Çağlar organized a 6 days trip in Istanbul and Cappadocia for my husband and I. From the communication, transportation, day trips, the hot air balloon experience, the sunset cruise as well as the drivers and the guides (Mr. Ali and Mr. Sefa) everything was great. We had a minor setback and Çağlar went above and beyond to help us mend the situation and find a proper and promptly solution. Overall it was an amazing experience. Highly recommended.

Our trip to Turkey could not have been any better. Caglar and the team at SGA Travel did a fantastic job putting together the perfect itinerary for our 9-day trip to Turkey. We wanted to get a good feel for Istanbul as we were there for 3 full days and 4 nights. We then wanted to travel to Cappadocia to explore the cave cities and of course enjoy a hot air balloon ride, but we also wanted to include a trip to Ephesus to see the magnificent ruins. I was putting together the trip and couldn’t figure out the best way to accomplish everything without moving hotels way too much or having too many super early mornings. SGA Travel nailed it! In Istanbul we did a sunset cruise on the Bosphorus on a small yacht with about 25-30 people. The company they selected was great with a wonderful captain/guide. We spent two days exploring the major sites - Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, the Basilica Cistern, Topkapi Palace, Dolmabahçe Palace, the Grand Bazaar, the Spice Bazaar and the Rustem Pasha Mosque. We even did a street tasting one evening exploring the Karakoy district in the late afternoon. Our guide was good and set a nice pace for us - he just wasn’t quite as good as the other two guides we ended up having. After our time in Istanbul, we headed out on Wednesday morning for a flight to Kayseri airport where we were met by our tour guide – the highlight of our trip. Sevda was an excellent guide and her love for her home was demonstrated in her enthusiasm and the great time we had together. We were with Sevda for only a day and half, but our time was so full of information, fun and great food it seemed much longer – Ozkonak underground city, an amazing pottery center, Turkish coffee at sunset overlooking one of the valleys, Uchisar Castle, wine tasting in a cave cellar and so much more. We packed a ton in but never felt rushed or like we had to cut anything short. One extra special highlight is that SGA had arranged for us to have lunch with a local family. Wow, what a treat. The Uz family were phenomenal hosts – we felt just like family and the food was delicious! With only a half day remaining in Cappadocia, we tearfully said goodbye to Sevda. Our last morning in the area we had a beautiful hike through the Red Valley with Ali who we nicknamed “Wikipedia” because he knew so much! It was great. He was a wonderful guide and the best part was that after the hike he escorted us to our hotel, on to the airport and flew with us to Izmir. It was great having a local navigating the flights with us, and he was able to tell us all about Izmir as we traveled to the hotel and then had a yummy Turkish tavern dinner in a local meyhane. Ali was very accommodating as we discussed our itinerary for the next day. To make sure we didn’t miss anything we wanted to see, we got a up a little bit earlier than scheduled and headed out to explore Ephesus and the Şirince village where we had a wonderful lunch overlooking the small village before heading to the airport where we all flew back to Istanbul together. Ali made sure we got checked in at the hotel (not too close but not too far from the airport) and he was off to work with his next lucky group. SGA you did a great job, thank you!

The hotel was in an excellent location for seeing the sites in the historical part of town. It was easy to walk to most places, including restaurants that we enjoyed. The metro was also reasonably accessible for places that were not within easy walking distance. Hotel reception and housekeeping staff were very warm and welcoming. The hotel itself is in need of updating. It feels old and a bit on the shabby side - considerably different than the images posted on the website. While our room with two twin beds was on the small side (we expected it to be small), there was a very limited view outside of our one small window making the room appear even tinier. Breakfast is excellent with availability of a wide variety of Mediterranean dishes, breads, fruit, etc. The space was always filled to the brim with other hotel occupants and the staff were a bit overly enthusiastic about taking our plates before we finished our meals. It was a bit difficult to relax during the meal. Overall, there is value to staying in this hotel for location, kind reception and housekeeping, and the breakfast buffet. An update, however, would make this hotel outstanding.