Garden House Hotel

Outside, it’s a 19th-century Ottoman townhouse. Inside, it’s a compact and outstandingly friendly small hotel, with all mod cons in the rooms and a garden courtyard that provides a pleasant oasis in which to rest and reflect after trekking round the sights of Sultanahmet. Some of the guestrooms try perhaps a little too hard to attain that boutique hotel look, and the garden rooms, with their polished wood floors, kilims and wooden furniture, have a slight edge over some of the more modern alternatives, but don’t let that put you off. This is the kind of place that people unhesitatingly recommend to friends and have no qualms about coming back to. Free airport transfers for those staying more than three nights are a real boon.