5oda Hotel, Istanbul, Turkey

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Istanbul's 5oda Hotel is small, ultra-modern, artistic, warm and friendly, and well-located in the heart of Beyoglu (map).

5oda (that's Bes Oda, BEHSH oh-dah, "Five Rooms") is the brainstorm of Mr Kazim Uzunoglu, head of Baltac Tours, who wanted to design a place that he himself would like to stay in.

Because of this, it has lots of the sorts of details that really make a place work: spacious rooms (each one takes up an entire floor in the small building), full kitchen in each room, great reading lights over the bed, fresh flowers, artistic décor, free Wifi Internet, glass-sided elevator/lift so guests can enjoy the rear garden while rising to their rooms.

Actually, these rooms are what Americans call efficiency apartments, that is, small kitchen, bathroom, bedroom area, dining area and sitting area all in one space. Really, you're paying for a hotel room but getting a small apartment.

The location is excellent for all of Istanbul: in Beyoglu, right next to the Swedish consulate, only a half-block off Istiklal Caddesi, two minutes' stroll from Tünel Square and its transportation (Metro, Nostalgic Tram, Tünel, taxis),...and yet the street has almost no traffic and is blissfully quiet.

All of Beyoglu is within walking distance: its boutiques and shops, the Galata Mevlevihanesi (whirling dervish hall), Galata Tower, Galatasaray Square, the Çiçek Pasaji and Nevizade Sokak tavernas, the hundred or so restaurants, cafes, bars and music clubs; the antique shops, the Ottoman-era embassies (now consulates), all the heart of 19th-century Europeanizing Istanbul.

To get to Sultanahmet (Topkapi Palace, Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, etc.) you can take a taxi (TL10, about 15 minutes), or go by public transport on the Tünel to the Zeytinburnu tram (TL2.30, 20 minutes), which will drop you right in the Hippodrome.

To get to Taksim Square, you can walk (15 minutes), take the Nostalgic Tram from Tünel Square, or take the fast, modern Metro from the Sishane station only steps from 5oda.

I really like the space, the art and design, the details, the thoughtfulness, the location...but it's also the people who run it, particularly Ms Sennur Yilmaz, who greets you, that make it welcoming and personal.

When you contact 5oda, please mention TTP. Here's why.

5oda Hotel
Sahkulu Bostan Sokak No. 16 (map)
Tünel, Beyoglu
34420 Istanbul, Turkey
stay@5oda.com
Tel: +90 (212) 252 7501
Fax: +90 (212) 252 7504