Four Seasons Istanbul
at Bosphorus
This long-awaited new hotel, Four Seasons Instanbul at Bosphorus opened in busy Besiktas in 2008, is partially housed in the 19th-century Ottoman Atik Pasha palace on the European bank of the Bosporus. It features a 623-ft waterfront terrace with a private boat and dock linking it to the Four Seasons Istanbul in Sultanahmet close to the historic sites. It consists of three blocks, with the original palace building flanked by two modern buildings. A circular drive sweeps down to the entrance, in the main palace building, with a lovely tiered gardens interspersed with fountains and waterfalls in the middle.
Once past the security barrier, guests at the Four Seasons Instanbul at Bosphorus find themselves in a wide reception area with pleasant and efficient multilingual staff waiting to greet them even as their bags are whisked to their rooms ahead of them. Classical music plays and vases of orchids are dotted about. The space is light and airy and has a great feeling about it. I t maybe that your also now looking straight ahead at the Bosphorus. The setting is dramatic and beautiful.
The large Lobby Bar and Lounge at Four Seasons Instanbul at the Bosphorus boasts a fireplace for winter nights, and is the venue for live music in the evenings. In contrast the Aqua Restaurant, with its Mediterranean menu interpreted by an Italian chef, spills out onto the terrace to take advantage of the matchless views. To one side of the terrace, the outdoor pool is reserved for hotel guests. Beside it is the Pool Bar and Grill, which serves light meals all day, and behind it a garden set aside for summer weddings, most of them inevitably celebrity or high society. In winter, weddings can also be hosted in the Atik Pasha Ballroom, with its soaring ceiling miraculously unsupported by any columns.
The beautiful basement spa at Four Seasons Instanbul at Bosphorus houses a fitness center, a hair dresser, and an energy bar, and offers separate sections for men and women, with a third hammam that both sexes can share as well. This division of the sexes means that doors have been omitted from some of the sections.
Price constraints mean that the most popular rooms are actually in the newer blocks. However, the Bosporus Palace Rooms at Four Seasons Instanbul at Bosphorus have to be the most atmospheric, mixing and matching the older structural decoration of the rooms with all the modern requirements such as LCD TVs, wireless Internet, minbars, safeboxes, etc. Beds at Four Seasons Instanbul at the Bosphorus are big and comfortable with white sheets and burgundy drapes to offset an otherwise low-key color scheme. There's plentiful storage space, too. The baths at Four Seasons Instanbul at the Bosphorus are equally grand and modern and feature L'Occitane toiletries, big mirrors and robes to go with the tubs and walk-in showers.
Four Seasons Istanbul at Bosphorus is a member of exclusive Virtuoso travel network. Book online or contact our Virtuoso Travel Advisor [email protected] for more details.
To learn more about Virtuoso click on the Virtuoso Tab!
