Ferah Hostel: adults-only Istanbul hostel with single rooms

Ferah Hostel sits at Atlamataşı Caddesi 35/A, Istanbul, postcode 34134. It is hostel and backpacker accommodation rather than a hotel, and that difference runs through everything about the place: the rooms are singles with shared washing facilities, the property takes adults only, and the offer is aimed squarely at people travelling on their own.

Measured in a straight line, Zeyrek Mosque is the closest landmark at about 0.3 km, and Süleymaniye Mosque is about 0.5 km away. Galata Tower is about 1.2 km away and Sirkeci railway station about 1.4 km. Hagia Sophia, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque and Topkapı Palace are each about 2.1 km away. Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (SAW) is about 32.2 km away, also in a straight line.

The Single Room with Shared Shower and Toilet is the only room type at Ferah Hostel. Each room measures 10 m², has one twin bed, and sleeps up to one guest. Ten square metres is compact, and the shower and toilet are shared with other guests rather than private to the room.

With a single room type there is no choosing between sizes, beds or views: every booking is the same 10 m² single with the same shared facilities. A traveller who wants more space, a double bed, a room for two people or a private bathroom will not find any of them here. A traveller who wants a private room for one person, and accepts shared washing facilities, will.

For a solo traveller, the comparison that matters is with the alternatives: a dormitory bed offers less privacy, a hotel room more space and a bathroom of one's own. The single at Ferah Hostel sits between the two, a private room for one person with shared washing facilities, and nothing larger to move to if plans change.

Check-in is from 13:30 and check-out is until 12:00, so the day runs from an early-afternoon arrival to a midday departure. A traveller flying into Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport, about 32.2 km away in a straight line, has the 13:30 check-in start to plan around.

The two exclusions are house rules, not preferences: no children may stay and no pets may stay. For a solo adult traveller neither rule touches the stay; for anyone else, either one can rule the hostel out on its own.

• Check-in from 13:30.
• Check-out until 12:00.
• Children are not allowed; the property is adults only.
• Pets are not allowed.

Ferah Hostel suits one traveller above all: an adult on their own, in backpacker mode, who wants a room and a bed to themselves and is content to share a shower and toilet. The private single room is the heart of that offer, more privacy than a bed in a dormitory, less space and no private bathroom compared with a hotel room.

It does not suit families, because children are not allowed. It does not suit couples or two friends who want to share a room, because every room sleeps one. It does not suit anyone travelling with a pet. And it does not suit a traveller who wants a choice of rooms, space beyond 10 m², or an ensuite bathroom: the single with shared facilities is the whole of what the property offers.

A group of adults can still stay, each in a separate single room; what no group can do is share a room, since each sleeps one. That is the boundary to know when planning a trip around this hostel: it is built for ones, not for twos.