Grand Madrid

The hotel really liked it. Convenient location: within 5-7 minutes there is a Yenikapı metro station and 2 tram stops Aksarai and Laleli University. The Blue Mosque is literally 2 stops away by tram. The room was cleaned well. The friendly staff. At the reception, the employees speak Russian, all are told (where to eat, change money, how to get to and where better to go), they took a tour of Istanbul on the first day, prices as elsewhere. When checking in, I was offered 2 rooms to choose from: on the first floor with a double bed and on the sixth floor with two small ones. I chose on the sixth because I bribed the view out of the window (even the Sea of Marble can be seen in the distance) and it's quieter. Due to the fact that the hotel is in a shopping area, the noise from the street can be heard in the room, so if you are sleeping well, I advise you to stock up on earplugs. No noise bothered me. I heard about the bad wifi in Istanbul before the trip, but in Grand Madrid it broke the system and exceeded all expectations, and was the main reason I decided to stay there for another 2 days. I was able to work six to seven hours online without network disruption. And for work, I've had Zoom conferences that need a good Internet connection. Anyway, for the Internet, it's straight +100 to the rating. A restaurant with magnificent views is the next strength of this hotel. I couldn't see that view the first day I came to breakfast. There's a terrace. Breakfasts are monotonous but delicious. And frankly, I've been eating the same breakfast every day at home for several years, so I'm not exactly writing down a monotonous breakfast. For halvah, a separate like, just melts in your mouth. Of the shortcomings, I can only mention the noise from the street and sometimes you could hear conversations in the hallway. In general, the noise insulation is weak. For some people, it might be a problem, it wasn't for me. And as someone wrote, the motion sensor in the bathroom, after the first switch on, works for 10 seconds and shuts down, you have to wave and then it works without interruption. But that's if you're picky. It didn't bother me. Anyway, the hotel recommends 100%, and if I go to Istanbul again, I'll stay with them again.

The only good thing about the hotel is its location and the view from restaurant/cafeteria. The hotel staff is not very welcoming, and communication in English is a big problem. The rooms are very dull, there is no isolation in walls or doors. You can hear people whispering from other rooms. At times it felt like someone is coming in our room because of no sound isolation on doors and you can see people walking in the corridor from below, thats very uncomfortable. Beds are extremely noisy. No water pressure in shower if your using warm water. Toilet looks dirty, and the electricity goes out every 5/10 minutes. We asked so many times for tissue papers, got none. The room service only makes up the bed, they don’t clean. They didn’t even change our towels once, only hung them up in the room to dry. There is no minibar, so not possible to make coffee or tea in room. Lastly, I would not recommend this hotel for people who are looking to have an enjoyable time. This hotel is fine as an emergency, a real emergency. As the overall quality isn’t good. This is definitely not a 4 star.

Nice hotel for a short stay, good room with a view of Laleli. Good breakfast although it could've been richer, walking distance to Kapali Charshi. Bed was comfortable, free wifi. A bit noisy from the other rooms.