Ready to recall:
**Beautiful hotel, nice room and breakfast - but the draught remained very unpleasant**
At Le Méridien Istanbul Etiler, we had expectations for a high-level hotel — and frankly, in terms of room and breakfast, they were met. The room liked it: comfortable, pleasant, great view of the Bosphorus, it was convenient to relax after busy days in Istanbul. Breakfast also left a good impression - delicious, varied, worthy of a hotel of this class.
But unfortunately, two things have badly damaged the overall impression.
The first is a completely unexpected lack of attention to an important date. The room was in my wife's name, it was her birthday, but the hotel never congratulated her. No card, no small compliment, no simple token of attention. It may be a small thing for some, but we travel a lot and we are used to good hotel staff noticing such moments and creating a feeling of caring for guests. That did not happen here, alas.
The second point was even more unpleasant. A deposit of **5,000 Turkish Liras** was paid from the card upon check-in, in case of use of a minibar or other paid services. We did not use paid services at all: because of the tight tour program, there was simply no time. However, the deposit was never returned. For a hotel at this level, it looks extremely strange and leaves guests and their money feeling untidy.
In the end, the impression was contradictory: the hotel itself, the room and breakfast - good, but the service in important details was disappointing. Specifically, the details often form a real feeling of the hotel level. I would like Le Méridien Istanbul Etiler to be more attentive to guests, especially on such personal dates, and to promptly resolve issues with refund of deposits.
