Hilton Garden Inn Istanbul Golden Horn

Room a bit dated, some have been redone, not ours, a nice terrace but without a table and one chair for two, some greenery on this terrace filled with cigarette butts and no ashtray provided, a shame. Reception its team departure Perfect breakfast, hearty and fresh! And staff too Hotel is still 40 minutes from the historic city center, so a taxi is practically mandatory or a boat 10 minutes away.

This is a 3-star hotel, not a 5-star by any means. The first clue is in the price of the rooms; real 5-star hotels charge at least double in Istanbul. The staff service is friendly but amateur. The guests are mostly Turks, followed by Arabs and Russians. Some British Asians stay here too. The Hotel itself is in need of serious refurbishment. Room furnishings are old, dirty and unmaintained. The room cleaning is not done properly, mirrors and windows are not wiped and vacuuming is done on request. The fridge in the rooms are small and very weak, so think twice before placing food there. The TV is an old satellite TV with no English channels or Netflix/YouTube. The hotel restaurant serves a basic buffet that is the same every day and gets busy around 9am, especially on weekends so best to arrive early to eat in peace. The restaurant is very expensive for ordering food at lunch or dinner, so it is best to eat at the local restaurants on the main road or elsewhere. The best thing about this hotel is the spa and gym. The gym is well-equipped and modern withAC and has beautiful views of the bay. The spa is also modern and stylish but only has one sauna and steam room, the steam room was not working during my time. The pool is a decent size but unheated and cold, as its in an enclosed space it does not get a breeze all day as it's closed off by high walls. Because of this, it is also hard to escape passive smoke from smokers, including from the staff, the law says its not allowed in public spaces, but nobody follows or enforces it, but hey that's Turkey for you. It's everywhere, like the litter is in the parks by the bay. As is well known, pools in turkey are likely to cause illness, as some people swim in their underwear, like this family from UK were attempting to do before they were stopped by me and the staff. The father got very upset at being turned away just because he wasn’t allowed to make everyone in the pool sick! If you wouldn’t do it in the UK, why attempt it here? I’m British, by the way. The land view rooms have no land views and are depressing. All you can see are other buildings across, but the sea view rooms are totally worth paying extra for. It makes you feel like you are on a holiday. I did not see bedbugs or cockroaches on my 10-night stay, but there are biting mosquitoes in the room and around the pool, garden and the parks/bay.

We booked this hotel through the Agoda site from 08/14/26 to 08/17/26, two double rooms for 4 people with breakfast. Arriving at the hotel, the receptionist informed us that the reservation was indeed for two double rooms but only for two people and two breakfasts. He asked us for a supplement of nearly 300 euros for the additional people and breakfasts. Agoda is not responding. We are forced to take an additional double room with breakfast for two people at the price of 270 euros. Agoda got back to us to tell us that they could not do anything. As for the hotel, without a car, it is far from everything and is not suitable for visiting old Istanbul. The hotel is on high ground, the terrain is very steep, I advise against it if you have reduced mobility or are with young children. We had rooms with a view; it is very noisy because they overlook a main road. Impossible to keep the window open to sleep. The gym is well-equipped and large. The hammam is not well maintained; you can see moss or algae forming in certain places. The pool is about ten meters long by about 3.5m wide. No point in going there to swim; children can, however, use their inflatable mattress. A swim cap is mandatory. There are few lounge chairs; it is better to arrive early. The housekeepers are very kind and very attentive. For breakfast, it is difficult or even impossible to find a bowl for cereal, the coffee is very average, the cook does not always respect the line and gives his attention to people speaking Turkish. Meals at the restaurant are expensive; it is better to eat elsewhere. A supermarket is nearby by taking the stairs. The prices are reasonable. Miniatürk and Miniatürk are two attractions accessible on foot for about 1500 TRY. If I had to do it again, I would rather go to a hotel by the sea to wait for my plane.