The Pera Palace Hotel located in the Beyoglu section of Istanbul has been highly recommended. It has recently been completely renovated. Anyone familiar with this hotel?

Yes, I am familiar with the Pera palas Hotel. We just came back from a dinner of the Philosophy and Art Association in its vicinity.

OC..I remember the PP before it was renovated...it was pure charm and not much else. Your Turkish AF put me up there at one time..I thought it was rather musty and creepy back then. No, OC, Agatha did not take me for a drink! But Pierre Loti did!

Please tell me they haven't destroyed the wire-caged elevators! As you know, it was a hotbed for covert ops during WWII where "neutral" Turkey played "sublime host" to Gestapo, OSS, MI5 et al...all the "boys"...I visited in '95 when the Chechnyan ambassador went on a hunger strike, in a VW van, across from the nearby US Embassy. When no one was looking, I brought him an Eminonu fish sandwich which he wolfed down...

SPK..have you checked the rates? I imagine the price tag has gone stratospheric since the makeover.

SPK...you'll notice that no one mentioned the PP on your thread. I wouldn't have if you hadn't brought it up. My guess is that you will not be too comfortable there compared to several of the other reccomended lodgings. OC, what do you think?

SPK,

I don't know if you've decided which neighborhood you want to stay in but if you want to avoid traffic, the best option is to stay in a hotel that is close to the subway. You can find luxurious hotels in the Beyoğlu area (which is very central and has lots of restaurants, bars, clubs, galleries, and also has the subway stop). Galata and Pera are two of the coolest neighborhoods of Beyoğlu where you can find fantastic hotels to stay in.

You asked about Pera Palace.. It's located in Pera, and is a great historic hotel. I haven't stayed there myself, but I know people who have, and they loved it. You can get more information on the hotel here: http://www.theguideistanbul.com/list...hotel-655.html

Very close to Pera Palace is a very new and fancy hotel called Adahan. Great location, very clean, very calm, nice, beautiful, great views. I passed by it the other day, and it looked amazing. I found a review of it here: http://www.theguideistanbul.com/arti...-city-580.html

If you're interested in staying in a luxurious boutique hotel in the very cool Galata district, take a look at this article too: http://www.theguideistanbul.com/arti...otels-575.html

Hope you find what you're looking for!