Tilia Hotel

The hotel is accessible via the T1 Tram stop Laleli. If you have heavy suitcases,as we did,you will need to walk up cobbled steep streets to get there. If you still want to stay there after this review,I would strongly recommend a taxi or transfer. Upon arrival,the Front Office Manager Yunus warmly welcomed us and told us of the Breakfast Room location. The Entrance / Lobby is very elegant. And that is where the elegance begins and ends. Despite knowing it's my honeymoon trip,a simple bowl of fruit was put in the room upon arrival. That is it. Nothing more exciting or thoughtful. This was my honeymoon trip and we were put into a room directly next to a lift AND stairs.I had specifically requested a room away from lifts,stairs and noisy areas. This hotel is situated in an area with a high number of Arab and Russian visitors. Shop signs all have Arabic and Russian translations. Those guests do stay in high numbers at Tillia too. On night 1 there was a noisy room opposite us,shouting loudly. I let the hotel know via whatsapp and they swiftly sent someone twice to tell the ladies to stop. I found out it was a group who were checking out the next morning. The washroom had a sickly smell like rotten eggs but after some spraying by myself,the smell seemed to have gone. It was not a smell caused by me or my Wife. The toilet brush holder had brown water on the lid...I will say no more but at least the smell was explained. I noted a frequent noise through the night like aircraft engine roar so did not give it a second thought as aircraft to/from Istanbul Airport do pass over or past the hotel on occassion,dependant on routing. On night 2,the noise was happening around every 2 minutes since 2100pm. It was only then I realised the noise is the lift going up and down. It is very heavily used by the way. I Whatsapped the hotel and they said to speak to the front desk Manager Yunus in the morning. The power went off twice in 30 minutes between 0300am and 0330am and was replaced by a super noisy generator that sounded like thunder in the whole building. I spent u hours listening to the lift and it drove me insane. Despite being in a super busy area of Istanbul,there is not even an iron and ironing board available and I had to pay a local laundry to have 2 items ironed. There is no duvet,only sheets,but luckily outside it was warm so the hotel gets away with it. I only found out 3 days into my stay that duvets are available on request. There is a very faulty looking socket in the bathroom for the hairdryer. Housekeeping is inconsistent. My used bedsheet ( not mattress cover ) was simply folded up and put back on my bed,different toiletries are put on the toiletry stand,coffee cups ( paper ) are not restocked. I kept trying to find the good but it is not fair that I was being so lenient and tolerating such lukewarm service. The room is nice but the only bin is in the bathroom. I was so grateful to get this hotel as the original one really let me down months ago by cancelling my booking due to their error in booking management. Honeymoons only happen once and everything has to be perfect. The Tillia hotel has a reasonably good location and had a reasonable price. But I was underwhelmed. Deeply. The first 2 nights were been mental torture trying to sleep. Since I booked a hotel for my honeymoon that then cancelled my Reservation, I then rebooked a lower priced hotel that had terrible tripadvisor reviews but I still believed in them. Toilet seats are stained and a "double bed" is just 2 singles pushed together. Yunus' Whatsapp messages became abrupt to the point he began ignoring me altogether. We were offered a room 2 doors down and across the hallway. This really eased the move as the original choice was a room on the 7th floor which waa only accessible by stairs from the 6th floor as the lift only goes as far as floor 6. Just as I was about to exit my original room,a family came to the door to ask me what the room is like as their elderly Parents were in a bad room ( their words verbatim ). I was honest to tell them that the noise from the lift was the reason we had to move. The below knee length small balconies are a huge safety hazard and those with kids definately need to keep the window as a window setting,as a quick turn,turns the window into a door. The new room's layout was much better but the washroom was a nightmare to navigate. The toilet is facing the basin and there is just about enough room for a bigger built person to use the toilet. The toiletry tray was soaking wet when we checked into the room which does not reflect a hygienic impression at all,so we had to rinse it out for peace of mind. In both rooms,the taps were rusty and the shower doors were dirty and worn down. As it was warm,we left the window open. Bad idea. 2 hours of a revving engine of some larger vehicle. When I asked the hotel what is happening,they said repairs are being done and the noise should stop shortly. 30 minutes later it did. At 0300am some guy decided to have an hour long mobile phone conversation super loudly. Not the hotel's fault but affected my sleep anyway. The lift has a mind of it's own or is controlled by a ghost. Several times,we pressed for the 6th floor and the lift went to other floors with no one waiting or said other floors being lit up on the floor number panel. The lifts are super tiny and known as service lifts. A moody guy got out of one with linens and was in such a huff that he forgot to say thanks for waiting. Kadir who mainly works the late/night shift is exceptionally friendly and net any request with a smile,speed and sincerity. When trying to tell my experience to Yunus,his actual words were to 'not make a big deal out of it' and 'you are sensitive to noise' as well as the best one ' Next time I will put you in a room away from the lift !'. There will never be a next time. Tillia did their utmost to ruin my trip but I refused to spoil my special trip. The Breakfast Room staff do not speak a word of English although they do efficiently clean tables periodically. There should be a staff member stood near the food as I saw a Russian girl eating from the buffet whilst also filling her plate. Also,many guests chose to have their mobile sound on very loudly and no one said anything to them. Flies often fly around the breakfast room. I saw bread being handled with bare hands by one of the staff. Housekeeping also do not speak any English and talk to you in Turkish,as if you have magically acquired Turkish language skills whilst staying in this hotel. I found another guest's earphones in a drawer on my last day. The smoke alarm had been covered with a plastic bag. On the last day,we managed to get 2 free bottles of water as we wouldn't have got them otherwise as we had requested no housekeeping as we wanted to rest. We got told any extra bottles are at a charge. Extra towels and shower gel were brought up to our room upon request in the evening. Mr Mervan from Reception brought towels and arranged ice etc promptly. Around 0100am during a late night bathroom visit,through the vent I suddenly heard Arabic prerecorded audio being spoken by a female followed by a man and woman actually speaking in Arabic. They seemed to be switching light switches on and off,pouring water sounds were also heard and sounds like a shower door being slid open and shut. Trying to find out or contact the owner is impossible. The hotel really needs to properly train staff in processes like customer service,basic English,consistency in housekeeping,better and speedier lifts ,answering emails and of course the hotel needs to ensure rooms are safe as well as clean. Tillia did little to nothing to ensure a pleasant stay and I was made to feel that wanting a room away from a lift was an impossible request. If you want cheap but not so cheerful,this is your place. If you want a quality stay,go elsewhere. The only 2 good elements are the wonderful Kadir and the great breakfast.

Breakfast to avoid. Room too small. Room not cleaned. Reception to be reviewed.....

I honestly don’t understand how this hotel can claim to be a 4-star property. In my opinion, it doesn’t even deserve 2 stars. The breakfast was one of the biggest disappointments. The food had very little flavor, the quality was poor, and there was almost no variety from day to day. The rooms are old, poorly maintained, and far from clean. There were stains everywhere, on the carpet as well as on the bed. The bathroom was tiny and not properly cleaned either. Even the towels looked dirty and worn out, which is unacceptable for any hotel, let alone one claiming to be 4 stars. As for the staff, my experience was mixed. Some employees were polite and helpful, but others were extremely disrespectful. A few of them openly flirted with female guests in a very uncomfortable and unprofessional way. It really felt like they thought this behavior was acceptable with foreign women, even though they probably wouldn’t act like that with women from their own country. The only real advantage of this hotel is its location. Apart from that, I would not recommend staying here.