Taksim Nippon Hotel – short stop in the heart of Istanbul

After a long bus trip from Antalya to Istanbul, we decided to wait a little in Istanbul before returning to Ukraine. First of all we were tired, second moment – properly Istanbul: one of the most attractive cities in the world. I walked by his historical streets many times, but I will never get bored to discover this city again and again.

Since it was unscheduled visit, we chose hotel upon arrival. We were wondering just about places, which were in Taksim region. There are many hotels, most of them are not multistory, not so luxury from outside. After short searching we chose Nippon hotel: not bad place for short staying, but with many limitations.

About location

Road from Nippon hotel to Istiklal street (which is very famous among the tourists) will take 10-15 min. by walking. On this street there are many shops, restaurants, and night clubs. Also we found there embassies of different countries, old cathedral, handmade souvenirs. On the same street with our hotel located rent car office, exchanger, bistro-cafe, hair salon, grocery store, few hotels (Grand Oztanik hotel, Golden Age hotel). These hotels have their restaurants, where were possible to organize dinner. However, we preferred to have our dinner in the places, which were near the Bosporus or Marmara Sea.

About rooms

Nippon hotel doesn’t have family rooms, but for children they can organize individual bed. All rooms are without balcony, and if you are a smoker, you should go outside.

View from our window was not attractive, and every morning I was forced to wake up about 7 a.m. because of sounds. I don’t know exactly reason: maybe walls were too thin, maybe staff spoke too loudly, but in any case this is a big limitation of Nippon hotel!

Of course there were also some advantages accommodations:

·     More than 100 TV channels. For me it was huge plus since we stayed in hotel with my son, who can understand just Russian language. There were about 5-6 Russian channels and even few Ukrainian channels! To find sought-for channel was easy: just to open special TV-menu.

·       To wash a body was possible in the bathtub or in the shower. We never had problems with hot water.

·       Room service was good. Every day house keeper changed our bedclothes, towels, gave us new bottle of shampoo, hair conditioner, gel for the shower. Hotel doesn’t serve visitors with toothpaste, tooth brush, gel for the shower, disposable razor.

Also in every room there is a mini-bar, with spirits, wines, cold beverages, snakes. Prices there were in few times higher than in supermarket. However, this is the common thing almost for every hotel in Istanbul.

About food

We ordered package which included breakfast. Our breakfast was in the restaurant with colorful design. I liked food there: we had big choice, everything was fresh, and tasty. Cold snacks (cheese, olives, fruits) every day were the same, but main dishes were changing.

We didn’t order any food from room service menu, but there were too much options. Also there was restaurant, where visitors could organize their launch, dinner. Till the day there were many people in the Lobby.

Places, where visitors of Nippon Hotel could sit, rest, and drink were enough

Additional options

Unfortunately, Nippon hotel doesn’t have SPA service. In the reception we learnt that there was no sauna, swimming pool or steam room. In the downstairs we found fitness center, but we didn’t have any energy to visit it.

In the same stair with dinning room there was business center. First I thought that it would be big hall with huge table, comfortable soft chairs. However, it looked like small internet club, with 3 computers, which were connected to internet. This service was used by people, who arrived to hotel without laptop. To connect to internet was possible from the room: Wi-Fi there was free.

The most attractive component of this tiny business center was a big screen before the entrance

Nippon hotel will be good option for people, who plan to stay in Istanbul short time, and who want to organize fast sight-seeing in this historical city. Tourists, who plan to stay in Istanbul long time should look for more attractive place. I think for the same price which requires Nippon hotel per 1 night (150 dollars) possible to find better hotel.