Raffles Istanbul

Amazing pick up and VIP service at airport to expedite walk thru on arrival (met at plane aero bridge) sped thru terminal on buggy and expedited through immigration and customs. Met at hotel by Butler and show immediately to room and given instructions on amenities. Lovely room on 13th floor. Spacious. Amazing bathroom. Good AC given summer season. One restaurant unfortunately only serving Asian/Asian fusion dishes = disappointing as we wanted a Turkish experience. Lobby bar served basic typical snacks and small dishes, pasta, pizza, burgers. Writers Bar and Long room not ideal for dining. We settled on room service Turkish meal which was awesome (over-ordered which is easy). Amazing food. Unfortunately nowhere in hotel has Barrista machine to serve good coffee. Everywhere around adjacent Zulru shopping Centre not open till 8 or 10am. Strict security and endless outdoor smoking = very difficult to avoid in Greece and Istanbul Found the best coffee in forecourt of nearby shopping Centre. But marked Raffles down on not having something easy to access for morning coffee except coffee pod Nespresso machines (eewww)

This is a modern Raffles and very similar rooms to Raffles Jakarta. It’s expansive and beautiful Our Butler Mr Mumci was excellent and warmly greeted us, avoiding the check in desk and taking us straight to our lovely room. I used the spa and sauna which was great plus they have a big gym and 2 pools. We had a beautiful room service dinner that was laid out on our dining table. We tried several local dishes - we definitely over ordered but we loved the food, so zero complaints. One criticism (and why only gave it 4 stars) is they don’t have a place that makes proper espresso coffee (NB - pod coffee is NOT espresso). In this day and age that is unacceptable for a 5 star hotel. We didn’t want a full breakfast and nothing nearby is open until mid morning. Enough said. Overall a lovely Raffles, now my 4th one with 2 more to go this year on my mission to stay in them all.

Returning yet again to this outstanding establishment - I have found that over the 3 years i have been going there it is not the location , amenities , room quality and services that make a hotel. It is true that it helps , however at the Raffles I have found and I have been privileged to receive such authentic, polite, friendly , thoughtful and heartwarming gestures and rapport from ALL the staff and this has grown on me ! They are in my view the jewel of the Bosphore !!!!! This uniqueness was highlighted by the following; During my first visit a few years ago I had received a small metallic screw on tub with body lotion. I continued to use this over the years as the size of this was extremely practically for travelling and I had used this over a couple of years to contain gel but the wear and tear showed that it was falling apart. Now during this trip I had left the tub out with my toiletteries one day and when I returned in the evening a surprise was waiting for me...not one but two little new tubs were positoned next to my old body lotion tub !!!!! This was a fantastic touch to my stay! The thoughfulness and observation runs throughtout the hotel. I always say: you don't need to always role out the red carpet for guests, true client experience will also come from the small little yet thoughtful and personal touches! Thank you Raffles Istanbul!