The Galata Hotel Istanbul - MGallery Collection 5 stars

I have added a few details that are not in the Google review because of a misleading reply from the hotel. My family stayed at The Elysium Taksim from 2 Oct to 8 Oct and had seen some mixed reviews and decided to see only because we arrived in Istanbul at almost 830pm local and had been traveling from the US for close to 20 hours. We arrived on the shuttle we booked around 915 and unloaded our luggage and walked in dragging it up stairs with staff watching, we only found out about a ramp when the bellman wheeled our luggage down a ramp that exited behind the valet stand. Check in was disjointed as several staff would start something and then walk away and then another took over. It took longer than it should have close to 20 minutes as we were the only people checking in. I will mention that Elvinia Shapoalova was there, I could read the name tag but she did not help, or introduce herself as the guest relations manager. Down the ramp across a cobblestone street to another building that our rooms were in, supposed to be "deluxe balcony" and when the side facing the main hotel is all windows guessed they were on the other side. There were small balconies that looked over a construction site, never anyone there during our stay. King room, my wife and I went in as my son went to the single that was next door with the bellman, we noticed cigarette burns on the benches at the foot of the bed and some paint that needed some work. The bathroom also needs some renovation, there were multiple paint bubbles with visible mold and mildew. My son said there were similar in his room. He also told us that he had to call 3 times to get the air conditioning working as well as several more times during the stay. No ability to adjust the temp and very low airflow and there had to be an internal timer because it was off by the time we woke up and the room was stuffy. My son also called because the door to his balcony was off the hinges on day when we came back to the room. The hotel sent someone and told him that it had to go to an outside contractor for repair and did not know how long that would take. One thing in common that we both mentioned was the "mini bar" refrigerator was not very cold. While my son drank one beer that was all they charged us for. We could not keep anything personal drinks and snacks cold as it only cooled it a bit below room temperature. The day we were checking out was a bit of an adventure, we were notified that the shuttle to the airport was delayed and would be an hour later than originally scheduled. I called the front desk and asked if we, and told them both rooms have a late checkout of 1pm and it was granted. The thing is this they deactivated my sons key card off, and found out when he came to get a towel from our room and in a towel with shampoo in his hair could not go back in. Called the desk who did send a replacement key over. Take our stuff to the "outbuilding" lobby and went to check out, tried to speak to the front desk who pointed to the concierge desk and told me to speak to the lady. I tried to explain the issues and all she wanted to know is why did you wait until now to say anything, I tried to explain that my son did call several times. I just gave up and went back to the check in desk and stood there waiting for them to send housekeeping to inventory the mini bars. The breakfast was a buffet style with a distinct main meal feeling, I am sure some of the it is because it is not an american breakfast. There was no check in just find a seat and head to the food. I only went 2 times because I preferred to sleep a bit later before going to spend the day visiting various places in the city. There was one cook to order station and it always had a number of people waiting. Drinks wire limited and only small glasses and if you took several glasses the bus staff looked at you sideways. I did not go to the spa/fitness/pool area but did walk in the service corridor that went past and it had a weird smell and my wife reported the same when she went to the pool and had to leave because of it. I understand that pool maintenance is difficult and more than likely a heavier then normal chemical load to keep it going but when it make it uncomfortable they need to back off. Would I say this hotel is not 5 stars and pushing it to 2 stars is a gift. The responses from the reviews on Google and Trip advisor all say thanks for letting us know how we did not meet their service standard, but it seems they have not done anything on their side to recover and meet the standard of a 5 star hotel. The website makes no mention of over half the rooms are in another building, not the ones shown in the pictures as they are all in the main building. If there is a high service standard then I have to ask why the guest relations manager at the desk when I checked in did not say anything about the staff shuffling or step in to assist so it was quicker and efficient, not even a greeting to a guest checking in who looked worn out from travel. Asked where to get something to eat and one desk clerk told us to come back after dropping our luggage to get some recommendations, we were told go to Taksim Square and nothing more. Would I stay there again or recommend it, a resounding NO! Go elsewhere.

The hotel was very nice and comfy and ladies ( seher and suzan ) at the kitchen were very very nice and friendly . Very close to everywhere

Ideally situated for the tram stop that take you to all the main sites. Staff very friendly and helpful.

Our deluxe room kingsize was supposed to be 30 sq m, but it reality it was less than 25 sq m

The hotel and its staff are correct. We really enjoyed the hammam experience. Wati and Warsini were professional and friendly, their service made a big difference for us !