Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet
Tevkifhane Sokak No. 1, Istanbul, Turkey
Sultanahmet
67 Rooms
Contemporary Classic & Lively
This extraordinary hotel is housed in a former jail. But what a jail it is. Certainly, our idea of a penitentiary doesn’t include a yellow Neo-Classical facade, complete with archways, balustrades and columns at every turn. The entrance, with its elaborately worked limestone detailing, is enthralling.
Inside, you’ll find carpets, antiques, and hand-woven Ottoman tapestries abound, alongside ochre stonework, tiled tabletops, and floors inlaid with Turkish geometric designs. The wood and the wrought iron are native and the distressed paint work on the walls done by hand with a spatula, just like artisans did it in Ottoman palaces for centuries.
The Four Seasons Istanbul is also tiny, with just sixty-odd rooms. But despite its size, it has managed to have more windows than any other Four Seasons hotel. And every window has a view of the two most beautiful buildings in the city—the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sofia.
A refined and intimate spa, a blooming courtyard shaded by trees, and the delightful Avlu Restaurant, which serves a deliciously reimagined Anatolian cuisine, complete your experience.
And if sleeping in someone’s old cell still disconcerts you, you can take heart. Only the cream of the jailbird crop stayed here. It was reserved for writers, artists, and aristocrats only, and was even immortalized by Graham Greene in Stamboul Train. So as a Four Seasons guest, you’re joining a roster that is both good and proud. Besides, the sight of Hagia Sophia in the morning mist, so close you can almost touch its onion domes, is enough to make prisoners of us all.
Inside, you’ll find carpets, antiques, and hand-woven Ottoman tapestries abound, alongside ochre stonework, tiled tabletops, and floors inlaid with Turkish geometric designs. The wood and the wrought iron are native and the distressed paint work on the walls done by hand with a spatula, just like artisans did it in Ottoman palaces for centuries.
The Four Seasons Istanbul is also tiny, with just sixty-odd rooms. But despite its size, it has managed to have more windows than any other Four Seasons hotel. And every window has a view of the two most beautiful buildings in the city—the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sofia.
A refined and intimate spa, a blooming courtyard shaded by trees, and the delightful Avlu Restaurant, which serves a deliciously reimagined Anatolian cuisine, complete your experience.
And if sleeping in someone’s old cell still disconcerts you, you can take heart. Only the cream of the jailbird crop stayed here. It was reserved for writers, artists, and aristocrats only, and was even immortalized by Graham Greene in Stamboul Train. So as a Four Seasons guest, you’re joining a roster that is both good and proud. Besides, the sight of Hagia Sophia in the morning mist, so close you can almost touch its onion domes, is enough to make prisoners of us all.
Location
Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet
Tevkifhane Sokak No. 1, Istanbul, Turkey
Sultanahmet
Guest Score & Reviews
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19.7
20
Rooms & Rates
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Rates in USD for 1 night, 1 guest
Rates in USD for 1 night, 1 guest
Stay dates
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Check-in
Oct 6
Check-out
Oct 15
Rates shown in USD based on single occupancy.
