Travel is good, but traveling with tips from local people is much better. Here are the tips from my local friend from Istanbul, Ertugrul Konokoglu.
@ertugrulkonukoglu
To get directions, he told us which hotels he likes best in his city. These are the Raffles Hotel, the Çırağan Kempinski Palace and Four Seasons, which are also among my favorite hotels. In addition to these 3 hotels, he recommended the Swissotel The Bosphorus Istanbul, which is located in the Bosphorus Strait. This is a more suitable area for those who want to stay a bit further away from the center. The Swissotel has already been awarded as one of the safest hotels to be in and has views of the strait and rooftop pool.
Raffles Istanbul. Click on the image to make your reservation through booking.com
Four Seasons Istanbul at the Bosphorus. Click on the image to make your reservation through Booking.com
Çırağan Palace Kempinski Istanbul. Click on the image to make your reservation through booking.com
Swissotel Bosphorus. Click on the image to make your reservation through booking.com
And the St. Regis Istanbul. The hotel chain is present in several countries always offering complete services, which makes them worthy of 5 stars. At the Istanbul unit, you can enjoy the indoor pool and have an exclusive butler 24H a day.
St. Regis Istanbul. Click on the image to make your reservation through booking.com
The next tips are from restaurants frequented by locals. The best according to Konokoglu are Sunset grill & bar, Japanese cuisine. Arnavutkoy balikcisi yenikoy, seafood. Çırağan Palace Tugra restaurant, located inside the hotel indicated above, the Çırağan Kempinski Palace, serves European international dishes. The Ulus 29, which offers local cuisine as well as other European dishes. The cool thing about Ulus is that after a certain time the restaurant turns into a really cool club.
Sunset Grill and Bar. Photo: Google
Cecconi’s Italian. Photo: Google
Çırağan Palace Tugra restaurant. Photo: Google
Ulus 29. Photo: Google
Cecconi’s Italian is also a great option, especially if you are staying at Soho House. Masses are served there inspired by Italian gastronomy. In addition, he said that in Ortakoy you can also find good seafood restaurants.
Ertugrul has left us the indications of the bars, ballads and festivals most frequented.
In order to enjoy the evening, he proposed the Lucca Bar in Bebek and the Lounge of the Soho House Hotel. On Saturday, he advised us to enjoy Suits Emirgan’s traditional breakfast, and a Sunday brunch at the Four Seasons brunch is mandatory before taking a tour of the historic part of the city. The perfect Sunday night, for Ertugrul, ends in the lounge of the Sunset Grill.
Already on Monday, the script is Mangeoire in Bebek, and a day of laziness the + Fenix club, followed by an extraordinary dinner on the spot.
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