Tulip Guesthouse

We just returned from an INCREDIBLE time at the Tulip Guesthouse. We had a quick weekend trip to Istanbul, and we couldn’t be happier to have chosen the Tulip Guesthouse. Location was incredible… we easily walked to Topkapi Palace, Blue Mosque, Hippodrome, Hagia Sophia, Eminonu, Spice Market, Grand Bazaar, Sirceki district. With a little more time, we could have walked across the bridge to Taksim Square (25 – 30 minute walk?) too!
Enis is an incredible manager – she emailed us right after the booking was done to see if we wanted her to arrange airport pick-​up, she greeted us by name when we rang the doorbell for the first time, and she was transparent and open through all interactions, namely the money exchange. This is a TINY little establishment, and even when we were given a choice of the 2 double-​person rooms and chose the larger one, it was very cramped quarters in the room. NOT A PROBLEM THOUGH – who goes to Istanbul to stay in the hotel room?! There was ample built-​in storage with hangers, drawers, cabinets all over. The bathroom was about 18 square feet, so if you were at the sink you had to shut the door behind you so you had room to stand there. Definitely only 1 person in the bathroom at a time!
Breakfast was through and wonderful… lots of local-​made preserves, fresh bread, fresh fruit & veggies, and even Enis’s mom’s homemade tomato paste bread topping. Incredible! All of this is in a room that overlooks the Bosphorus/​Mamara.
Currently, they are building a few doors down, so weekdays during the daytime were filled with the sounds of jackhammering :(but since we were out and about all day it didn’t bother us. Nighttimes were quiet in this neighborhood.
I wish there could be a Tulip Guesthouse everywhere we travel!

It’s on a teeny weeny little dead-​end side street about a block below the tourist-​restaraunt-​walk-​of-​lame; it’s CLEAN, inexpensive, has a decent Turkish breakfast that’s included in the price, it’s fairly quiet at night (that’s relative, but way more quiet than hotels I’ve had by Interstate Highway 5 in California!), and the owners are responsive, speak fairly decent English, help with problems, and are really sweet, especially Enis, the young lady that manages the place. Don’t bother booking with
or anything like that. Just go to their website, email Enis, and book on your own. You’ll get a better room for the same price, with lovely soft beds and fluffy down comforters. Which we really needed after 4 weeks of backpacking around Turkey…