Best Western President Hotel

We were initially worried - going for the first time as independent travellers without the safety net of reps, transfers and welcoming parties - that it was all going to go horribly wrong. Well, we needn't have - it was simple. You arrive and buy your visa at the airport at about £10 a head. You go outside and agree a price to the hotel with a taxi driver and just go. Do check beforehand though, whether you need to reconfirm your flight during your holiday. We didn't have to.
The President Hotel is down a side street and is much more impressive than would first appear. It's big, for a start, and the porters and reception staff were pleasant and helpful although we arrived at 1 am. The rooms are spacious and clean with everything you'd expect. It's convenient for the Grand Bazaar (well worth staying there for that reason alone!). It isn't noisy (well it wasn't when we were there) and the buffet breakfast is superb - the fruit salad is world class. The internet access is free and they have a small bank of computers on the first floor which my 2 sons (17 and 21) made a lot of use of.
It has a little splash pool and a sunbathing deck on the top floor with amazing views of the sea and the ships - a very pleasant place to sit with an apple tea when you've done your sightseeing for the day. Because it's so near the Grand Bazaar you can get through quite easily to the Spice Bazaar and then to the Galata Bridge which takes you across to the Asian side. We got a taxi up to Tacsim Square and walked all the way back , through the famous district of Galatasaray (no sign of the football club!). There's so much to see in Istanbul you almost don't know where to start.
However, if I have one gripe it's this. The President charges outrageous prices for all drinks and food - their apple tea is 3.50 Turkish lire whereas in the cafe down the road it was 0.4 TL (Exchange in July2007 = 2.5 Turkish lire to the pound). Worse still were the drinks in the English Bar - my husband paid the equivalent of £4 for a pint of beer and around £6 for a gin and tonic. It's all very well to say that Turkey doesn't have a pub culture, but those prices are just taking advantage. A colleague informs me that there is a reasonably priced bar near to the Yerbatan Cistern (near the Blue Mosque/Haghia Sophia). I wish we'd known that before we went.
Apart from that - we liked the hotel.