My husband and I stayed in Megara Palace in October of 2014 as a final step of a 20 day trip from St. Louis MO (USA) to Japan and Turkey. I could honestly say this was a true dessert! The location is unbeatable: walking to Agia Sophia, The Blue Mosque, Topcapi palace, (all 2-3 min) even walking to all the authentic shopping of Kapalicarsi (pronounced Kapala Charshi with the accent on the last sillables)(7 min) and the Egyptian market (aka the spice market). A few more steps and one could hop on a boat to tour the Bosphorus... If you like to be tucked away in a quaint atmosphere on cobblestone streets, yet smack in the middle of it all, this is the place! Parking is always available for the guest, which is huge bonus for this part of town.
We stayed on the fourth floor, one of the rooms with private terraces overlooking the Topcapi Palace wall, full of character in the fall, and the bay. Spectacular sunrises. The room is not huge but was well kept and the fridge was stuffed with mini-bar products. We never even turned on the TV (too many things to see and experience beyond that), but the WIFI was excellent and one could even use the hotel's office for urgent communication other than computer/Ipad/phone. I couldn't figure out at the beginning how the ladies knew when to clean, we were never bothered by knocks on the door or scheduling but our rooms was always made when we came back from our walks. At the end, we realized they knew when it is a good time to clean because we left our key at the reception, so we don't have to think about not losing it ;-).
The breakfast on the roof top terrace was fantastic. I don't understand what the visitors who thought it was "just OK" or "not wow." In my experience the, the restaurants that might have an elaborate breakfast charge for it, or are in resorts. The breakfast here was actually interesting, with baked goods every morning, all different, yogurt of the kind you only get from true farms, milk that had real favor, coffee (American, espresso and Turkish) and Turkish tea in unlimited quantities, boiled eggs (no scrambled or omlettes, but the boiling was done to perfection with a slightly runny heart of an orange yolk, with no green between the egg white and the yolk, which meant the people in the kitchen knew exactly how to cool the eggs... details, details...), grilled vegetables, several kinds of cereal, sour cream, butter, at least 3 kinds of commercial preserve and 3 kinds of home made ones, huge bowls of the famous Turkish walnuts, and on, and on... All included in the price of the room! We had a blast!
We also had dinner at the restaurant - Turkish dry red wine (you have to try it, it was spectacular), fish (Laverak and Hamsi - something like Sea Bass and small herring, also spectacular), tons of "meze" or the small plate appetizers that one could live on in Turkey... The staff was out of their way fantastic in their service!
Fun facts: the owner had a water gun on the terrace so people could squirt the occasional bird trying to steal some left-overs from the guests' plates. It was quite entertaining ;-).
Yes, the only thing that could be improved was the smell in the bathroom, we guessed that the old plumbing was simply not vented. To that I would say if you go to a city that dates back to beyond 6000 before Christ and you have all of the above, maybe this is one lack of convenience that could be forgiven. In any case, I did decide to include it, which for both my husband and I was a super minor thing, in case the owners are looking for hints to improve an already precious gem!
The art shop was full of valuable pieces of art and if you are lucky enough to meet the owner, he could even open your eyes to his most valuable collection of paintings that go beyond art! This, however, is a rare event and usually open only to serious collectors.
Overall a very lighthearted place, truly more like a home than a hotel, walking to almost all things worth seeing and visiting in Istanbul. I would go there again and again, even if it were only for the spectacular terraces, location and wonderful service and food. What else is left?!
Maya K.
St. Louis, Missouri, USA