I spent 3 nights at the Barcelo in Instanbul. The hotel was in a great location, the food was good, and the service was OUTSTANDING. Having stayed at the Ritz Carleton three days prior to the Barcelo, I would recommend the Barcelo as the better hotel for the money. The assistant general manager, Talal Benjelloun, was particularily helpful in arranging for tours and access to the outstanding Valentine's Day dinner. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this hotel for anyone who is traveling to Istanbul! Ask for Talal, he will treat you right!

We had previously had lunch at this hotel on a cruise ship tour and thought it looked very nice. So we booked three rooms using our Travel Agent. There were three couples traveling. We were so well looked after! We each got a junior suite, not much on the view but very clean, plenty of hot water and very comfortable beds. Our rate included the buffet breakfast and ti was very good indeed. The hotel restaurant mostly did buffets when we were there but the food was excellent and a wide variety. There were several large groups booked there also but there was never a problem with service. There were two computers in the second basement for guests use; the only unfortunate issue is that smoking was allowed there. The hotel is NOT located close to the attractions but in a neighborhood. The hotel is on the tram line which is easy to use and the people of Istanbul are happy to help. We had a private tour guide for two days which helped us. I would stay here again, no question.

I stayed in Barcelo Eresin nn the dates 21-25 June, 2008. I had my 4 year old daughter with me. The hotel itself is good and very clean. However, the infrastructure of the hotel is far from the hotels we used to visit in the Antalya coast. The service is much better then in the Alntalya hotels. Rooms are spacious and clean. The breakfast in well worth its cost of 15 Euros. They did charge a breakfast fee for my 4 year old child. When I booked my hotel I did not include a breakfast, indeed you can have a breakfast on have it billed to your room in daily basis. I did it this way just because sometimes I miss my breakfast hours therefore I don't want to pay if I don't use it. The lobby bar prices and mini bar prices are way to high. A beer costs 16 Lira (9 Euro). A 0.5L bottle of water 5 lira. Instead there is a nerby shop called Mavi File around 150 meters away where you can get your drinks at market prices. The pool is open from 7AM until 10PM which is very convenient. However make sure you bring a swimming cap with you if you don't want to buy it at the hotel for 10 YTL (6 Euro). Also you can not use you cell phones in the pool area and swimming in the main pool is prohibited for children under 12. One of the most useful things is that hotel has 3 yellow taxis that can take you anywhere with a regular taxi metered fare. Being a hotel taxi, you are sure that you will not be driven around to be overcharged as you always have a place to address you dissatisfaction. Although taxis were always busy driving hotel guests around, I never had to wait more than 5 minutes until the taxis were back in front of the hotel. Beware that elevators are not air conditioned therefore during 1 minute of their use you can get extremely hot and sweat. Hotel has also a security gate which happens to be very annoying is it always beeps when you enter or exit the gate. Non of the security staff ever stopped anyone therefore I don't see a point of having a hotel gate with metal detector. You can also change currency at the hotel but at a rate 5% lower than elsewhere therefore make sure you don't change large amounts of money at the hotel. Overall, the hotel is not a 5 star hotel but rather a 4 star one, which is still not bad for the price you pay.

The people at reception were terrific. They were very helpful in assisting me even w/the most minor of problems. The breakfast buffet is one of the best! The food is varied and excellent, both in the resturant and the lobby cafe. They also have a great shop Inci 2 Seramik where you can buy lots of great items, small or large purchases. I had a minor complaint with a service and my bill was adjusted most fairly. The maid service and bellman service was above reproach. I would go back there any time.

The Eresin Topkapi is a 5 star hotel with definite 5 star prices - just have a look at the bar and mini-bar prices! (avoid these and do some shopping at nearby mini-marts). I think we got a free upgrade to the Premier rooms, which meant the rooms were on the spacious side and very clean. Breakfast was included in the price and a large buffet was laid out every morning. The airconditioning was only able to heat, probably due to a winter-setting, which meant that even with it off and the windows open we were a little warmer than was comfortable. The staff were generally helpful and polite but occasionally struggled with communicating in English and were maybe not the most competent I've seen. We were given the electronic key to an already occupied room on check in, and I can see from another review this has happened before! Tip 1: Get used to taking the Tram from right outside the hotel into town. It only takes 10 minutes and is a lot cheaper than taxis (1.30 Lira for any distance). Tip 2: It's a safe bet that someone will try to con or steal from you during your visit. Watch out for the taxi-driver switching notes trick! Not a bad hotel, but it could be great with only take a little effort from the management.