.

The Marmara Hotel is an older hotel, not new and crisp like osme might like, but this is what we travel for. We want to experience history and culture. You can stay in a swank crisp new hotel anywhere in any city. We wanted authencity and got it. Yes, sometimes you sacrifice the newest and latest but we fell in love with Istanbul and the Marmara Hotel instantly. Would not have wanted to stay anywhere else. It was an experience there not just a place to lay our heads.

The Spa was amazing. Ok, spas are my weakness. The staff at The Marmara spa coddled you. This was my daughter’s first full fledged experience in a spa and she is hooked! We loved the outdoor rooftop lap pool followed by a massage and Turkish bath. The whole place was really clean and I absolutely am a freak for clean spas and hotel rooms.

We had suite and it was plenty big for us and our daughter. The views from the room were amazing, of the Sea of Marmara. We hated to leave the hotel and Istanbul.