The First Ottoman Suites

The facility canceled my reservation on the day of arrival. When I called they mentioned that they couldn't bill my card. They said they couldn't do anything to rebook, and they were not polite. Apparently they gave the room to another customer who paid more and didn't honor the booking. I had to rebook another hotel last minute.

Just like the other reviews above I experienced the horrible cancellation situation with this owner in June of this year. He owns a couple of properties with similar names right next to each other in that Fatih-Kumkapi area. I had booked two rooms thru *********** at the First Ottoman Dream for my family of six. As the reservation time got closer and while I was en route on the flight to Istanbul from USA it appeared that my CC was not going thru for this reservation. I called my bank and they told me that there had been no attempt to charge and that the card was active. I updated the CC on the *********** reservation at least twice during my layover. I even contacted *********** and the property. The next messages I wouldn't see until I landed in Istanbul with my family and kids. Apparently the CC still had not gone thru. I messaged the property that the same CC is working perfectly for my other purchases, I even tried to use another CC but that failed too. I informed the property that I am on the way in the Havalines taxi from the airport and that I will pay at the property. I did not get any response. As I got to the main Kumkapi fountain square where the hotel and all the restaurants are the taxi driver called the property for its exact location while we're all packed up in his taxi van with our luggage, the owner of the property informed us that the reservation had been cancelled due to non payment and he had given our rooms to someone else. He also did not have anything else for us and we should go elsewhere. As I questioned him he got very rude and started yelling on the phone. Imagine, I'm in a new country with my children and luggage, stranded on the main square, nowhere to go. This is a very congested area. I just froze and could not process what had just happened and what to do next. I do not wish such helplessness on anyone. The Havalines driver was a very nice gentleman. He started walking around asking at the other hotels in the neighborhood and we were lucky to find two rooms for four nights at the Golden Sand Hotel after pleading with them. I tried to leave a review on *********** but since my reservation was cancelled, the site won't let me leave a review. I have informed *********** about this fraud property. It seems that this guy has made this a practice. For putting me and my family thru hell I literally curse this owner. For a few bucks he's putting tired and helpless travelers in a very hard and difficult situation in a new country. I loved Turkey and we'll go back. We also went to Cappadocia. But this was the one blemish on the overall great experience.

This was the most horrible experience I’ve ever had. First of all, the rooms are completely different to what you see here on pictures. The furniture is old and outdated. The shower was broken, it is super dirty with fungus all over the shower cabin. We had a room on ground floor with windows facing busy streets and people looking in the windows, which means you can never open curtains and there are just two small window parts which you can open so at night there is no fresh air coming in. I guess the building has no acoustic isolation so it feels like you are sleeping in a container in the middle of grand bazaar. The breakfast is really poor and not tasty at all. It is delivered in rooms at the time you ask. We asked for 9:15, but it was always delivered at 10 am, even after asking multiple times to come earlier. There is a terrace for everybody, but you have to fly over the stairs to get there, because the last risers face a wall (see photos), so it’s not safe for elderly people or kids, even we fell every time. The location is far not the best to stay in Istanbul. The hotel is located on a street full of restaurants which play music till at least 3 am. If you go 50 m further you arrive at very dirty and dark streets. Moreover, if you want to use public transport it’s at least 17 min walking uphill. The room has a kitchen facility, but no oil, salt, any washing liquids, also no shower gels or shampoos in the bathroom, literally nothing. When we had one more night to stay, the host came at 1 am and said we had to leave because he had another booking for our room. He said there are no free rooms in his hotel, but I checked on *********** and all of the rooms were actually free. I guess he makes some overbooking and kicks people out last minute or on last nights. So my advise, stay away from this place. Locals told me that an area around Taksim or Besiktas is much better, cleaner and safer.

what I was afraid of happened. Booked this premises 6 months ago because of its down town location and already noticed in some reviews that they cancelled last minute due to credit card issues. So had a local friend calling them to check out if that would be a risk. Hotel staff told her then not to worry as this mostly happend only with Russian tourists. Then one week before going there I received the first credit card decline message so updated again my credit card details (while it worked perfectly on another international trip that week…). Also decided to call the hotel ensuring everything was ok but had to call them multiple time before getting a grumpy guy on the phone whom told me immediately call back later that day. When doing so I could not get hold of anybody and then it happened what I already afraid for…they cancelled the booking 2 days before and could not get hold of anybody anymore…If there would not be any other reviews I would think this hotel was just a scam. Even my local friend whom called said the person was rude (in local language) and was suspicious about this hotel. So had to book a last minute hotel (large hotel chain this time) for a family of 5. Terrible experience and would not recommend this experience to anybody.

Don't book these apartments l. The owner is not a honest person. I arrived to the location and was told that my reservation is cancelled, and that all the rooms are booked. I guess you don't want to be in such situation. I booked 7 nights almost 3 months before the trip and got a low price. However, 2 days before the trip *********** sent me a message that the credit card can't be charged ( apparently the prices per room went 50%higher). I checked with the bank, validated that there are no limitations and enough money there. Contacted both the owner and the site, updated the card. Again, the owner notified me that the card is not working. I asked to send me an error message, so I can request the bank to investigate. The owner never sent it to me or to the ***********. I provided another card, still the same response from the owner. To check the card I booked another hotel for the same trip, and the card worked without any issue. I suggested the owner and *********** to sort it out the next day upon arrival. The owner didn't respond, but *********** called me and praised me for being proactive, and for agreeing to sort the payment issue upon the arrival. Guess what - after I complained, *********** advised me that they can't do anything...

Avoid at all costs! The place doesn’t look like advertised on the pictures. The bathroom was not clean. Breakfast was not good at all, the food was neither fresh, nor tasty. On the last night the owner came at 1am and said that we don’t have a reservation for the last night and that someone else will be moving into our room, and that we need to find something else for our own expenses… The location also is not that great, public transportation is very far away compared to other neighbourhoods.