Sembol Hotel

Sembol is very comfortable and the staff are friendly and knowledgable. The room rate was very good value and the location is just right - close to the main historical parts of Istanbul, and also close to the Tram. The Breakfast Room is great - with views of the Golden Horn from the top floor as you take your coffee. The only problem was noise - not from the area around the hotel, which was quiet, but from inside the hotel. There is a problem with the internal acoustics which means I could hear other guests closing doors, walking up and down the marble steps and even people having conversations on other floors.

The rooms are pretty small. Nice location, 5 min away from Grand bazar, 20 min away from Haga Sophia and the blue mosque. However, don't expect anything luxurious, which is fine if you only plan on using the hotel to spend the night. One thing, don't use their planning or tour services. They will charge a huge commission on everything they book for you (without telling you obviously). As an example, once, they told us that a shuttle costs 15 euros and when we checked directly with the shuttle company, it was only 10 Euros. They convinced us to take a private shuttle since there were 5 of us. Then, we realized that the shuttle they booked for us wasn't private, as another group of people was there. Did they get the entire trip cost from 2 groups who each thought the shuttle was private? I don't know.