Swissotel The Bosphorus Istanbul - Istanbul, Turkey     

This is superb hotel in a great location just outside all the sites and directly on the Bospherus. As taxi fares are so cheap in Istanbul and so is the abundance of taxis (you will always get a taxi in minutes wherever you might be and at any time of day or night) this is not a problem. The hotel has great facilities, indoor and outdoor pools, indoor and outdoor tennis courts, designer shops, many restaurants ect.. The service is exceptional and the rooms are what you would expect. Try and get a room with a sea view or even the view of the floodlit outdoor swimming pool is good. The only downside is that the food and drink prices are absolutely ridiculous and I suspect aimed at the Japanese business man on expense accounts. There is one drinks bar there which is always kept in darkness for some reason and is generally empty, as it should be when you charge the equivalent of £17 for a Gin and Tonic...also, as everyone in Istanbul is a chain-smoker this bar can be awful....but the rest of the hotel is a delight. I would say that overall that this is probably the best hotel in Istanbul

I have stayed in this hotel twice now. If you book a lower priced room on the Internet, you tend to get a lower floor room in a wing, that means there is little view. There are excellent views, if you have certain rooms. Overall the hotel is large, comfortable, and with a lot of choice for eating and drinking. Views from the breakfast room are also superb. There is a bar on the rooftop, well worth a visit especially in the evening. If Besiktas are playing football, you can look down into the ground, and hear all of the ooohs and aaahs from the crowd. You cannot really see much football though. The hotel keeps a Swiss St Bernard dog, woth looking out for and saying hello. Pool area is generally nice, you can spend a few hours there in the summer quite happily. My bedrooms were comfortable, I slept well. Nice bathrooms. Wide corridors. The hotel is getting (slightly) dated, and parts will need refreshing soon. I personally enjoy this one, there are hotels in Istanbul that are a bit fresher, but I like the Swissotel.