"Bosphorus view" is the most abused phrase in Istanbul hotel listings. Some rooms open onto the strait; others offer a sliver of water between two buildings if you lean out. Here's how to tell the difference before you pay, and the neighbourhoods where the view is real.

Sultanahmet puts you a five-minute walk from Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and Topkapı, which is exactly why it's the most misunderstood neighbourhood in Istanbul. Here's which streets are genuinely lovely, which hotels earn their price, and what nobody tells you about staying inside the old city.