The Bosphorus palace hotels: the back story

About The Bosphorus palace hotels: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Istanbul Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

In the 19th century the Ottoman court moved from Topkapı to new palaces on the Bosphorus. Several of these palaces and the mansions of the court are now hotels, so you can sleep where sultans and pashas once lived.

From Topkapı to the shore

In the 1850s the sultans left Topkapı for Dolmabahçe Palace on the Bosphorus, and the shore became the place for palaces, pavilions and the waterside mansions of the court.

Çırağan and its neighbours

Çırağan Palace was built for Sultan Abdülaziz in the 1860s and 1870s, burned in 1910 and was restored as a hotel; today it is a Kempinski, with an outdoor infinity pool at the water’s edge. Next door, the Four Seasons at the Bosphorus wraps modern wings around a restored 19th-century Ottoman palace.

Ask for a room facing the water: the Bosphorus is the whole point.

Upper Bosphorus mansions

Far up the European shore at Sarıyer, Six Senses has restored two historic mansions, the Kocataş Mansions, among gardens by the water: the quietest of the palace stays.

Our advice: choose Çırağan or the Four Seasons for grandeur and the old-city side, Six Senses for calm, and book a Bosphorus-facing room for the moment you open the curtains.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with The Bosphorus palace hotels: the back story before you go.