Istanbul, Turkey

The Stay Bosphorus

Price per night from$296.91

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (EUR277.23), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

The Stay Bosphorus Photos

Style

Ortakoy Ottoman

Setting

Strait to the point

Explore

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Stay on top with a trip to The Stay Bosphorus, on the banks of the mighty edge-of-Asia strait in Istanbul. The Autoban-styled interiors bring a little Bauhaus to the Bosphorus, with a slick modern makeover to this 19th-century Ottoman-clan mansion. The fabulous family who built this beauty were also the architects of other Turkish delights, including the Beylerbeyi Palace and Ortakoy’s mosque (pleasingly visible from several windows). It’s a little away from the action in Ortakoy, but there’s a handy harbour for sailing the storied waters – and the former-fishing-village neighbourhood has its own scene to stick around for: galleries, boutiques and on-trend eateries.

Smith Extra

Get this when you book through us:

A welcome drink each and, subject to availability, early check-in and late check-out

Facilities

Photos The Stay Bosphorus facilities

Need to know

Rooms

26, including 12 suites.

Check–Out

Noon, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm.

Prices

Double rooms from £266.92 (€310), including tax at 12 per cent.

More details

Rates usually include breakfast. Quiet rooms are available; you can request one at the time of booking.

Also

The hotel has a gym, but if you prefer a moving backdrop for your workout, the banks of the Bosphorus form the perfect playground for a morning run.

At the hotel

Gym, terrace, free WiFi throughout. In rooms: air-conditioning, minibar, free bottled water, TV, tea-making kit, Nespresso coffee machine and bespoke bath products.

Our favourite rooms

You can see across to Asia from most of the windows, but the view is even better from your own private terrace – go for a room with a balcony and, if you’re feeling greedy, an Executive Bosphorus Suite, which has two balconies. All of the rooms have lofty ceilings, but if you're especially tall (or just like grand proportions), go for one of the four-metre-high Penthouse Suites.

Packing tips

Bring deck shoes and nautical stripes for taking to the strait.

Also

The hotel’s communal areas are accessible for wheelchair users, but there are no specially adapted rooms.

Pet‐friendly

Smiths of the canine variety weighing in at under 8kg are welcome for €35 a night; beds and bowls will be provided. See more pet-friendly hotels in Istanbul.

Children

All ages are welcome, but the hotel doesn’t especially cater to mini Smiths. Babysitting is available with a day’s notice for €20 an hour (minimum four hours), with an extra charge for taxis after midnight; and the lounge has highchairs.

Food and Drink

Photos The Stay Bosphorus food and drink

Top Table

There aren’t many places where you can sit at the frontier of two continents: get thee to the terrace.

Dress Code

These palatially proportioned surrounds are fit for a sultan and sultana: bejewelled turbans, optional.

Hotel restaurant

There’s no full restaurant, but a simple menu is served in the lounge: expect crowd-pleasing classics like burgers, schnitzel and grilled salmon, along with some pizzas and pastas. There’s also the riverside House Café next-door, from where food can be ordered and served in the lounge. Breakfast is a spread of muesli and fresh fruit, with organic bacon and fresh-from-the-farm eggs cooked to order. You can also go for a Turkish option – assorted Turkish cheeses, sausages and olives, and menemen, a traditional dish of eggs, tomato and green peppers – if you’re feeling experimental.

Hotel bar

There’s no bar but drinks are served in the lounge and on the terrace; plus, minibars have the usual suspects ready to raid.

Last orders

Breakfast is served in the lounge between 7.30am and 11am.

Room service

A menu of light bites like salads and pizzas can be served in your room.

Location

Photos The Stay Bosphorus location
Address
The Stay Bosphorus
Yildiz, The Stay Bosphorus, Ortaköy Salhanesi Sk. No:1/A
Beşiktaş
34349
Turkey

The Stay Bosphorus is on the banks of the famous continent-straddling strait, next to the namesake suspension bridge and in old-town Ortakoy.

Planes

Istanbul Airport is closest, around 40 kilometres from the hotel. Landing at Sabiha Gökçen International Airport is also an option; the journey takes about 55 minutes from here. Hotel transfers to either airport cost €99 each way plus tax.

Trains

Sirkeci is the nearest rail station, half an hour away by car. From here, TCDD trains run to and from other Turkish cities, including Ankara.

Automobiles

It’s a 25-minute drive to Istanbul’s Old City, but the traffic can be teeming – it’s probably easier to stick to strolling and taxi-hailing. If you do drive, the hotel has a car park that costs €10 a day.

Other

Water taxis and public Bosphorus-crossing boat services are also available.

Worth getting out of bed for

Admire Asia across the water, either from your room’s terrace or the hotel’s communal one, take tea in one of the cafés along the banks of the Bosphorus in Ortakoy, browse the district’s backstreet boutiques and don’t miss your temporary neighbourhood’s lively market if you’re there over the weekend. Carb fans should add tracking down a kumpir to their must-do list; the Ortakoy speciality – baked and then stuffed potatoes – is a street-food favourite. Culinary Backstreets will take you on a food-based tour of the Grand Bazaar, with sampling stop-offs for Turkish treats. The Bosphorus is on your doorstep – and the hotel will be able to help to arrange boat trips departing from Ortakoy’s handy harbour. The channel’s namesake suspension bridge is visible from the hotel, or you can cross the Galata Bridge from Karakoy to the Grand Bazaar, stopping to watch the fishermen dangling their rods. Ortakoy’s mosque is right next-door to the hotel. There’s no pool at the hotel, so head to a beach club instead: there’s one a little drive out of the city at the local-favoured Suma Beach, or try Sauda Club, a floating venue adrift between coastlines.

Local restaurants

Watch the Cihangir world go by from a street-side table at Mellow, which does a fine line in Turkish tapas, or stay closer to home and head to Iki Lokma for classic cuisine in a relaxed setting. Take a seat on the terrace of Sur Balik, a smart seafood restaurant with sweeping views of the strait; there are four outposts to choose from, but the Arnavutkoy one is closest. In Karakoy, Necko is a good bet for tasty and traditional Turkish food, particularly popular for its breakfasts. For after-dark revelry, head to Geyik in Cihangir, a coffee roastery during the day and a purveyor of creative and classic cocktails by night.

Reviews

Photos The Stay Bosphorus reviews

Anonymous review

By Mr & Mrs Smith

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this boutique hotel in Turkey and unpacked their tiles and Turkish delight, a full account of their city break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside the Stay Bosphorus in Istanbul…

At the sensibly named the Stay Bosphorus, you’ll get the best of both worlds (well, Europe and Asia) – this bicontinental bolthole overlooks the start of the East, the banks of the Bosphorus and a really quite big suspension bridge. The mansion – in the former fishing village of Ortakoy – was once the home of the Balyan clan, a stylish set of Ottoman architects behind lavish landmarks including the Dolmabahce Palace, the Belerbeyi Palace and the mosque you can (fingers crossed) see from your window. The palatial proportions are preserved (lofty ceilings, swinging chandeliers, parquet floors and pretty cornicing), but the Bauhaus-inspired Autoban studio helped coax the interiors into the 21st century. There’s a handily located harbour right next to the hotel for cruising up and down the strait, the neighbourhood mosque just adding to that view and a charming collection of boutique-lined backstreets in old-town Ortakoy. Even the fishermen would be pleased.

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Price per night from $296.91

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