Victorious Hotel

Highly recommend this place. It's clean and the staff are very friendly, approachable and helpful. We arrived at 5 in the morning (check in is meant to be 2pm) and they arranged a room for us to sleep in until we could properly check in to our booked room around 12.00. The food is great, plus breakfast is included. We ended up chatting and playing chess with one of the staff one eve, who gave us tips on places to visit. Location wise its cool - down a mostly quiet backstreet, very little car traffic, but also quite a lively area, with plenty of people and good, reasonably priced places to eat, it's relaxing and friendly. It's 5 mins walk from a tram stop (küçükpazar) which is 1 stop from Eminönü and all the main tourist attractions. It's also a short trip to Balat and Fener, which are worth seeing. Finally - the beds are really comfy for a good nights sleep after a full day site seeing!

We were given the run around by the proprietor. When we arrived we told our booking had been cancelled and we were lodged in a decrepit building. Being late night we had no option but to put our heads down. Vague promises were made to move us to a better establishment. Had to move to another location. We were not the only ones put through this ordeal...AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE...unless you want your holiday completely ruined!!

You get what you pay for, I can't complain. I was attempting to do Istanbul on a budget and stayed here one night. Do not recommend the area, Fatih is not a tourist area for westerners or lone women, let's make that clear. The first room I was given was on the ground level and extremely near the open restaurant area which claims to be no smoking, but my room absolutely reeked of cigarette smoke. The bed was hard, there was a hair on the top sheet and the bathroom was just showing its age. Don't get me wrong, the term 'no smoking' appears to be universally ignored here, I get it, Turks love a smoke, but I have asthma. I asked the younger man on reception if Fatih is dangerous or unsafe for lone women, he rolled his eyes so far they almost fell out and laughed at me, dismissing me as if my observation was wrong. Let's get this straight, I'm pretty savvy and have been to some terrible places, but Fatih was like visiting a reenactment of an 80s Kosovan war site. There are decrepit buildings and kids playing in rubble. Older men line the street selling objects on the floor. No doubt this hotel looks good if you're on a budget but unless you're desperate or want to cosplay third world living I'd recommend it's avoidable. A tall man working at the hotel, overhead my complaints and spoke good English. He kindly helped me move to their hotel opposite (the Herton) - it was definetly an upgrade, slightly.