Name: Demir Apart Home
Address: Cevizlik, Hat Boyu Cd. No:48, 34142 Bakırköy/IB, Turkey, Istanbul, Istanbul, Istanbul, 34169, Turkiye
Rating: 3

Location

Bakırköy—İncirli

Bahçelievler

Ataköy—Şirinevler

European Side

Grand Bazaar

Blue Mosque

Spice Bazaar

Galata Bridge

Basilica Cistern

Hagia Sophia

Galata Tower

Topkapi Palace

Dolmabahce Palace

Bosphorus Bridge

Istanbul New Airport

Sabiha Gokcen International Airport

Demir Apart Home

Istanbul

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

12-beds

13-beds

14-beds

15-beds

16-beds

17-beds

18-beds

19-beds

2-beds

20-beds

21-beds

22-beds

23-beds

24-beds

25-beds

26-beds

27-beds

28-beds

29-beds

3-beds

30-beds

31-beds

32-beds

33-beds

34-beds

35-beds

36-beds

37-beds

38-beds

39-beds

4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

We arrived at Demir Apart Home around 11:30pm on 7.02.14 after driving round in circles as the taxi driver couldn't find it - not surprising as it's in a dingy back street with no signage. There is no name above the door, no indication that it is an apart/hotel and gives off very intimidating vibes. We had to book in first at an office a few doors down the street. We were "greeted" by a miserable looking man who was talking with three really dodgy looking Turks in his "office". He took us along the street to our room (room six, which is four flights up with no lift.) The room was thoroughly depressing and miserable and looked nothing like any of the rooms featured on Booking.com. For four nights I was expected to pay 236 Euros or the equivalent in Turkish Lira. I only had Sterling on me but offered to pay using my visa card but he had no payment facilities to use the card even though it said on Booking.com that methods of payment included Visa, American Express and Master Card. He said he would return with a machine to process the payment. 

While we waited we noticed that the room lacked even the most basic items. There was no plugs for sinks and no bedside cabinets. In what passed for a wardrobe, there was no coat hangers - only 3 hooks attached to the wall in the wardrobe as it had no back! The unironed curtains didn't fit the windows properly, the promised wifi didn't work and the cooking facilities were a joke. The two-ringed stove was unplugged and shoved underneath the sink; when it was plugged in there would be no room to prepare any food as it would be sitting on the only worktop! There was no way it could pass for a kitchenette and it would be extremely difficult to prepare a meal with the available facilities. As for a "dining area" - there wasn't one - unless they mean sitting on the hard settee with your plate on the dirty black coffee table! There was no balcony as stated, the "slippers" are men's plastic flipflops and the "free toiletries" were tiny, cheap nasty bottles of shampoo. 

When the manager returned with the visa machine, it didn't work properly so he took £40 from me and said I could go to the bank in the morning and pay the rest in Lira. He could tell from my face I wasn't happy and I'd already decided I wasn't spending a second night in that dump. I had little option but to remain there that night given the time.  

During the night, the heat in the room was overwhelming and it was so hot that a bar of chocolate melted overnight on the coffee table. The bed is quite low to the floor (which, by the way, didn't have the lovely laminated floor as in the Booking.com photo) and, as there is no bedside cabinets, there is also no lamps. We had to use the ceiling lights - two groups of four lights so bright that they wouldn't have been amiss in Wembley Arena. I had very little sleep due to the boiler firing up loudly every 15 minutes or so.

In the morning we opened the curtains to see the most awful view. The apartment overlooked other rundown apartments and a derelict railway line strewn with rubbish. The windows are tinted with some kind of bluish covering giving the already miserable room an even more maudlin feel. 

I put the shower on to find that (surprise, surprise) it didn't work properly! 

We went straight out to look for another hotel, found one after about 45 minutes and booked into that instead. We returned to Demir telling them we were leaving and why. They put up no resistance, didn't offer us anything better and didn't apologise. 

I wouldn't board my dog in that dump and I've no idea why it has emerged with 6.4 out of 10 on the booking.com site. The place is a rip off and has no business being on a site like that. To add insult to injury, when contacted by booking.com, they said I didn't show up and were going to charge me a cancellation fee! I contacted booking.com, showed them the photos of the place, proving that I had in fact been there, and they apologised. Needless to say I was not charged a no show fee.

Demir Apart Home

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