It has just 65 rooms and suites ... 1 restaurant (Seasons) ... small spa & fitness area ... and glorious gardens. It was built in 1918/1919 ... and until the 1980's was a prison! Yes - a PRISON! It was actually more like a remand centre as the Istanbul courts were just behind this building. The hotel features in the movie "Midnight Express" ... and became a Four Seasons hotel in 1996.
0800 - drive-up and
introduction to the hotel ... this was the "prison" entrance!
Opening of the show from a balcony ... in Sultanahmet (named after Sultan Ahmet). Behind me is the St Sophia Mosque ... what you can't see is the Blue Mosque. These mosques are awesome .. in both size and magnificence. More on those later this week ...
My suite is called the Warden Suite ... as this was this prison wardens's office. 65 square metres in area ... living room ... MP3 player ... flat screen tv ... view over street below ... dining table ... and is a
duplex ...
from the mezzanine it's a lovely view. I also have the largest window in the hotel ...
The bedroom has a legendary Four Seasons bed ... and a chaise longue ... for lounging!
The bathroom is made of marble .. there's a bath, steam/shower room and this lovely rug! No cold feet for me!!
The General Manager is a lovely Egyptian chap called Tarek Mourad. He is so passionate about this property ... and so he should be! It's truly lovely ... and peaceful ... and happy! He calls Sultanahmet the "centre of world" and he has a point. At one stage Istanbul (aka Constantinople and Byzantium) was capital of the Latin, Ottoman and eastern Roman Empires ... the centre of the world!
Down to the kitchen next to cook with the Executive Chef ... Savas Aydemir has been Exec since 1st March and taught me how to cook a traditional dish .. with lamb, onions, sorrel, puff-pastry, erm .. lamb juice and skill! I failed ... Boohoo ...
FINALLY at 5 p.m. we ended up at the bar with the Food & Beverage Manager Angela Moore who took me on a Turkish wine trip! It has been DNA'd that wine came from Turkey ... Anatolia actually ... the wine was erm - OK - I had a cab/sauv/syrah mix ... quite strong ... not really me ... wine is taxed at 60%+ for local produce and +180% for imports!!!! That makes every alcoholic drink VERY expensive indeed! Angela is lovely!Song of the Day: Seven Seas - Echo & The Bunnymen
Weather: The forecast was bad ... but it was great!
