Although it has been functioning as a hotel for only 14 years, the building that houses the Four Seasons in the heart of Istanbul’s historic Sultanahmet neighborhood has been receiving lodgers for nearly a century. It was built by the Ottomans as a prison in 1918. But in what was truly an extreme makeover, the former penitentiary was lovingly and carefully refurbished and turned into one of Istanbul’s finest luxury hotels.
Considering the Four Seasons’ location, just a few steps from the iconic Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque as well as next door to a recently excavated Byzantine palace, it makes sense that the hotel should have some history of its own. “You are in a one-of-a-kind setting when you can step out and find yourself in the middle of history,” says Tarek Mourad, the hotel’s general manager for the past three years. Topkapı Palace, the Ottomans’ first imperial home, is literally around the corner from the hotel, and the sprawling Grand Bazaar is within easy walking distance. “This building is part of the city’s history — it’s not an add-on.”
Indeed the hotel — a square-shaped building that wraps around a tranquil inner courtyard — exudes a sense of history. The front façade still has its original decorative blue tiles, made in the city of Kütahya, famed for centuries for its brilliantly colored ceramics. The hotel’s reception and lobby area, meanwhile, is made up of a series of intimate, loungelike spaces connected by high, arching passageways and decorated with antique rugs and paintings. A cozy piano bar off to the side is redolent with old-world charm, the perfect place to quietly nurse a drink or, on Fridays, to take part in the hotel’s popular weekly Turkish wine and cheese tasting event.
Seasons, the hotel’s sole restaurant, also evokes Istanbul’s imperial past, with a specially created Ottoman palace cuisine menu that features opulent entrées such as veal cheek and dried fruits braised in grape molasses, rosewater and bergamot. The restaurant also offers a contemporary menu of pastas, risottos and other Mediterranean dishes.
Guest rooms strike the right balance between historical charm and modern comfort. They are decorated with intricately patterned kilims, a type of Turkish flat weave rug, and framed ornamental fabrics; but they also boast modern amenities such as deep-soak bathtubs, high-speed Internet and 42-inch plasma screen televisions.
Staying in a repurposed historical building has its advantages. While many of its crosstown rivals have 300 rooms or more, the Four Seasons at Sultanahmet has only 65 rooms and suites, which means guests can count on very personal service. “The fact that we are a smaller hotel gives us a chance to deal with our guests in a much more detailed way,” says Harun Özkan, the Four Seasons’ head concierge, who has been working at the hotel for 13 years. “Sometimes we spend more than half an hour with a guest when we show them a map. We try to understand their feelings and exceed their expectations.”
Özkan and his team of three other concierges are ready to go out of their way for their guests. When one visitor expressed an interest in the custom-made water carafes the hotel puts out in its entrance during the summer months, Özkan tracked down their manufacturer and arranged for four of them to be shipped to the United States. In another case the concierge helped an American guest track down a Turkish acquaintance he hadn’t been in contact with in 40 years.
“The luxury that we hope to provide our guests is the kind that stays with the person, and this is done through being taken care of in a way that surpasses your expectations,” says Mourad, the general manager. “In a year from today, I hope our guests remember the interaction they had with our team.”
When it comes to making an impression, though, as hard as they work to please their guests, the hotel’s staff may find it difficult to compete with the historical wonders surrounding the hotel. The Four Seasons’ rooftop terrace, for example, provides a jaw-dropping view of both the 1,500-year-old Hagia Sophia, which seems close enough to touch, and of the waters of the Marmara Sea. On summer evenings the hotel invites a local troupe of whirling dervishes to perform on the terrace, turning it into one of the more magical spots in all of Istanbul.
