BUDAKZADE KONAĞI OTEL-RESTAURANT 1841

I stayed in Izmir for several days in order to meet a tour group for Ephesus. I found this hotel listing in the Lonely Planet Guidebook then booked through Booking.com. When I arrived at the hotel, they didn't have a record of my booking but thankfully had an open room after I showed them my booking confirmation. Unfortunately, it turns out to hotel was far outside of the pickup zone for my tour group and I should have stayed on the other side of the bay in Izmir proper. It was the off season and the hotel heat was not on, which made it very cold. The mansion is quite charming but also has many of the downsides of a historical building (e.g., a very distinct antique plumbing smell in the bathroom). I found the owners / employees to be all very kind and willing to communicate via google translate. They were also super helpful when I couldn’t figure out how to get a ferry ticket because I didn’t have a local city transport card. The location seems like it would be better in the warmer weather due to the proximity to outdoor cafes, bars, and restaurants. The proximity to loud restaurants however made it a bit harder to sleep at night because of the noise. Overall, I think this is a nice charming, locally owned hotel. IMPORTANT TO NOTE: Travellers should know that since 2017, using Booking.com to book hotels in Turkiye is potentially very difficult due to a lot of the website being blocked within country. That means that you're not going to be able to easily view your reservations or any information about the hotels after you land in Turkiye. If something goes wrong with your reservation, you won't be able to use Booking.com to make another one