Armada Hotel (Sultanahmet - Stopover hotel - Economy ticket)

As a THY stopover guest, check-in is pretty simple with passport check.  Make sure your stopover voucher has the correct check-in/check-out dates.  This is one of the Economy contracted hotels in the area. The other one is Grand Yavuz, but I think Armada is slightly nicer and a bit closer to walk to main historic sites.

No deposit or card was required.  There might be flexibility in check-in/check-out timings, but I didn't need such option.

Visa (if needed) and airport shuttle is not included.  I booked my airport shuttle at booking.com (25 to 40 EUR) and found the price more reasonable than the one offered by the hotel and similar to what travel stores around Istanbul promoted.

There is a bank ATM at the hotel.

The room provided is the base type of room with capacity of 2 or 3 people.  You can get multiple rooms from THY provided as long as each room has 2 or 3 ticketed passengers.

The room has coffee/tea option and a refrigerator with bottled water provided daily.

The bed was comfortable, but the room was small with minimal space to move around. There also is a lack of power outlets by the bed due to the layout/build of the rooms.

Minimal toiletries are provided (primarily just an all-in-one body soap), so bring what you need.

The staff is friendly and can help with bags and other area suggestions, but it tends to be more understated and there if you need it.

Breakfast is included for all guests.  It is a buffet layout in the upper terrace restaurant which has the main views of the Bosphorous as well as the major historic sites.  It has a nice choice of breads, fruits, egg option along with availability of tea, coffee and sour lemonade as options.  It may not be as amazing as in earlier years, but still has enough options.

I did not try the restaurant for other meals.  In the surrounding area, there are mostly seafood restaurants, but there are many other tourist-oriented restaurants deeper into Sultanahmet that you can walk to from the hotel.

Personally, I can't think of a better region of Istanbul to stay for a first or second visit to the area.  The major sites are "next door" and a day-trip to Taksim was still easy to do.

I feel rather than stay in more typical "city centers" with tall buildings and yet another modern shopping mall, this area gives you something unique with the hundreds of cats and unique streets in this district.

Uber does work for local trips because there is a major road nearby to provide easy access to taxis.

While not a fancy property, a very suitable property with good service and location that works well for the stopover program.