GUEST COMMENTS

As a Royal Ambassador member of InterContinental Hotel and a part-owner / shareholder of the major International hotel chain, I must express my deepest appreciation for the outstanding hospitality taht you and your team at the InterContinental Istanbul extended to me during my last stay August 18 and 19, 2011.

The treatment and servise provided by your staff from the moment I walked into the hotel were just superb, starting with the warm greeting by the front desk personnel to the night manager escorting me all the way from the lobby to my room and carrying my briefcase. I found this extremely nice and helpful, especially considering that I had quite a long journey prior to my late arrival to the hotel.

I would like to express my special gratitude to your night manager, Assistant Front Desk Office Managers, and all of your guest relations officers, for all ther assistance and support durin my stay.

During my last twenty years of intensive traveling, I rank your hotel as number one among all major hotels in the InterContinental hotel group and other five star hotels. Your hotel is number one, and that is due to your outstanding management and excellent team effort of the members of your staff.

I am very much found of Turkey and its people and your hotel just reinforces that feeling in me. I recommend your country and your hotel to all my friends and family. If you ever travel to Jordan or the US, we will be delighted to host you in one of our hotels. I look forward to visiting your country and your hotel in the near future.

It is my pleasure to recognize the staff of the InterContinental Istanbul for the outstanding services they provided during our recent April customer program.

The pre-program work and on-site contact with Selen Koksal, Group Sales Coordinator went above and beyond our expectations and ensured the entire program was successful and hassle-free. From the beginning, we were impressed by Selen's immediate response to our initial inquiry and her ongoing responsiveness prior to arrival, including assistance with Visa letters for our guests. She was also flexible and accommodating with any of the daily changes our guests required and all of this was managed professionally and seamlessly. She is indeed a valuable asset to your team.

In addition, I would like to acknowledge several other hotel staff for their assistance.

Can Kurtulus, Concierge, was exceptional in his responses to the many group activity needs, ground transportation and restaurant reservations. Atakan and Ali also provided excellent service to the daily requests of the group.

Slavina Kececi, Conference Sales Manager, and Volkan Karce, Group Coordinator, also provided timely reports and updates to the changes of the program.

Overall, InterContinental Istanbul staff exhibited the ultimate in professionalism, knowledge and timely response during the program. First impressions are important to guests and the Staff all represented true ambassadors for the Hotel.

On behalf of MEGlobal Executives and Guests, the experience at InterContinental Istanbul provided a most rewarding and successful program.

We were guests at the Intercontinental on September 5, the date of my 70th birthday. I did not know at the time that my daughter had sent you an email saying she would appreciate whatever you could do to make the day special -- and you truly did make it a very special day!

I certainly appreciated the champagne, the fruit bowl, and the lovely photo frame. Then, after we returned from dinner, we found the beautiful trail of rose petals, the heart-shaped balloons, and the rose petal heart with "70"
on the bedspread! It was beautiful and I know I will remember it all with great pleasure for a long time to come.

We enjoyed our stay at your hotel and especially appreciated your kindness.
If we ever plan another trip to Istanbul, you can be sure we will stay at your hotel.

First of all, I want to thank you for your gracious hospitality in hosting us at the InterContinental Istanbul.

The accommodations you provided and the hospitality we received from your staff were exceptional. I have stayed in many InterContinental Hotels throughout the world, but yours, by far, is superior. The level of service provided by your staff exceeded the superb service already associated with the InterContinental brand. In addition, I believe that you and your staff have added a unique expression of Turkish hospitality that is exceptional. My entire family felt very welcome throughout our stay. Traveling can often seem impersonal and one can feel anonymous. However, at all times, your staff made sure that our personal needs were met and anticipated. They truly seemed to enjoy being of assistance to us. This level of generosity is typically only present when staff feel appreciated by their management. It is clear that your staff enjoy working for you and your hotel.

As you may know, upon our arrival in Istanbul, we encountered serious difficulties in obtaining our luggage. However, your Concierge staff responded quickly to our difficulties and persistently monitored the situation with the airlines and the local baggage service until the situation was resolved. Ms. Ceyla Korur, Guest Relations Manager, was superb. Her personal commitment to excellence and exceptional hospitality was evident throughout our stay. Initially, she waited for us in spite of our late arrival to ensure that we were settled properly. Throughout our stay, she was gracious and professional, and especially attentive. She made sure that my family's needs were met, even arranging for our son to check-in before us when our return flight arrival from Izmir was delayed.

This personal and superb service is what clearly sets your hotel apart from other luxury hotels in Istanbul. We especially appreciated receiving expedited processing through Customs and Passport Control upon our arrival as well as complementary airport transfers. Receiving such exceptional amenities when we arrived helped us make a rapid recovery from 24 hours in flight. This was very much appreciated as it allowed us to enjoy our short time with our son. Again, Ms. Korur oversaw these services and took steps above and beyond to ensure our comfort.

Your restaurant staff even made our visit delightful. Each morning, we were personally greeted by one of the Brasserie Restaurant staff, Mr. Emrah Erol. Mr. Erol always remembered our personal taste preferences and made sure that we received our food rapidly. He even arranged for my son to receive a special breakfast dish that he had become accustomed to eating during his studies at Koç University. I know that these personal touches took extra time and effort, but Ms. Korur, Mr. Erol, and your Concierge displayed incredible initiative and enthusiasm in ensuring that our needs were met. They deserve special recognition for their personal commitment to exceptional customer and guest service. Please share our personal thanks with them.

Once again, thank you for making our stay in Istanbul so pleasurable. Your hotel is truly outstanding and is a jewel in the InterContinental collection of luxury hotels.

It has been a really long time since I wanted to write an APPRECIATION letter to Ms. Viktorya. So long time in fact, that I can't remember all the good things she did for me. She really stands out as one of your best customer-facing employees. She has to deal with VIP-type requests daily and is doing an excellent job in joggling multiple priorities, multiple responsibilities and conflicts between the best interest of the guests versus the hotel. Some highlights of my experience with Ms. Viktorya:
- Her attitude is extremely professional, she treats her guests as the one who cares and as the one who has authority
- She is willing to go extra mile to help her customers (I've seen her working late on multiple occasions receiving guests, helping with the events)
- During the Volcano crisis I've seen her especially caring and feeling the pain of the guests while providing solutions for them
- She helped me several times with tough requests, like reservation extensions on fully booked dates. Not every time I got the extensions, but I appreciate her trying anyways
- She helped me many times on smaller requests (like moving breakfast dates, some extra requests) – and each time I was very happy in dealing with her

In summary, Ms. Viktorya is a key person to make the hotel experience special and positive for me as a guest.