Arriving the heart of Old Town Istanbul: Sultanahmet

My Colorful Han Hotel Room

With the visa stamp firmly pressed on my passport, I meandered through the airport straight to the Tram platform that runs all the way to the center of the old city of Istanbul, where I dropped off to walk the one block jaunt to Han Hotel on 33 Yerebatan Cadesi (street), which will be my home in Istanbul for a week and some change.

Ham Hotel is a cross between a quaint and a boutique hotel that clearly caters to tourists in the busy heart of old Istanbul. It has a total of 10 rooms. Accentuating its quaintness is the bold bright hues that the interior of the hotel is painted in. The jarring but pleasant colors extend to the drapery, the beddings and even the designed wallpaper covering some areas of the rooms.

The hotel is  a 2 to 3 minute walk to Basilica Cistern, which the locals referred to as Yerebatan Sarayi (Sunken palace) or Yerebatan Sarnici (Underground water storage facility built by the Romans in 6^th century, during the reign of Justinian, the Byzantine Emperor; the Suleiman mosque popularly known as the Blue Most and a former church now a museum called Hagia Sophia, pronounced Aya Sophia by locals (St. Sophia) built in a relatively short time in the 5^th century. Stepping outside the balcony to the room, the minarets of domes of these historical buildings are all visible and form part of the immediate neighborhood.

The hotel next door to Han Hotel

Still within easy walking distance under 10 minutes were such premium historic attractions like the Topkapi palace, home of the Sultans, which was also where the Greek Byzantine first built their city on settling in the area, the Hippodrome, The Grand Bazaar, the Egyptian Bazaar and numerous Turkish baths that dot all over the city. I will talk about some of these individual places and my pleasant experiences there later.

It was very advantageous to stay in Hotel Han though the immediate challenge was the smallness of the room and the narrowness of the bed. Perhaps the age and structure of the building make it impossible to install an elevator so there is no choice to climbing back and forth a narrow spiral stairs to my third floor room.

The staff were however extremely helpful, friendly and great cooks. Every meal was made fresh just for you. It never seemed like mass cooking to serve anyone that walks in. The care in preparing each meal made it seemed like you are a cherished guest in a private home.