Cheers Hostel

Really great hostel in a great spot! Our private room was gorgeous and had a balcony view of the Hagia Sophia. Walking distance to all the best spots in the Old Town. The owners are so nice and welcoming! Great vibe and felt very safe.

Arada kalmış bir mekan. Tek iyi tarafı ayasofya ya yakın

Great location in my opinion with a view on Hagia Sofia. I stayed in the female hostel room and it was pretty confortable (spacious room, confortable beds, no bed curtains but not a big deal).The bathrooms were super clean and well maintained and definitely renovated with good showers (this was a big yes for me). This is a social hostel for sure, they had so many different events during the week and on weekends and you can easily make friends here. On the last floor they had a little bar/common space where they held their events, we also watched the world cup games in there. The breakfast they served daily was delicious and filling (buffet style). The staff were very friendly and helped with any concerns which I very much appreciated.

Zamaaaaaan

This place was awesome, had such a wonderful experience with the people and staff there. The pub crawls they do really make you feel in amongst the nightlife and built great social connections with other residents. One of the staff members John helped our group plan so many fun activities that made us felt like we did everything we could have, he also helped us plan our Cappadocia trip for such a great price! Would totally recommend this place to anyone wanting to visit Istanbul! PS the food is also great!

Had a great time at the cheers hostel. Amazing location close to many great tourist spots. The hostel also provides numerous social activities great for getting to know people. The pub crawl was especially fun would definitely recommend. In particular John was extremely welcoming and helpful. He helped us organise our activities in Cappadocia for very cheap prices. Great place!

Fantastic experience. Staff were incredibly kind and helpful where one staff member in particular - John/Jon, helped us plan out our next trip in Cappadocia after Cheers. He got us great prices for all those activites and meant we did not have to worry about planning it ourselves. The Cheers pub crawl was one of the best experiences of the entire trip.

Ich blieb 4 Nächte im Cheers und hatte eine gute Zeit. Die Lage, direkt bei der Hagia Sophia, ist perfekt und es ist trotzdem sehr ruhig, da das Hostel in einer Seitenstrasse liegt. Zudem ist im 3. Stock des Hostels eine Bar, in welcher alle WM-Spiele gezeigt werden. Leider sind die Preise in der Bar sehr hoch (5 CHF für ein grosses Bier + 10% Gebühr mit Kartenzahlung). Allgemein hat man das Gefühl, dass gewisse Mitarbeiter einem diverse Dinge aufschwatzen wollen (bspw. der überteuterte Familydinner). Dies ist eher etwas lästig. Nichtsdestotrotz ist das Cheers eine grossartige Wahl für Backpackers.

If you’re cross-checking HostelWorld ratings and would like an honest review, look no further. —Summary— We booked a private room and loved our stay at Cheers Hostel Istanbul. If it’s your first time in this amazing city and you’re looking for a fun, clean and supportive hostel we can’t recommend this place enough. —What to expect staying in the old town— Addressing some negative reviews elsewhere, it’s important to note that the old town is inherently more pricey and noisy outside relative to the Asian side of the city. I doubt any hostels in the district would be immune to this. If you’re visiting Istanbul for the first time or travelling solo and wanting to meet some great travel buddies, this is where Cheers Hostel nevertheless excels. —Accomodation— We were impressed with the relative affordability and quality of Cheers’ private rooms. These are situated in a building across the road to the main one housing the shared dorms, which made it a lot quieter inside comparatively. Despite the 3-star rating, our private room was nevertheless renovated to provide the standard modern comforts. Not only did ours offer an AC and a fridge, we also lucked out and scored one with a view of Hagia Sofia! —Service— You will be treated to free breakfast daily, offering modest yet nevertheless delicious and authentic Turkish food. We also enjoyed the paid activities like the weekend BBQ dinner and pub crawl. While albeit on the pricier side for hostel activities, given it is after all on the old side of town, the pub crawl did include busses to and from the other European side of the city and a few rounds of shots on the house. A big thank you to the Cheers Hostel Istanbul team - John, Ozan, Tank, Uğur & Tammy - for looking after us during our stay. They helped us find the best deals across town, whether it be fixed rate airport taxis, ATMs with no extra fees, locally priced shopping locations and even competitive Cappadocia balloon tickets. We also appreciated John’s help recovering our debit card when it got swallowed by a nearby ATM. —Taxi advice— Avoid hailing your own yellow taxis from IST airport. You’ll get these even with ride share apps like Uber and Bitaksi. We used the latter to avoid fare negotiations, but ultimately still got scalped 4.2k lira because of the driver’s “app failing” meaning the trip never started so we couldn’t use the app’s support. Instead, chat to Cheers Hostel’s WhatsApp in advance and ask for their help securing a fixed rate cab paid by cash. We did this for our ride back to the airport at the end of our stay for just 2k lira (as of June 2026). You only need to pay reception and they’re chill with you doing this after you’ve settled in, so no need to withdraw at the airport ATMs!

We stayed at Cheers for our 3 nights in Istanbul and we would 100% go back!! The location is perfect, rooms were just what we needed, and breakfast each day was so great. All of the staff were super welcoming and accommodating, we instantly felt at ease when we checked in. John even went out of his way to help us plan our upcoming journey to Cappadocia and the Türkiye coastline. Couldn’t recommend highly enough!!

Great hostel, friendly staff and perfect location. Belly dancer had lovely eyes and got everyone involved in the evenings festivities. Ugur is the main man at reception and makes sure everyone is looked after

By far the best hostel I have stayed at. Very fun staff who will play dice with you (sorry for stealing their money), the perfect location in the old town, and the coolest bar which overlooks the beautiful city. Rooms are very comfortable with aircon and clean bathrooms. THE BEST!!!!!! Also Tammi the bartender will always take care of you. Very friendly, fun, and caring of everybody who stays here. You will not regret coming for a beer and some darts.