My partner and I checked in yesterday, 23rd Feb, and was immediately disappointed by the Front Desk service. We had a long day because we came from Cappadocia and had to transfer flights in Istanbul. We took a cab, however the driver was only accepting cash. We entered the hotel and asked if they could do a paid-out of 400 Lira to be charged to the room or to be charged to my card so we can pay the taxi (as with any other 5 star hotels, Reception usually does this for their guests) and we had to explain what a “paid-out” means but the staff (Mert) just unemphatically said a straight “No, we don’t do that here, we can’t give you cash” without even offering any solution or help and just stared at us blankly. We had to ask if is there any way we could get cash somewhere or if there is any atm around, and only then he said “You can go to the center” and by the way as he was saying this, he seemed to be very uninterested and just shrugging and just wanting to go back to what he was doing. There was not even a welcome greeting from the Reception staff, just really really cold and without empathy at all. So my partner had to go back to the same taxi so he can withdraw money from the atm and pay the driver. I then did the registration with the same staff Mert and while doing this, I tried to engage a conversation and ask if he has any restaurant recommendations and I was given an answer “Actually I don’t know, you can just google.” That’s something unexpected, even for a hostel. I completed the registration, signed and asked if that’s it. Mert said yes, and he gave me the room key. I took the room key but I wanted to wait for my partner at the lobby so we could go up to the room together. When my partner came back, we’re just about to go to the lift and go to the room when he was stopped by Mert. Mert said my partner needs to pay for the room. I got frustrated and asked him why he didn’t tell me and ask me in the first place, I was doing the check-in and asked if there’s anything else needed but he gave me the key and said that’s all! I even waited for around 10 minutes standing at the lobby waiting for my partner - and he did not ask me to pay. Why? Is it because I’m a woman? An asian? Like I can’t pay? When I asked Mert why he did not ask me, he just pointed to my partner and mentioned he thought he was paying. My partner and I got flustered and both said at the same time “YOU DON’T ASSUME NEXT TIME.” This definitely ruined our day and almost everything just seemed wrong to our eyes because of that experience. The room looked dated and the some of the amenities aren’t in the room like dental kit. The small container of hair conditioner was squeezed, like it has already been used. The safe was not working. We went for dinner but we were not happy as well. To make matters worse, in the evening it got very hot. We called the Reception if there’s any way we could have the AC work. For some reason, it can’t and we were told that we can just open the
Excellent
120 Reviews