GLAMOUR HOTEL -- 3

SIRKECI, ISTANBUL

A Glamour Hotel single room is small -- about 150 square feet. The bathrooms are extremely small.

But you're not in one of the world's greatest cities to linger in the room.

You simply want clean, quiet, convenient, well-staffed and efficient.

Glamour gets at least 4.5 stars of 5 in each of those categories.

A stay during Ramazan was about $60 per night -- taxes and breakfast included.

The area is amazingly quiet -- and Istanbul is a pretty noisy city.

The bedding was excellent -- comfortable as a 5-star palace and 3-star prices.

The AC worked fine and there was an empty mini fridge, which came in handy for storing bottled water, soda and gourmet chocolate.

The best thing is the restaurants are far less expensive than the more touristy Sultanahmet or Beyoglu areas.

The food is even better and you will be eating among locals in Hocapasa Mahallesi.

I'd venture to say that locals outnumbered visitors 4 to 1 on the narrow, pedestrian streets around the Glamour Hotel.

http://www.glamourhotel.com/