CSS path not working

[eluser]cavancola[/eluser]
Hi guys

in my views i have a page called db_view.php and my link to my css file is

<link rel=“stylesheet” href="<?php echo base_url(); ?>css/styles.css" type=“text/css”/>

where my css folder is at the top level of the codeigniter folder...

in page source the link works fine

http://localhost/xampp/codeigniter/css/styles.css"

but still wont pick it up!!

any help appreciated.

S