Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at the Bosphorus

Ferries from the Asian side pass within a few hundred metres of the terrace of Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at the Bosphorus, close enough to read the names on their bows. The hotel opened in June 2008 in a nineteenth-century Ottoman palace on the Beşiktaş waterfront, the second Four Seasons in Istanbul after the former Sultanahmet prison that the group converted in 1996.

History

The palace was built in the nineteenth century on the shore road that runs north from Dolmabahçe towards Ortaköy, in the stretch where Ottoman statesmen and members of the imperial family built their waterside residences. Its neighbour to the north is the Çırağan Palace, completed for Sultan Abdülaziz in 1871 and itself a Kempinski hotel since 1991. The hotel's building had fallen into disrepair by the end of the twentieth century. The conversion restored the palace block and added two wings behind and beside it, keeping the waterfront for the lawn, the pool and the restaurant terrace.

Architecture and design

The palace facade faces the water: a symmetrical front of tall arched windows and a central pediment in the late Ottoman manner that borrowed from European neoclassicism. The restoration kept the stone and the proportions and put the public rooms on the ground floor, with the lobby, lounge and function rooms opening towards the Bosphorus. The two newer wings are lower and plainer, set back so that the palace keeps its prominence from the water. The interiors use Ottoman motifs with restraint: Iznik-style tiles, marble, carved wood and textiles in deep colours.

Rooms and suites

There are 170 rooms and suites across the three buildings. Rooms in the palace have the highest ceilings and the original windows; those in the wings face either the Bosphorus or the gardens and the hill behind. Many have balconies or terraces, and the Bosphorus-facing rooms watch the ship traffic and the lights of Üsküdar across the water. The largest suites occupy the palace's upper floor.

Dining

Aqua, the main restaurant, has a terrace at the water's edge and serves Mediterranean and Turkish food, with breakfast on the terrace in good weather. Yali Lounge, in the palace, serves tea and cocktails through the day. The Pool Grill, next to the pool, runs through the summer. The restaurants are used as much by Istanbul residents as by guests, which is unusual for a hotel of this kind in the city.

Wellness

The spa has a traditional marble hammam alongside treatment rooms, a sauna, a steam room and an indoor pool. The outdoor pool is set in the garden a few metres from the Bosphorus, with the lawn beside it.

Weddings and events

The waterfront lawn and terrace are the reason the hotel is so often chosen for weddings in Istanbul: ceremonies and dinners take place outdoors with the strait and the Bosphorus Bridge as the backdrop, with the ballroom inside the palace as the wet-weather and winter alternative. The ballroom and a set of meeting rooms serve conferences and corporate dinners, and the hotel handles both Turkish and international weddings, including large ones.

Location

The hotel is on Çırağan Caddesi in Beşiktaş, on the European shore between Dolmabahçe Palace and Ortaköy. Beşiktaş ferry pier is ten minutes on foot, with boats to Üsküdar and Kadıköy; Taksim and Nişantaşı are about fifteen minutes by car, and the old city across the Golden Horn about thirty. Istanbul Airport is roughly 50 minutes to an hour by road. Among luxury hotels in Istanbul it is the one with the most direct relationship to the water, since the lawn runs to the quay.