Lodging Review: Hotel Ersu, Istanbul
I can definitely recommend Hotel Ersu in Istanbul, actually the 3rd hotel in Istanbul that I've stayed at in my 2 weeks in Turkey. It was also the tour hotel for my Turkey GAP tour, and is popular with other tour groups, so it is definitely not an intimate boutique hotel or guesthouse. I had thought I could do better, but when I shopped around I found that this was only one of two hotels that had availability on my dates. So I was "resigned" to staying here.
It turned out to be a great hotel, and the best value of all 3 hotels I'd stayed at in the city (least expensive and better rooms). All of the furnishings appear to be pretty new, with tasteful wall coverings and Pergo flooring. Importantly, the bathroom has a separate shower stall, unlike other bathrooms around Turkey and Istanbul where the shower basically goes straight down onto the floor and you get the toilet and sink and entire bathroom wet when you shower.
Staff is okay, not different from other hotel staff that I'd come across in the country: a bit gruff sometimes, not particularly enthusiastic, but not unfriendly. Breakfast is pretty typical of Turkish breakfasts but a bit nicer than some others, with a selection of breads, hard boiled eggs, 3 different cheeses, jams, and beef bologna.
Note that the hotel only accepts cash, and when I paid my deposit for the reservation and asked for but didn't get a receipt, I got a bit suspicious overall. What if when I checked out, they forgot I had already paid one night? What if I show up and they didn't have my reservation down? Everything turned out fine, so not to worry if you come across the same situation here.
