WOW Istanbul Hotel: spa and indoor pool

WOW Istanbul Hotel sits at the Istanbul Dunya Ticaret Merkezi in Yeşilköy, postcode 34149. Istanbul Airport (IST) is about 31.2 km away, in a straight line, and the hotel runs an airport shuttle for a fee.

The landmarks most travellers come to Istanbul for are some distance away: Koça Mustafa Pasha Mosque is about 8.5 km away, Sancaktar Hayrettin Mosque about 9 km, and Mihrimah Edirnekapı Mosque about 10 km, all in a straight line. This is a hotel to choose for its own facilities and its trade-centre setting rather than for being close to the sights.

The hotel has two room types, and they are close in size and capacity: the Executive Room and the Superior Room are each 27 m² and each sleep up to 4. Both have the same bed arrangement, one super-king bed and two twin beds, so the choice between them comes down to whatever else distinguishes them at the time you look, not to space or bedding.

That bed arrangement suits families well: a couple can take the super-king while two children use the twins, and children are allowed at the hotel. The same rooms work for two colleagues or friends sharing, since the twins can stand alone. What the hotel does not offer is a small double for a single traveller or a couple travelling light; every room here is set up for up to four people.

The hotel's own facilities centre on wellness and convenience. There is an indoor pool, a spa, a hammam and a sauna, so the water and heat side of a stay is covered indoors. Fitness facilities are also on site for anyone who wants to keep up training.

For eating and drinking, the hotel has a restaurant, a bar and room service. There are meeting and banquet rooms, which points to the hotel's trade-centre setting and its business clientele, and facilities for disabled guests and a lift make the building easier to move around in. Parking is free, and the airport shuttle runs for a fee.

Check-in is from 14:00 and check-out until 12:00. Children are allowed. Pets are not allowed. Parking is free.

This hotel suits families and small groups who want room for four in a single room, an indoor pool and a spa to come back to, and free parking if they arrive by car. It also suits travellers flying in or out, given the paid airport shuttle and the trade-centre address, and anyone in Istanbul for work who needs meeting rooms.

It suits a traveller bound for the old mosques less well: they are 8.5 to 10 km away in a straight line. Pet owners cannot bring their animals, and anyone wanting a compact double room rather than a four-person layout will not find one here.