Sultana's: what to expect

Where you go

The ticket's meeting point reads: go directly to Sultana's Dinner and Belly Dancing, on the stretch between the Divan and Hilton hotels, and look for the street sign. The venue is on land in the centre of Istanbul, close to Taksim Square. Wikipedia lists the Divan among the grand hotels around Taksim, and Sultana's gives an address on Cumhuriyet Caddesi. If you are not taking the shuttle, put the venue name into a map app and match the hotels on either side of it, and look for the street sign the ticket mentions before you walk in. Arriving by taxi, show the driver the venue name and the two hotel names. The meeting point is the one on your ticket, so ignore any other address that a map app suggests for a similarly named place.

Getting to Taksim

Wikipedia calls Taksim the main transfer point for the municipal bus system and the home of the central station of the Istanbul Metro, so the square is easy to reach from most of the city. A nostalgic tram runs from the square along İstiklal Avenue, and a funicular links Taksim with the Kabataş tram station and seabus port. A route planner will give you the walk from the square to the venue, so check the distance on a map before you set out.

Read next: Around Taksim Square

The shuttle option

The ticket lists a shuttle transfer as optional, and pickup and drop-off as included if that option is selected. One reviewer says the pickup was prompt and the van comfortable, and that communication about the event and the transport was excellent. Another mentions an optional transfer after the show. Sultana's own site says guests who choose the shuttle are given a pick-up time from their hotel lobby, and its form asks for the hotel name. If the shuttle matters to you, choose the package that includes it and read the pickup details on the booking page.

Choosing a package

The ticket says you choose from packages based on your drink preferences and your shuttle requirements. The ticket lists unlimited soft drinks, alcoholic drinks and the shuttle each as included if that option is selected, so the packages are combinations of those. The booking calendar shows which packages are open for your date, and the fare appears in your chosen currency. If you are unsure, start from the drinks you want and add the shuttle only if you would rather not find the venue yourself.

The room and the programme

The ticket describes belly dancers, traditional folk dances and theatre in an Ottoman cabaret setting, with your own reserved table. The organiser calls the dancers Turkey's premier belly dancers, which is its own description. Reviewers add laughter and audience participation, and one calls the ambience appropriate to the show but a little old. Nothing on the ticket names the dancers or the dances, so read the programme as the one running that night, and let the folk dances and the belly dancing set different moods.

Length and timing

The ticket gives the duration as 2.5 hours and leaves the start time to the booking calendar. Each date there carries its own time, and your confirmation restates the one you booked. Plan the rest of the day around that confirmation, not around a time you have read elsewhere. One reviewer describes the food as well timed. Build in time for the trip from your hotel, and if you choose the shuttle, be ready for the pickup time you are given.

Dinner

The ticket describes a three-course dinner served in the cabaret setting. Reviewers use words such as good, tasty and well timed for the food, and one calls the dinner excellent. The ticket does not list the menu or any dietary options, and this guide does not either, because menus change. If you need a vegetarian, allergy-safe or other special meal, ask the seller before you pay, and keep the reply with your booking so you can show it on the night. Menus change, so naming the specific need is more useful than asking in general whether the kitchen can adapt. A reply from the seller in writing is worth more than a verbal assurance on the night.

A checklist for your booking

A few minutes of checking spares you most of the things that can go wrong with a dinner show, and the first item on the list matters most because similar names have led customers onto boats. Run through these five checks before you confirm, and again when your confirmation arrives, and keep the seller's replies together with your booking so that you can show them on the night.

• The provider name on the booking reads Sultana's Dinner Show Belly Dancing.
• The package includes the drinks you want: soft drinks, alcoholic drinks or neither.
• The shuttle is in the package only if you want it.
• Any dietary need has been put to the seller in writing.
• The date and starting time on the calendar match the evening you planned.

Access and booking terms

The ticket's not-suitable list names people with mobility impairments. The GetYourGuide ticket refunds you in full if you cancel a day before the evening, and its booking page lets you reserve now and pay later. Sultana's says on its own site that it reserves the right to cancel bookings, so if your date is fixed, read your confirmation as soon as it arrives and keep the venue's contact details from it in case anything changes. If you need to move or cancel, do it through the booking platform and within the window shown on the ticket.

The rating, read plainly

The booking page shows 4.0 out of 5 from 106 reviews, 3.8 for the guide and 3.6 for value for money. Those are a good score, not an outstanding one, and the value figure is the lowest. The reviews that stand out praise the dancing, the folk dances and the way the room joins in. If you want a show with plenty of audience involvement, those are the reviews to read, and if you want a hushed dinner, they are the ones to take seriously.

Read next: Istanbul belly dance show

Who this isn't for

If you need step-free access, choose another evening, since people with mobility impairments are on the ticket's not-suitable list. If you want a boat or the water, read the guide to restaurant shows and cruises instead. The room is lively, by reviewers' accounts, so it is not the quiet option. Nor is it right if you want the dancers, the dances or the running order fixed in advance, as the ticket fixes none of them.