A New Zealand woman has died after falling down a lift shaft while on holiday in Turkey.

Turkish media reports Keshia Handa died in the accident at the Great London Hotel in Istanbul on Saturday.

The Hurriyet Daily News says the 31-year-old was with a group at a salsa party on the hotel rooftop.

She stepped on a grate bridging the hotel roof and an adjacent apartment, but the grate broke, and Ms Handa fell about 10 metres to her death.

Ms Handa was "very talented and utterly beautiful inside and out", her former classmate Mel Stephenson said.

The pair studied health psychology together when Ms Handa was 23.

"She was just a delightful person -- really warm and genuine and just very caring," Ms Stephenson added.

"She was just a genuinely beautiful person."

Ms Handa was the youngest in a small University of Auckland class of five diploma students.

She later moved from Auckland to Brisbane.

Ms Handa participated in Latin and Indian dance activities and sometimes acted as well.

She was very popular, Ms Stephenson said.

"I just think sometimes bad things happen to good people."

Social media posts suggested Ms Handa had travelled in Southeast Asia earlier this year.

Tourist Police in Istanbul declined to comment on the investigation, referring questions to New Zealand diplomats in Turkey.