Kent Hotel

nice staff and breakfast is so good

Excellent hotel

We travelled as part of a UK coach touring holiday. Were surprised to find out that the hotel is in an alleged pedestrianised area so our coach could not park nearby, so we had to carry our own suitcases through a couple of crowded streets to reach the hotel (not the hotel's fault I know). I say alleged pedestrianised because it is on a main thoroughfare for the trams in each direction and on either side of these busy tram lines there seems to be a lane for motor cycles and e-bikes and even though there is a pedestrian crossing, motorists ignore the rules so be careful. That said, once we reached the hotel our Tour Manager quickly allocated us our rooms (there were 32 in our party) and the staff on Reception were polite and efficient. A dinner had been arranged for us due to our late arrival and again the restaurant staff were friendly and efficient and the very plentiful courses were delicious. Staff and food at breakfast times during our 3 night stay were equally nice. Being in an unknown city, we weren't aware how close the Grand Bazarr and Blue Mosque areas were as we were transported around by coach - but by day 3 we realised that the location of the hotel is good for independent travellers, especially if you can master the tram system for which there are stops right along the street. The trams stop sometime after midnight and start again around 6 a.m. but with the window closed, didn't impact on our stay very much. Our corner room on the third floor was find if a little on the dark side - if only other guests would be considerate when they get back to their rooms and not talk so loudly and slam doors! Again not the hotels fault. If we were returning to Istanbul independently, we would book this hotel now having a better idea of where the main tourist sites are.

Just the one night at Kent for us at end of tour. A great location to central and old Istanbul, as well as the bazaar. Well appointed and furnished, the room we had was spacious and quiet. Bed was comfortable and room dark with block out curtains. Buffet breakfast was quite good and bar prices reasonable. On the negative side, our air con didn’t function and appears centrally controlled with no on/off switch, so the room was quite stuffy. If we opened the window, the outside street noise permeated. And the big one for us and many. Recent city changes to the surrounding streets to remove vehicular traffic for pedestrians and light rail means coaches cannot get closer than 500 metres to the hotel. Therefore guests are required to cart their cases across cobblestones, paving, train tracks etc to arrive. The Hotel desperately needs to review this and consider porters with trolleys to transport cases to their business or it will surely tail off.

Wonderful hotel. Well positioned, comfortable, very spacious twin room, excellent air-conditioning, rapid wi-fi, staff great, food very good. A very good option. (View from my room wasn't great, but a minor point which doesn't affect the rating!)

Stayed in a triple room with my two sons. It was a great location for us to explore Istanbul. Room was a decent size, clean and you were able to open a door/window for natural air. A/C struggled a little . Beds were comfortable. Bedding was just a doona/douvet. Would prefer a sheet under it. Bathrooms were suitable and decent size . Down side for light sleepers was that our room faced the main road and despite double glazing we could still hear the trams when all windows were closed . Definitely ask for a room not facing the main rd.