Sheraton Istanbul Ataköy

I rarely stay at any fancy hotels, but for my trip to Istanbul I wanted to spoil myself a little. Usually I travel with my backpack and stay at hostels and guesthouses.

As a loyal employee at the Sherton, I naturally decided to stay at the The Sheraton Ataköy Istanbul.  As i booked my trip literally 10 hours before departure, I emailed the hotel prior to my arrival requesting for an upgrade. Fortunately I didn´t only get upgraded with one room category, but two. I was staying in a Premium room on the 10th floor with the most amazing view over Istanbul. The spacious 45m2 room did not disappoint what so ever. Everything you need, you will find in the room. If I´m being very picky, the room could use an face lift, a modern update to match the stunning bathroom.

The hotel had plenty of services that I had the privilige to use during my stay. Due to the location of the hotel, The Sheraton Ataköy arrange daily shuttle buses to Sultan Ahmet (The Blue Mosque area) and Taksim. This was definitely a very convenient service and highly appriciated from my part.

The Sheraton Ataköy has also managed to take care of their guests at the hotel and I don´t see anything wrong with spending days just relaxing at the property. There are amazing spa facilities like the turkish bath and massages, several pools both indoors and outdoors, plus a fully furnished gym.  The pool area also had a bar serving drinks and some snacks. The hotel of course had a few restaurants and a club lounge, but unfortunately I did not get the opportunity to dine at the hotel at all. 

The area around the hotel offers shopping malls, restaurants so that´s definitely a plus. If you wish to stay close to attractions and the city center of Istanbul, I would maybe not go for the Sheraton Ataköy Istanbul. However, If you are ready to pay for the taxi or use the shuttle service or will spend most of your time at the property itself, then I could definitely recommend the hotel. All in all it was fun staying at a Sheraton as a guest for once, and not working. I definitely saw things that we could improve at our property, and discovered many things that we do exceptionally well.

 I agree, the best nights in life are free!

Turkey - Istanbul

Istanbul is an extremely beautiful city. It´s certainly a city for all of us who enjoys photography. I spent many hours just walking around, getting lost and at times a little scared thinking will I ever find my way back to a place familiar. Getting lost in a new city and do things out of your comfort zone surely makes travelling even more fun.

I managed to visit one of the Princes´ Islands (Kizil Adalar) an hour from Istanbul with ferry. Interesting and charming is the fact that there are no cars nor motorbikes on these islands. The only method of transportation was either to rent a bike, get around with a horse carriage, walk and some of the locals were using e-bikes or scooters. I managed to have patience to stand in line for the Galata Tower in order to enjoy the view of the amazing Istanbul.

One surprising thing I discovered was the young generation was not able to communicate in English as well as I would have expected. Even though the Turkish kids in Istanbul start studying English in elementary school and the city is full of tourist probably all year around, it´s was always a hassle trying to ask for assistance or directions.  The reason might also be laziness. Surprisingly, the older generation such as the taxi drivers were always excited to practice their English and were even asking me to teach them something new.

What I already knew was going to be very irritating was the constant nagging from the vendors. “Hello madame, come and have a look, Gucci prada Michael kors, what are you searching for?”. In the past I have been able to shut this noise out totally, but this time around I couldn´t stand it. I didn´t buy a single thing from Istanbul, and that´s certainly not how my trips usually end up. 

In general, my trip to Istanbul was very successful. The weather was great, the taxis cheap and food was delicious. I think something that could have made my trip better was company from a friend. I´ve visited many places and not felt the need of company, but Istanbul would definitely been more fun with someone to share everything with.

Turkey - Istanbul

Whenever I mention Istanbul, I get the reaction "Ooh, I love Istanbul!" "Such an amazing city.." and so on. Finally I managed to earn some days off by working 7 night shifts in a row. In the last minute, or exactly 10h before departure I bought my tickets to Istanbul. Loyal as I am, I booked a room at Sheraton Istanbul Ataköy and all night paid with points that I´ve earned. So in total, I spent 160€ (1600sek) on the flight plus accommodation. Not bad at all!

When arriving to the hotel I got the good news that I´ve been upgraded. I will probably write a separate post about the hotel and the room I stayed in later.

My first day was great. I woke up early and by 10am I was sitting on a free shuttle bus taking the guests to the city center. I walked around "old town" or Sultanahmet as it is called here. I visited the Sultanahmet Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia Museum and managed to get lost and ended up at the Grand Bazaar. Honestly, I did not have enough energy to discuss any prices or shop anything, so I quickly decided to leave and return another day. Later in the evening I had dinner under the Galata Bridge (very touristic, so not sure if I would recommend it), which was average. The starter with shrimps was amazing, but the fish was very dry and the dish simple in general.

The weather has been amazing, and I believe it will stay around 25-30 degrees for the rest of the week.

Hungary - Budapest

As I moved to Sweden, I also got further away from my mother (only in distance, thank god!). Since both of us have a big passion for travelling, why not meet up in a city/country where we haven´t been to yet? Budapest it is! The main purpose of the trip was of course to spend some quality time, but also do some sightseeing and just relax. We met up at the airport and decided to be lazy tourists and grab a cab to our hotel.

Due to my job, we decided to stay at one of the Design Hotels: Lanchid 19. I have collected points to my SPG account, and decided to pay our stay with the points I´ve collected over the past few months.  We received a warm welcome and even a free drink upon arrival. The location of the hotel was good, the room was cosy, but the bed was one of the worst I´ve slept in for a long time. I´m used to sleep at hostels and dorms, and the beds there are of course not the best, but if you stay at a 4 star hotel, you expect a little more. Luckily, we didn´t spend too much time at the hotel anyways.

Our first day started with exploring the area near our hotel. The weather was amazing during the weekend, approximately 7+ every day. The Chain Bridge was located just outside our hotel, which is also one of the most popular bridges here in Budapest. We had a quick lunch at Buzo Bistro before heading up the stairs to the top of the Sankt Stefansbasilikan Church. The view was amazing and the church was incredible from the inside aswell! When we were done walking for the day we were both excited to try out one of Budapests most famous spas: Gellert Thermal Bath. The spa was amazing with all the details and various baths. However, there was no clear system where to change, nor how to get around the spa. Just a tip for whoever is going to a spa in Budapest: bring flipflops, your own towel and a cap for your hair. After a relaxing bath we headed towards the city center to eat and we most definitely had the most horrible dinner experience ever. I don´t remember the name of the restaurant, but if someone offers you discounts for you to go inside, don´t go! My mother and I laughed about this, but it was totally a waste of money and time.

The next morning we wanted to try another spa (what a surprise huh?). This time, we wanted to visit the famous Széchenyi Thermal bath. We really enjoyed this spa, especially the baths located outside. After allt he relaxing we discovered that the subway was closed due to maintenance. We spotted the Vajdahunyad Castle just next to the spa and went there to have a look. I immediately got "tale as old as time" playing in my head. We also had time to visit the Buda Castle before walking back to our hotel.

Sunday started with a brunch, continued with shopping and ended with a ice skating and a delicious dinner. Budapest was beautiful and I can only imagine how pretty it would be during the summer! Pictures below.