Hotel Review: Ilkay Hotel Istanbul***

During the time I was studying Tourism Management, I was lucky enough that there were possibilities for a field trip to a certain destination. I did several field trips for my study, whereby Istanbul is one of them. We spend a week in this beautiful city. During this week, we stayed at the Ilkay Hotel, an accommodation chosen by my school. In this review I will tell you all about the hotel and the experiences I had. Note that this is not a sponsored post and these opinions are written by my own experience and true honesty!

Location
The location of hotel Ilkay is perfect! It’s in the center of Old Town, in walking distance of many of the historical sights, like Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace and Gulhane Park. Besides, the hotel is also not that far from the Bosporus and very easy to reach by foot. When you walking out of the hotel, there are many shops, bars and restaurants in the direct surroundings.

Facilities
Hotel Ilkay doesn’t feature many facilities, because it’s not that big of a complex. The hotel contains 40 rooms, a reception, a restaurant, a separated room for breakfast and that’s it actually. It’s up to you if that’s enough for you or if you need more.

Hotel room
Me and two friends were staying together in one hotel room. We had three separated beds and a separated bathroom as well. Everything was very clean and nice when we first came into the room. I have to say that I had a nice stay and that I have slept well. However, the rooms are very simple and not that luxurious. The rooms are also not that large, but I liked the fact that we had a bathroom for ourselves. It didn’t matter to us that the room was simple and small. You should definitely keep it in mind though when you’re planning a stay at this hotel.

Restaurant
Hotel Ilkay offers diner possibilities in the restaurant next to the reception and the breakfast room. During my time in Istanbul, I haven’t try out the dishes at the restaurant, we always ate somewhere else actually. Though it looked like a nice place to eat something. Breakfast was included during our stay, so we did enjoy every morning a nice breakfast. The place to eat breakfast is in the same room where you can find the reception. Each morning the staff are doing their best to set up a nice breakfast. Although it’s not very extended, it tasted very well.

Price
The Ilkay Hotel is really a budget accommodation. If you would like to stay in a place close to all the sights of Istanbul, but don’t have that much money, than this hotel offers a payable price. I think the price-quality rate is great; since you get a nice room, good but not that luxurious, for a nice price. You can book this hotel via Booking.com.

Overview
The overview is a summary of the points written above. I’ll give a point from one star until five stars where one star is very bad and five stars is very good.

Location: *****
Room size: ***
Room attributes: **
Bathroom: ****
Breakfast: ****
Facilities: **
Price – quality: *****

Overall, I can definitely recommend you this hotel during your citytrip when you are looking for a budget accommodation at a very good location. Although the rooms and the hotel itself is pretty small and simple (so that’s why those points got two stars), I didn’t need more. If you don’t mind staying in a simple, but clean accommodation with friendly staff, you should really think about the Ilkay Hotel!

Address: Hudavendigar Street No. 28-30 34210 – Eminonu, Istanbul

NOTE: This post is not sponsored and contains my personal and honest experience!
All photos are from Booking.com.

Author: Tamara