Fuat Pasa Oteli - Special Category Bosphorus

Fuat Pasa Yalisi is in Buyukdere, about 90 minutes by ferry, and 60 by public transit from Old Town Istanbul. This is its blessing, but also its challenge. So you need to go into it knowing this. There's the hotel itself and its location to consider. The hotel itself is really nice. Beautiful Bosphorus views, rooms ample if not huge, nice amenities, a varied and good breakfast everyday, and an excellent restaurant. The staff are really nice and helpful, BUT with almost no English. This makes it very hard to get settled in for a tourist stay--i.e. how to find a bank, get a transit card, find a good restaurant, the knd of stuff you would usually count on the concierge desk for. But this is also it's charm. You really feel like you are living in a small Turkish city, which you are. The location is removed from Istanbul and (way) off the beaten tourist path. Buyukdere itself is a bit of a low rent little town, but in a string of nice towns along the Bosphorus that runs for miles and miles, all accessible--for those who like walking--by a wonderful walking path along the Bosphorus. The next town north--Sariyer is larger and more busting and short walk or a very short transit ride. And the string of towns heading south are each more prosperous than the last--although none are ritzy by any means, which I saw as an ADVANTAGE. Again, very, very little English is spoken, so you feel like you are truly immersed in the daily life of middle-class Turks. For those who want to get around and especially to get into Istanbul, the location is awesome. You can always default to a (cheap) cab and be anyplace in 30-60 minutes. But public transit is really excellent and a much more authentic experience. Buyukdere is perfectly located for this. Several bus stops are blocks from the hotel, with lines that run directly to the very modern metro/subway line which takes you right into Istanbul. Or to all the surrounding towns if you are up for exploring those. And the ferry dock is right across the street from the back entrance to the hotel. Ferries are awesome and relaxing ways to get into Istanbul or, again, to explore the many little towns along the Bosphorus. So all in all, while I found the first 24 hrs a bit daunting because I could not figure out the necessities of tourist life like getting a transit pass,. While that was an issue throughout--seriously, possibly one of the staff had passable English--once I got past those initial details, it was an awesome adventure and I would choose exactly this kind of location over Istanbul with its hustle, crowds, and many, many tourists who look just like you.

Fuat Pasa Yalisi is working more like a place for wedding receptions than a hotel. We stayed there for 5 nights and every night there was a wedding reception. That means that you cannot use the common areas of the hotel (pool included) almost all day long, since they are occupied either for the preparation or the wedding itself. And of course during the wedding reception there is obviously a lot of noise. Our room was tiny and needed renovation. The A/C was malfunctioning, safe was out of order (they had to change it as they could not repair it), the wooden ceiling in the entrance of the room was about to fall down, the bed sheets had holes, WiFi was not working properly. Service was even worse. Nobody spoke English except from a couple of receptionists who didn’t seem to care to help you anyway. Cleanliness was definitely inadequate. Some leftovers of a meal were left in the corridor for two days!!! The carpet in our room was really dirty. Bed sheets were never changed in five days. As a conclusion, maybe it is a nice place for a wedding reception, but it is definitely not a place to stay. Avoid it by any means!