I was partly placed in this bind because I decided to book a flight that lands in the middle of the night in order to have five full days in Istanbul. However, I honestly believe that my culpability ends there.
Anyone who's friends with me on Facebook and/or follows me on Instagram and Twitter knows that I adored all things Istanbul. Like, fell in love, didn't want to come back to Madrid, am trying to figure out a way to go back adore. That being said, the accommodations were less than stellar.
My travel companion and I decided to spend a few extra euro on a nice place to stay in Istanbul because we both read that you get what you pay for, meaning cheaper prices equals cheaper facilities. After looking all over hotels.com, we discovered Ottomans Tugra Hotel. It's conveniently located, included breakfast, would arrange shuttle service to and from the airport for us for an extra fee, and had pretty good reviews on hotels.com and TripAdvisor, though someone has recently added a horrible review to the former. For the price we paid for each night, I expected stellar service. What I received was attitude and a hike in my blood pressure.
It all started with an email that was dated April 9 and ended with one dated April 29, aka the night before I left. My travel companion and I booked a red-eye flight into Istanbul so that we would have five full days in the city. I very clearly emailed the hotel before booking to be sure that we would still be able to check-in at 2:00 a.m. without having to book an extra night. Push come to shove, I would've booked the extra night. In looking back, the manager confirmed that this would be possible. Fine, right?
But no.
The night before we left, I emailed the hotel to be sure that our shuttle was still set to pick us up. I opened my email chain with them and what do I see? An email that was dated April 16, but that I'd never seen until that moment (and I check my email at least twice a day every single day). That email said that I would need to book an extra night since I was arriving in the middle of the night. Mind you, this man pretty much stalked me about whether or not I wanted the shuttle until I replied (it took all of two days to decide). However, in the thirteen days that had lapsed since sending the email about the room, he never sent a follow-up message. So, I bit the bullet and loaded money on Google Voice (when the hell did they start charging!?!) and called Istanbul. What happens, you wonder? Madness. Just madness. I called and told the manager that I had just received/seen his email and he says they're completely booked for the night before my arrival!
Say WHAT!?
So, I asked him what he expected me to do, since I expected to be in a room upon my arrival in Istanbul. He offers to book me at a different hotel for the night. Hell. To. The. No. I told him this wasn't my fault, it was that of his establishment since I clearly asked in my first email if I needed to book an extra night and this bastard said no. What happens then?
Even. More. Madness.
For 90 minutes, the manager, who's also the "customer service representative", and I go back and forth about whose fault this is and what he's going to do about it, since I wasn't doing a damn thing or coughing up a single centimo more. This deteriorates into nothing more than us swearing at each other in our respective native tongues. Some of the impact of my words was lost due to the language barrier, but whatevs. Then, he. hung. up. on. me.
Yes.
Yes. He. Did.
So, I promptly call back and tell him that he's lost his mind. No one hangs up on me. His reply? "I'm sorry, Miss Ari, but I was afraid." My reply? "Be quiet, no you weren't."
Side Note: Was I being a gracious, forgiving Christian and acting like I had a college degree with all sorts of accolades to accompany it? Absolutely not. However, sometimes you gotta go there on folks.
Anywho, more talking ensues. He tries to cancel my shuttle and my reservation, at which point I threaten to show up at the hotel in the middle of the night and cause a scene to end all scenes. More talking. Nothing's resolved. End convo. I then called hotels.com and they became the mediators of this little pissing contest between manager/customer service rep from HELL (MCSRFH) and me. End results? We can sleep on the sofa until a room becomes available. I sent an email to confirm this (I like things in writing) and also informed MCSRFH that my friend and I would be partaking of breakfast and that we expected our room as soon as one became available and not one second after 12:00 p.m.
The next night, we arrived at the airport and our shuttle person was there. On time. No problems. I thought to myself, "That's right. He better be here." Mr. Shuttle Man was extremely nice and made our quick little trek to the hotel pleasant enough; in any event, my war wasn't with anyone but MCSRFH and the other powers-that-be at Ottomans Tugra.
We arrive at the hotel and are directed to the smallest and most uncomfortable sofa I'd seen in some time; however, it was home for the next few hours. I think I would have gotten a more comfortable amount of sleep had there not been a puppy in a diaper snoring next to me.
Approximately six hours later, breakfast was served. I also woke up just in time to see two people apparently checking out of their room. I asked the manager, who'd just arrived if they'd checked out of a twin room and he replied in the affirmative. I then asked him when we'd be able to move in and he said noon! Did we not have a screaming match about this not twenty-four hours before!? How basic can one be? I promptly whipped out our emails and he snatched them from me and read them. Anytime I have to produce nine pages of email correspondences to show you your own words, we have a problem. We were in there roughly 90 minutes later, after the room had been cleaned and re-stocked.
You would assume that everything went smoothly after all that, right? You know it didn't, though.
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| Really, tho? |
I don't understand why there are rules in the hotel. The manager told us that we couldn't eat or drink in our rooms. I later heard that this is typical in a lot of Turkish hotels because Saudi Arabian visitors would come with crock pots and other utensils so that they could cook in their rooms and they'd pretty much trash the place. A few (two) thoughts on this: so we just blame everything on the Saudis, is that it? Please stop with that. Next, I don't give one good damn who trashed the room before me. For 100 euro a night, I'll bring a prostitute and her pimp in the room and we'll party like it's 19 mofo 99. The manager, trying to be diplomatic, told me that the rationale behind this rule was that it was difficult to get stains out of the sheets. How about buying quality sheets?
Breakfast was, thankfully, kinda event-free. It was a typical Turkish breakfast with breads, olives, eggs, coffee. My issue wasn't with the food. The water is where yet another difference in opinion ensued. You could get water during breakfast from an Abita man can (you know, the blue thing). However, you couldn't fill your water bottle up from there. Instead, you had to purchase a bottle of water from the mini-fridge in your room. How much was said water? 5 Turkish Lira. On the street, you could buy a bottle for 50 Turkish Lira Cents. A Swedish tour guide who spoke Turkish spoke with the owners about this and explained to them that it's bad business to charge for water, of all things, but the owner couldn't have given one-quarter of a damn. It's extremely hard to feel welcomed in a place in which the owners, the people who created the establishment and who profit from it, care nothing about the comfort of their guests.
Quick caveat about the owners: they were two women who lived on the first floor of the hotel, accompanied by the snoring dog and a cat or two. They sat around the lobby or in the breakfast area all day and I rarely
saw them do any actual work. |
| #stop with these signs |
The towels in the room were only changed every three days. I couldn't care less about that, except I do believe that guests should be offered the option to have them changed whenever they want in a hotel. There was also a sign in the bathroom that said no cleaning shoes with the towels. #ignore. After a few days traipsing around slightly dusty Istanbul, my shoes needed--and received--a touch-up. This rule was, again, blamed on the long-suffering Saudis.
On Day 3 of our stay, our room wasn't cleaned. I'm not sure if it was because we left the hotel too late or what, but we didn't receive our coveted new towels. Again, I don't care about the dumb towels. I returned to my room and we were out of tissue. I told the concierge/receptionist this and he replied that the maids were gone for the day and the supply room locked.
Okayyyyyyy...
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| Not even a square of tissue left! |
I repeated that we needed more tissue and he repeated the same answer...and we just stood there awkwardly looking at each other. He looked as though he was wondering what he was to do while I was thinking to myself, "Does he expect us to drip dry for a night?" In his defense, it wasn't his fault; he'd just been conditioned by MCSRFH and the owners that, once the maids were gone, that was it. Roughly two minutes later, he came up with the magical idea to go knock on the owners' door and ask for advice...since they live in the hotel and all. After a few minutes of consultation, I guess she gave him the go ahead to get some tissue or something, because I finally got it. I feel that, if you own a business and the employees are gone, you become the employee and are responsible for the well-being and comfort of your guests.
The rest of our stay was uneventful. Our room was cleaned and towels replaced on Day 4, though the floor didn't look as though it was swept.
Conclusively, my issues with Ottomans Tugra Hotel are many, obviously. The manager, who should be setting an example for his employees, is the most unhelpful "customer service representative" I've ever encountered. The owners only care about their profits and pretty much seemed to give their guests the middle finger with their lack of helpfulness. The hotel either needs to revamp the way in which it treats its guests or close its doors. In any event, until they choose which to do, everyone should save themselves a few hundred euro and stay somewhere else.
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