We stayed at the Continental Airport Hotel in Arnavutkoy. A room at the front (506/507/606/607) gives you a view towards IST, which is about 3 miles away. Arrivals for the middle runways (35l/35R) come right overhead, and you can easily see arrivals on the left side (34L/34R). Runway 36 is used for most departures and aircraft can be seen over trees after lift off. There was one flight that landed that side, and you only get a brief view of it on short final.
The Continental is very basic and quite small hotel. Although you would get the impression there are dining facilities, all food seems to be ordered by the hotel via Deliveroo type operations, and you pay the driver when he brings it to the room. Having said that, the meal we ate there was really nice. There is also a garage about 10 min walk away with usual supplies. However the hotel isn’t luxurious but was clean, but we had a 5 hour period without water in the hotel, and as a result we checked out a night early to avoid risking a repeat.
There is now a Hampton Inn on the road from the motorway to Arnavutkoy. Guess that should offer similar views - Editor Note: see later reports.
Credit: Paul Rainford.