Hotel Review: Hilton Garden Inn Istanbul Golden Horn

Hilton Garden Inn Istanbul Golden Horn is a four-star hotel located in the Golden Horn area of Istanbul. We were invited to stay at the property as part of the Turkish Airlines stop-over program. While on the outbound, we were assigned a room at Hotel Gorrion Istanbul, this time we had to live with a lower-end option. Yet, I didn’t find Hilton Garden Inn Istanbul to be a bad hotel by any means.

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Hilton Garden Inn basically is a three or four-star brand with limited service. That said, I didn’t have any great expectations when checking-in to the property.

• Classification: Four Stars
• Room Category: King Evolution Room with View and Terrace
• Month of Stay: April

The whole process took a while as there were several passengers with the same “fate” as us. The friendly enough associate immediately acknowledged my Hilton Diamond membership and put the number and file. We were even assigned an upgrade to a room with a balcony.

For a word about the location: The Golden Horn is located a few kilometers from the city center and comes with limited infrastructure. Yet, it’s a nice and quiet traditional area and you can easily hop on a bus or a taxi to reach the city center in ten minutes.

King Evolution Room at Hilton Garden Inn Istanbul Golden Horn

There are no big differences between the rooms at Hilton Garden Inn Istanbul with all being the same size. The differences between the rooms are the floor and whether the rooms come with a balcony or not.

We were assigned one with a balcony and thus were to enjoy one of the best rooms of the hotel. Upon entering the King Evolution Room, the bathroom is to the right and a small wardrobe is to the left.

Approximately one meter further, you find yourself in the main room with a King Bed with two bedside tables to the right, a comfortable armchair with ottoman further to the window and an universal TV board and desk with an ergonomic chair to the right.

The whole room at Hilton Garden Inn Istanbul Golden Horn looked quite modern and was in a very good condition. In addition, the balcony was quite nice and also comes with some furniture and a decent enough view.

Bathroom of the King Evolution Room

While I was quite positively surprised by the room itself, I found the bathroom, which is the standard bathroom for all rooms at Hilton Garden Inn Istanbul, to be a little underwhelming.

It was even tough to take any proper picture due to the small size. That said, the bathroom came with a toilet, a sink with some storage to the right and to the left and a decent shower.

Again, the bathroom at Hilton Garden Inn Istanbul Golden Horn looked modern and I found the space to be used efficiently. No luxury, but everything you need on small space.

Gym at Hilton Garden Inn Istanbul Golden Horn

Even though it was quite late in the evening upon arrival at Hilton Garden Inn Istanbul Golden Horn, I was looking forward to doing some sports. Surprisingly, the hotel comes with a relatively large gym with decent equipment.

The gym had small free weights, several cardio and even a few strength machines. Sadly, the air-conditioning wasn’t working properly (or not at all), making the gym to be a sauna.

Breakfast at Hilton Garden Inn Istanbul Golden Horn

Hilton Garden Inn Istanbul Golden Horn has a restaurant serving breakfast and dinner. Sadly, there is no room service offered after hours. Instead, I just went down to reception and bought a few snacks (there is quite nice choice of different snacks available).

But let’s get to breakfast, which we were able to try at the hotel’s restaurant. Hilton Garden Inn Istanbul Golden Horn offers buffet-style breakfast, which I found surprisingly good and underwhelming at the same time. Why?

Because the choice of cold cuts, cheeses and veggies was very good. Meanwhile, everything else was quite disappointing. There were rarely any rolls, tired looking croissants, toast and some average fruits and yoghurts.

Another positive aspect was the decent selection of hot options, which I didn’t necessarily expect at a Hilton Garden Inn.

Bottom line Hilton Garden Inn Istanbul Golden Horn

As I’m mainly staying at luxury hotels, making it a new experience for me to stay at a Hilton Garden Inn. That said, I was quite positively surprised. The rooms at Hilton Garden Inn Istanbul Golden Horn are small, but come with decent equipment, a comfortable bed and are overall quite modern.

The service was average and though was the breakfast. Physically, the gym was about average, but the lack of proper air-conditioning somewhat ruined the experience. Nevertheless, I can recommend staying at Hilton Garden Inn Istanbul Golden Horn if you are looking for a good value for the money in the city!

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