The Door of East. Istambul, Turkey
Swissair Flight: Rome (FCO) - Zurich (ZRH) - Istanbul (IST)
Airline average. Uncomfortable the stopover in Zurich
Hotel: www.nazwoodenhouseinn.com/
The Naz Wooden House is a small, elegant and attractive hotel in the heart of the old town. The rooms have views of the Bosphorus (the best 2nd floor) or on the minarets of the Blue Mosque are not very large but they are elegantly furnished and offer guests nice and pretty like "amenities" (fresh fruit and other).
The staff is friendly and the area could be very calm if it were not for the railway line which passes behind the hotel (Bosphorus side). At night, however we have not heard any passing train.
Who sleeps by the side of the Blue Mosque be prepared to be woken up early by a reminder, unusual and far from boring, the muezzin for the first of the five morning prayers.
The attraction is its central location that places it within walking distance (15 max with quiet step) by the most important museum of Byzantine and Ottoman Istanbul as the Blue Mosque, Saint Sophia and the Basilica Cistern.