2nd largest Airport in Istanbul, 30 km from the city.

This airport is on the Asian side of Istanbul and is about a 40 minute drive from the main attractions associated from Istanbul (Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Grand Bazaar and so on). Although you may save a little on the flights, I chose to go with BA and land at Attaturk where I had a free taxi transfer from my hotel.

Laurence

I was looking at easy jet, you can get a return for around £70

it was just the transport the other end I was concerned about, also looking for hotel reccommendations in istanbul

I flew with BA and my flights were £85 each with a free taxi transfer. I stayed in Sultanahamet which is 10 minutes from Attaturk Airport. I stayed at the Hotel Nena, I put a review on this site. they also have a website. If you book online you also get a good discount.
If you were to email them they may pick you up from the Asian side but you will probably have to pay.
Sultanahamet is where most of all the famous sites are so it's a good base, although if you want clubs bars and general nightlife try staying around Taxim square.
Laurence

Thanks Lawrence,

did you enjoy it there ?

It was fantastic! The only thing I would advise is to plam an itinery well. We had 3 1/2 days there and we planned it to the letter so we could get all the sights in, and still we didn't have enough time. I have to say Tripadvisor is a better site to gleen info on Istanbul, that's where I did most of my research. Istanbul is an easy city to navigate and most things are in Sultanahamet. We also did a mini Bosphorus cruise which was excellent. It depends what you want from your visit. I bought the Lonely Planet guide to Istanbul which was brilliant. It tells you all the inside things you need to know, like restaurants, bars, Hammams, and where to pick up good bargins.
Any more specific info you want let me know.
Laurence