ISTANBUL · ÇIRAĞAN vs. FOUR SEASONS SULTANAHMET · 5 MIN READ

Çırağan or Four Seasons: the water or the walls, in Istanbul

Both are excellent, and the right answer depends on how many days you have. Two: the old city. Three or more: at least one night on the water. Four: both, in the same trip.

By J.C. Mercer

Verified stays·paid in full

	Çırağan Palace	Four Seasons Sultanahmet
Stayed	April 2025	April 2025
Room booked	Superior Bosphorus View, king	Deluxe Room, king, courtyard side
How it was booked	Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts, public rate	AmEx Fine Hotels + Resorts, public rate
What the channel bought	Not clear if upgraded, but a great view from an otherwise standard room	The full FHR package, with an upgraded room
Value verdict	Tremendously outsized value, especially in the shoulder season.	Worth it for the old city days; the ideal trip pairs it with the water.
When to go	April to June, or September to October. Book Çırağan	April to June. Book Four Seasons

Both stays booked the way any other guest would book them.

The question

Istanbul is two cities pretending to be one, and these two hotels are the cleanest way to choose between them — with the honest complication that both are excellent. The Çırağan sits on the Bosphorus with the last sultan’s palace at its heart and a pool a metre above the shipping lane. The Four Seasons sits in the old city two hundred paces from Hagia Sophia. I stayed at both in the same April, booked the same way, in the entry-level room at each.

The pool terrace and the Bosphorus in full sun, the suspension bridge in the distance — Çırağan: the pool terrace and the strait in full sun, the bridge in the distance. A ship goes past at arm’s length.

The real question is not which hotel is better. It is how many days you have. The correct answer, from three days up, is a ferry ticket between the two.

Looking down into the courtyard, its glazed pavilion set among the ochre wings — Four Seasons: the old exercise yard, now a garden with a glazed pavilion between the ochre wings.

Side by side

What	Çırağan	Four Seasons
Where	The Bosphorus shore, on the last open waterfront before the city closes up	The old city, beside Hagia Sophia, above the Marmara
The building	The last sultan’s palace at its heart, with a history wing the equal of any hotel’s	A former prison, converted; the exercise yard is now the garden
Entry room	Superior Bosphorus View, king: committed Ottoman revival, generous throughout	Deluxe, courtyard side: warm, low-lit, thick walls, deep reveals
Service	The more attentive of the two — more people on the floor, and it shows	Small-house warmth; names by the first morning
Pool	On the water, a metre above the strait — a tranquil haze all afternoon	None; guests are sent across town to the sister hotel
Inside the hotel	The palace, art worth hours of wandering, and a tour that may end in the sultan’s suites	The roof, and the building’s own history told on the corridor wall
Eating	Excellent — and Tuğra, in the palace, is exceptional: the Anatolian wine pairing alone justifies dinner	Excellent — Avlu draws locals across town, and the roof closes the evening
Families	The better fit: grounds, pool, and room to run	Tighter quarters, busier pavements
The days	Tranquil: the pool, the nargile at the rail, the art, Ortaköy on foot	Nonstop: all of Istanbul in a day, starting at the front door
Getting about	A car or a boat; the drive bottlenecks at six	On foot; tram or boat to cross to the modern city

A bed with a red runner against a patterned headboard wall, lamps either side and a seating area beyond — Çırağan: the room, Ottoman revival without apology.

White linen and a warm bedside lamp, with the door to the sitting room ajar — Four Seasons: deep reveals, thick walls, a courtyard Deluxe.

Noted

Observed on both stays, not measured.

What	Çırağan Palace	Four Seasons Sultanahmet
Wi-Fi	Strong in the room; spotty through the property	—
Noise	Quiet in the room; the street audible on the land side, the call to prayer each night through the window; blackout curtains weak	Silent in the room; the call to prayer carries on the roof, which is the point
Bed	King, medium-firm	King, medium-firm
Water pressure	Strong and hot	Strong and hot, no wait
Spa	—	Kurna Spa — hammam, steam and sauna; books out
The walk that matters	Ortaköy, about fifteen minutes along the shore	Hagia Sophia, three minutes

Where Çırağan wins

Service, to begin with, which surprises people: more staff on the floor means more eyes on you, and it shows in the details — at the Çırağan a screw from my eyeglasses, dropped invisibly to the floor, came back to me via housekeeping and the manager presented like it was the Sultan’s jewel.

The long outdoor pool seen from a sun lounger, a rolled towel on the chair alongside — The long pool from a lounger, towel rolled, the strait doing what the strait does. Nothing in the old city can answer this.

The pool is the other half of the argument: a metre above the strait, ships at arm’s length, and a tranquil haze that settles over the water side for whole afternoons. Nothing in the old city can answer it, and the Four Seasons does not try.

The pool lit blue after dark, the illuminated bridge and city across the water — The walk to dinner: the pool lit blue, the bridge lit red.

A brass water pipe standing on the terrace, its mouthpiece held ready — The nargile at the rail, held ready.

A copper pan of tomato and egg at the breakfast table, plates and juice set around it — Menemen in its copper pan, on the terrace.

And there is more to see without leaving the building: the palace itself, a history wing the equal of any publicly accessible hotel’s, art worth several unhurried hours, and a front-desk tour that might end in the sultan’s suites. Dinner at Tuğra — Anatolian wines packaged by a sommelier who is unreasonably good at it, at a table over the water in the palace — is the single table I would book first at either hotel. Families fit better here too: grounds, pool, and room to run.

The ornate palace facade seen through palm trunks from the terrace cafe — The palace through the palms. Ask the front desk for the tour; it may end in the sultan’s suites.

Where Four Seasons wins

Ease. If Istanbul is a two-day stop, this is the base and it is not close: Hagia Sophia is three minutes away, the Blue Mosque is on the ridge above, and the whole of the old city is a walk. It is the see-all-of-Istanbul-in-a-day home base, and the action outside the door is nonstop and in your face, in the way a first visit wants.

The illuminated hotel facade at dusk with the mosque glowing violet on the skyline — The hotel lit gold at dusk, the mosque going violet behind it. This is what the address buys, and nothing on the Bosphorus has it.

The roof remains the best single view either hotel owns — Hagia Sophia square in front of you, the Marmara opening out beyond — and the small-house warmth is real: names by the first morning, breakfast under a blanket without asking.

The lit courtyard from above, with the floodlit domes and minarets of the Blue Mosque behind it — The courtyard lit at night, the Blue Mosque behind.

A cocktail and its accompaniments on a tray, on a glass table looking out to the water — A cocktail and its tray on the roof.

A gull crossing a pink dawn above the gardens, with Hagia Sophia at the left — A gull crossing Hagia Sophia at dawn.

Verdict by traveller type

Two days in the city: the Four Seasons, for ease of travel, and be on the roof half an hour before sunset.

Three days or more: spend at least one of them — preferably two — at the Çırağan. The pace change is the point: the old city at full speed, then the water at none.

The suspension bridge lit red across the Bosphorus at night, a floodlit mosque on the far shore — The bridge at night, the mosque floodlit on the far shore. The Four Seasons does not have this. It also has no pool.

Four days or better: do both in the same trip, and I mean that strongly. They are different cities that happen to share a name, and the boat between them is one of the great cheap pleasures on earth.

With children: the Çırağan, for the grounds and the pool. For a first visit on a tight clock: Sultanahmet, and take the tram.

Bottom line

Both are excellent. Two days: Sultanahmet, for ease. Three or more: at least one night, preferably two, at the Çırağan. Four or more: both in the same trip, and thank me from the ferry.

See the full set: Çırağan Palace Kempinski — in frames and Four Seasons Sultanahmet — in frames. The stays: Çırağan and Four Seasons Sultanahmet.

The Istanbul galleries

Every photo on this site is my own, shot on the stay. Slide through →

A tray of Turkish sweets set beside a folded napkin and plate on a glass table

The ochre wings of the hotel and the rooftops of Sultanahmet under a pale, hazy sky

The outdoor pool and gardens seen from above, ferries crossing the Bosphorus beyond

A warm, low-lit passage with framed pictures and an open door to the room beyond

Close-packed roof tiles in the foreground, the mosque rising through a warm dusk beyond them

Terrace seating on the lawn looking towards the water in early light

Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque lit above the dark gardens between them

The mosque's minarets picked out in floodlight above the silhouetted rooftops

ISTANBUL, TÜRKİYE · STAYED APRIL 2025 · 5 MIN READ

Çırağan Palace Kempinski: A Palace on the Bosphorus, and a Tremendous Value

A palace on the Bosphorus, a pool a metre above the shipping lane, art worth an afternoon, and a dinner you should not die without.

By J.C. Mercer

Verified stay·paid in full

Çırağan Palace Kempinski

Stayed April 2025
Room booked Superior Bosphorus View, king
How it was booked Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts, public rate
What the channel bought Not clear if upgraded, but a great view from an otherwise standard room
Value verdict Worth it! Tremendously outsized value in the shoulder season.
When to go April – June or Sept-Oct Book this stay

Booked the way any other guest would book it.

Arrival

The pool is six or seven metres from the Bosphorus and about a metre above it, and the first thing that happens when you swim here is that a container ship goes past at what feels like arm’s length. It is the single most memorable amenity in Istanbul, it belongs to this hotel and no other, and it is the honest answer to why people book the Çırağan and keep booking it.

The address is on the European shore, on the last piece of open waterfront before the city closes up again. From the terrace you can see the bridge, the Ortaköy mosque, and a strait that has been the busiest thing in the neighbourhood for three thousand years — and at the heart of the property stands the last sultan’s palace itself, restored, open to its guests, and carrying a history wing the equal of any publicly accessible hotel anywhere. Smoke a hookah on the deck!

Ask the front desk for a tour of the palace side and they might take you into the sultan’s suites themselves. They took us into the one a very famous guest had left the week before — J.Lo, since you ask. The palace suites book like anything else on the property, and we are already plotting the return trip that puts us in one.

The front drive at peak arrival is the one soft spot: the road, the security check and the volume of cars combine into a bottleneck nobody on the property can really solve. Arrive at four and you will be the only car. Arrive at six and you will meet everyone else’s.

The room

I had a Superior Bosphorus View room. The decoration is committed Ottoman revival: a tall headboard of gold medallions on deep red, red bolsters, an octagonal black and gold side table, red-framed panelling. It is not the pale, quiet beige the rest of the luxury industry has converged on, and by day three I preferred the commitment.

The proportions are generous, the storage is generous, the bathroom is marble and large, and everything works. The corridors are wide and quiet. Book a Bosphorus-facing room in writing and confirm it again the week before: the water side is serene, the land side is a main road, and the rooms know the difference.

A box of macarons, a bowl of lemons and a drink laid out on the desk — Macarons, lemons and a drink, waiting on the desk.

A framed hand-coloured engraving titled Enfans de Turquie sortant en Ville, dated 1577, hung on a red wall — The engraving over the bed, dated 1577.

Noted

Observed on the stay, not measured.

What	Checked on the stay
WiFi	Strong in Room, Spotty through property
Noise	Quiet in the room; Çırağan Caddesi is audible on the land side, call to prayer each night through the window. Blackout curtains weak.
Bed	King, medium-firm
Water pressure	Strong and hot
Walk to Ortaköy	About fifteen minutes along the shore

Eating

Breakfast is the meal that tells you where you are. A proper Turkish spread rather than a European buffet with olives added at the end, and the thing to order is menemen, brought to the table in its own copper pan and still moving. Ask for Turkish coffee rather than filter, and take the second one. Have breakfast included and eat it outside every morning the weather allows.

And then Tuğra, in the palace itself, which is the dinner to plan the trip around: EXCEPTIONAL, and a must-do before death. You eat under the palace ceilings at a table overlooking the Bosphorus, and the sommelier packages Anatolian wines from around the region in a way that is unreasonably good. Who knew Turkey had excellent wine? Everyone except Americans, it turns out. What you get is a truly world-class introduction to the finest varieties this country grows, paired with delightful Turkish cooking, in the last sultan’s palace. Book it before you fly.

A jewelled first bite held up at the window at Tuğra, champagne and the Bosphorus behind — The first bite, held up to the window.

A plated course under green herb oil at Tuğra — A course under green herb oil.

A glass of red at the window table, the strait beyond the leaded glass — The window table, the strait beyond.

A Sarafin Sauvignon Blanc presented at the table — A Sarafin white, shown first.

A Kayra Vintage Narince shown before pouring — Kayra’s Narince — the grape to learn.

A Consensus red brought to the table — The reds arrive with the dark.

The pool, the palace and the art

By day the pool sits in a lawn of palms with the strait immediately beyond it and the bridge in the distance, and the light comes off the water and back up at you all afternoon. By night it is lit turquoise against black water and the bridge changes colour on a cycle behind it. Go early and take a lounger on the water side; by eleven in April the good ones were gone, and in summer that will happen an hour earlier.

The artwork throughout the hotel is extremely well done — well chosen, well hung, and worth several unhurried hours of wandering. The gallery through the palace is black and white marble underfoot, palms in patterned urns, lantern chandeliers, and mirrored panels that make it read longer than it is. Slow down through all of it; the walls are half the collection.

There is a hammam and a spa, and a terrace above the water where the hotel will set up a nargile in the evening. It is the sort of thing that could easily be a costume, and here it is not: set up properly, at the rail, at dusk, the best hour of the day to be outside on this property. Take it after dinner rather than before.

The nargile on the terrace after dark, the city lit across the water — The nargile at the rail after dark, the city lit across the water. This is the hour.

Service moments

Warm, formal and slightly old-fashioned, in keeping with everything else. Requests are met without fuss and without the performance of being met. The copper pan arrived at the same table every morning after the first without my asking, and the coffee with it.

And the moment that tells you everything. A screw came loose from my eyeglasses and fell to the floor of the room — a part so small you would not find it if you knew it was there. Housekeeping found it cleaning, walked it to the front desk, and the manager brought it to me presented like it was the Sultan’s jewel. I cannot stress how small this item was. That is what clean means here, and what care means.

A circular ottoman beneath a palm in the marble lobby, lamps ranged along the walls — The marble lobby, a circular ottoman under a palm. Arriving at four and arriving at six are different hotels.

Who it is for, and who it is not

Come for a view-first stay, an occasion, the pool season, or simply the most outsized value at this level in the city. Walk to Ortaköy along the shore in the evening rather than taking a car; the traffic outside will take longer than your legs will. Boats along the Bosphorus leave from a short walk away and are one of the great cheap pleasures of the city, which is worth remembering on a property that will happily arrange a private one.

Look elsewhere only if you want a small hotel where the desk knows your name by the second day — the Four Seasons in Sultanahmet does that, and I have written it up. It has no pool, no palace, and no ships at arm’s length. Nothing in this city is simple.

Bottom line

A beautiful hotel and a tremendous value, with the last sultan’s palace at its heart, art worth an afternoon, and a dinner at Tuğra you should not die without. Book the water side in writing, and ask for the tour.

See the full set: Çırağan Palace Kempinski — in frames. More Istanbul: Four Seasons Sultanahmet.

Çırağan Palace gallery

Every photo on this site is my own, shot on the stay. Slide through →

A shopping arcade lined with boutique windows, patterned carpet running down the centre

A plate of pasta scattered with vegetables, a glass of sparkling wine beside it

An entrance flanked by tall black feather arrangements over a chequerboard marble floor

The palace ballroom beneath a painted and gilded ceiling with a chandelier at its centre

Tag: Kempinski