Best Western Empire Palace

First I would like to thank Mehmet Can and Aladi for providing us with such a great experience. They were helpful and attentive to us the whole stay. My wife and really enjoyed the breakfast spread every morning simple but tasty. This hotel is centered smack dab where you need to be in Istanbul. A short walk to any major attraction. We will make it a point stay here again when we visit.

A very small lovely hotel, breakfast was very tasty and delicious. My reservation was upgraded for free for a suite room on the top floor. Late check out was also granted as a benefit. Nice view to the Bosphorus, and many cafés around the hotel. All the famous tourist attractions are very close. No more than 5 min to Hagia Sophia, for instance. Very friendly staff and reception desk.

We spent 5 nights here. Very centrally located hotel. Everything is just outside the entrance door: shops, restaurants, pharmacies, tour agencies, mini markets, cafeterias etc. The Topkapi palace, Aya Sofia, the Blue Mosque and Sultanahmet area are at 5 minutes walk from this hotel. We’re extremely satisfied to have opted for it, especially for it’s location. Breakfast can be improved: food items are often missing and aren’t being replenished, servers seem to be laying back and not caring much about getting tables cleaned and ready for the next guests. I once asked for boiled eggs to a staff as there were none inside the buffet bowl, bit they still didn’t provide any after 20 minutes. Then we left. Honey from cove was there for 3 days hanging empty, so it was just the cove without honey. At our last day a new one has been placed 😅 Receptionists are nice and helpful: Mr Irfan assisted us and recommended a good clinic for my husband’s hair transplantation - a big thanks to him! The gentleman working the other shift was also friendly and polite (I don’t remember the name though). Room is a little tiny, but has all the necessary and is cleaned well on a daily basis. 2 free small bottles of water were placed every day, the cleaning lady always polite and pleasant.

I have no idea where to start with this review but here we go. First of all we booked for 2 nights online and chose to pay upon arrival then a day before arriving we decided to book the remainder of the trip time at the same hotel so we don’t have to move our luggage to a different place. Anyway, we arrived at around 4 pm, and immediately were told by Mr. Irfan that we have to move you to a different hotel as “there’s a problem with your room” we were offered a hotel that was several kilometers away with terrible reviews so we denied. They told us your reservation wasn’t paid for anyway so it’s up to you! Anyways we slept the two nights at a nearby hotel and came back 2 nights later and were told that our room was ready. So we checked in and went to our room. We immediately noticed how outdated the room was, how the tv was a tiny little screen(maybe 26 inches or so) the bed was not comfortable at all. And most importantly the AC didn’t work! We were in May the weather outside was very pleasant but inside the building it was super warm. After insisting on them for two days they “fixed” it on day 3 but all it was doing is blowing warm air! For the whole duration of the stay we couldn’t sleep for 2 hours straight. Pros: - location - some staff members were friendly - clean Cons - outdated rooms/hotel - AC doesn’t work - tram noise and vibrations - terrible check in experience - crazy expensive airport transportation - extremely expensive rate/night - impossible to be 4 stars - no soundproofing, you could hear people at the hallway - no taxi access as it’s located in front of a tram track I suggest checking the hotels nearby first before booking at this terrible property