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The Deniz Konak Hotel (‘Sea
Mansion’) is an inviting small
Istanbul hotel
hidden down a side street away from
the main hustle of Sultanahmet but
just a pleasant ten-minute stroll
from the main sights –Aya
Sofya, the Blue
Mosque and the Topkapi
Palace.
Opened in 2005, the hotel boasts
15 comfortable, stone-faced rooms on
four floors reached by stairs (no elevator/lift).
All are decorated
with Turkish carpets and kilims adorning
wooden floors,
flat-screen plasma television
sets (most channels in Turkish,
three in English, one in French, one
in German), individually-controllable
air-conditioning units and
peepholes in the doors, a plus for
safety-conscious female travelers.
The rooms' decent size is
another precious asset in this crowded
city.
The Deniz Konak offers
that priceless Istanbul asset—views
of the Sea
of Marmara directly from
your room, but
the price of the view is some traffic
noise from Kennedy Caddesi, the shore
road that passes between the hotel
and the water. There are also regular
trains on
the Halkali suburban line passing below.
If you are very sensitive to noise,
you can eschew the view and choose
a room on the side facing the quiet
street, which has only an occasional
car passing very slowly.
If you do choose a sea-view room,
y ou'll
certainly hear the traffic and trains
if your window is open, but with individually-controlled
air conditioning and double-glazed
windows, I did not find the noise a
problem when I stayed in Room 8 in
April 2008. At night the trains stop
and the traffic is reduced to the occasional
car, so I had no trouble sleeping.
A bonus: the nearest loudspeaker
is more distant than from many other
Sultanahmet hotels, so the pre-dawn
call to prayer is a pleasant
bit of music rather than a shattering electronic
blast.
The Deniz Konak's cosy rooftop
breakfast room looks
out towards the Sea
of Marmara. Its small open-air
terrace has views of the Blue
Mosque and the Küçük
Ayasofya Mosque which is just down
the street from the hotel.
The hotel was opened by the same family
partnership – Fatih Sapci, and
Lütfiye and Temel Turgut – that
owns the nearby Sultan’s
Inn and Naz
Wooden House Inn and
Backpackers Travel Agency. They bring
more than 20 years experience in the
tourism business to their latest enterprise
which is managed with enthusiasm and
attention to detail.
For dinner you need
only stroll up Küçük
Ayasofya Caddesi to find yourself amid the cheap lokantas
and more upmarket restaurants of Sultanahmet.
When you contact the
Deniz Konak Hotel,
please mention
TTP. Here’s why.
Deniz Konak Hotel
Küçük
Ayasofya Caddesi
Cayiroglu Sokak No. 14
Sultanahmet, Istanbul, Turkey
www.denizkonakhotel.com
info@denizkonakhotel.com
Tel +90 (212) 518 9595
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