Chic Airbnb in Historic Instabul

We arrived in Istanbul at around 1am after a few flight delays. We were excited to be coming into a new culture and language and also interested in finding out about the Turkish side is the story. The Greeks and Cypriots are not big fans of the Turks.

We got picked up from the airport in a disco taxi and dropped off on a random corner that the driver believed was our Airbnb.

The truth is we went way over budget on our accommodation in Greece so we had booked into a cheaper Airbnb in Istanbul which seemed quirky and cool in the pictures and descriptions. We got dropped off by our disco taxi in a super sketchy neighbourhood full of graffiti, random cats, broken walls and doors.

Our internet wasn’t working so Dale’s walked up and down the street looking for our apartment. He was convinced the address we’d been given was for an abandoned building without electricity so kept looking.

Nope. The abandoned building was our ‘Chic Airbnb in historic building in the heart of Istanbul’. The hallway was filthy, full of cats, paint peeling off walls and electrical wires hanging off the roof. There was a smell of smoke and dampness. Inside the apartment it was steaming. The place smelt mouldy and the couch and bathroom were full of mildew. The ‘spacious bedrooms’ were like closets and Ariah was too scared to sleep alone so jumped into our tiny bed.

It was quirky inside but there was no ventilation and the recent heatwave obviously had some bad affects on the apartment.

Next morning we moved out to another hotel with breakfast, a pool, sauna and day spa. So much for our budget.Read more