The Peninsula Istanbul: the best address on the Bosphorus
Once a squalid district home to brothels, this prime location in Istanbul now boasts one of the world’s most prestigious hospitality brands.
It’s of a sign of Istanbul’s remarkable history that the city’s standout hotels are conversions of landmark buildings, the more so for the diverse functions they once served. The list includes an early 20th-century jail for dissident politicians and communist poets (Four Seasons Sultanahmet), a 19th-century sultan’s palace (the Ciragan Kempinski) and an Ottoman raki distillery (Sumahan on the Water). To that we may now add a Bauhaus-era, cruise-ship passenger lounge, the centrepiece structure at The Peninsula hotel, which opened last year in the waterfront district of Karakoy.
Barely a decade ago, this super-central port quarter near Galata Bridge – Istan-bullseye, you might say – was a thoroughly scruffy, even squalid place, where people would go for plumbing supplies; it was also home to Istanbul’s red light district. No longer. The transformation has been dramatic, with the lanes and alleys between waterfront and the Tophane tram stop now hectic with hipster bars, patisseries, boutiques, coffee roasteries, perfume ateliers and “gastronomy platforms”.
But it’s along the shores of the Bosphorus, site of the $1.7bn Galataport development, that Karakoy feels most spectacularly reborn. Admittedly, the new cruise-ship terminal has drawn inevitable local flak, mostly for the brutalist-style containment walls that rise to cut off the views of the water on the kilometre-long promenade whenever ships are due in. But the development’s other star turns, chiefly Renzo Piano’s new Istanbul Modern art gallery and the 177-guestroom Peninsula, the 11th property to bear the prestigious name, have been greeted with enthusiasm.
Guests enter via the portals of the 1930s passenger lounge, chief among the hotel’s four buildings, which delivers a lobby – that defining Peninsula signature – as grand, expansive and bright as any. An imposing marble fountain, mezzanine galleries, Art Deco-style ironwork and magnificent ceiling are among a wealth of retained period features. The clincher is that this jaw-dropping space gives straight onto a waterfront terrace that’s long on wow factor, not least for the views. Here, at the confluence of the city’s two great waterways, the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn, guests are treated to the sight of Istanbul’s fabled maritime traffic – ferries, tug boats, luxury launches, container ships, freighters, tour boats and tatty fishing smacks – progressing past the domes and minarets of the Hagia Sophia Basilica, the Topkapi Palace and the Suleymaniye Mosque. The terrace boasts an infinity swimming pool fronted by cabanas; there are pergolas fashioned from espaliered plane trees and gardens, home to 200 diverse trees and shrubs, designed by landscape architect Enzo Enea. All this and afternoon tea – finger sandwiches, vanilla creams, a black truffle quiche, served with fine china and William Wright cutlery – convince me that The Peninsula Istanbul has bagged the best location in the entire city.
The hotel’s guestrooms and suites occupy the two adjacent period buildings, an Art Nouveau maritime office building and a secondary passenger terminal, as well as a new glass and bronze structure, which also houses a grand ballroom. The interiors have been designed by Zeynep Fadillioglu, best known for the radical and lovely Sakirin Mosque in Istanbul’s Uskudar district. At The Peninsula she has married high international style – black lacquer doors, lots of brass and mother-of-pearl inlay, embroidered grey damask curtains – with classic floral and architectural motifs from Turkish arts and culture, notably tulips and the distinctive muqarnas-style portal-work that adorns Turkey’s Seljuk-era mosques and caravanserais.
The best suites come with shrub-filled patios overlooking the Bosphorus. The grey-marble bathrooms are fabulous, as are the in-house lotions (even if their authorship by “local fragrance curators” can feel a bit de trop). There are touch screens galore for the remote control of lights, heating, windows, curtains and music, for making valet calls or minute adjustments to the operation of bath and bidet.
The hi-tech extends to a 24-hour e-concierge system called Pen Chat, and digital access to about 6000 magazines and journals. Being more manually minded, I am reassured to discover selections of books – recent volumes on Turkish history, art, culture, ancient cities, wine – in the guestrooms and public spaces. I also take to all the art on display, most notably the work of renowned photographer Ara Guler, whose moody and atmospheric sepia cityscapes are memorable evocations of the life of Istanbul, especially Karakoy, in the mid-20th century.
I luxuriate in The Peninsula’s basement spa, with its 25m swimming pool, treatment rooms, hamam, sauna and “experience” shower. My attendant, from the country’s Kurdish southeast, and my masseuse, from the Black Sea, are reminders that people from every corner of Turkey have made their home in this great city.
At the hotel’s rooftop Gallada Restaurant, two Michelin-starred chef Fatih Tutak has gone further by celebrating Istanbul’s Silk Road links to Central Asia and China. His Turk-Asian cuisine is a revelation, mixing flavours, ingredients and techniques in a joyous reflection of Turkey’s diverse roots and cultures. There are skewers and woks, sesame and lemon yuzu, kebabs and dumplings, an oil flavoured with isot chilli paste and black cardamom, tuna from the Sea of Marmara plus date cake drenched in masala tea. Gallada, with its views over to Asia, serve a memorable reminder that Istanbul has always been a great global destination. And The Peninsula already feels like the city’s grandest billet.
In the know
The Peninsula Istanbul is in the Karakoy district; from €1050 ($1730) a night in a superior room.
Jeremy Seal was a guest of The Peninsula Istanbul.
