Anush and I spent the week of Thanksgiving in Turkey and just got back from an incredible trip to Istanbul and Cappadocia. This was my second time to the city of Istanbul and it was just as enchanting as I remembered it to be. Turkey has been open to international travel from all countries since earlier this summer. We spent 4 days in Istanbul and 4 in Cappadocia;  I will be sharing all my tips and trip details in my travel guides to the 2 regions later in the month so stay tuned for that.

For our time in Istanbul we stayed at the luxurious Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at the Bosphorus. Four Seasons has 2 stunning properties in Istanbul :

• Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at the Bosphorus : a luxe waterfront palace hotel located right on the Bosphorus on the banks of the European side, facing Asia.
• Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at the Sultanahmet : a historic hotel located right in the heart of the old city/Sultanahmet ( this is closed till Spring 2021 for renovations).

This was the first time we used a Travel advisor for our stay and the experience was incredible. We booked our stay via Moss Luxury Travel and I would highly recommend her for plannings any of your future luxury travels. Alexa from Moss Luxury Travel is a Travel advisor who has contacts from all around the world and she specializes in luxury travel & immersive experiences. She plans everything from weekend getaways all the way to 3 week safaris. Using a travel advisor like her dosent add any additional cost as opposed to doing it on your own, but it would add a ton of additional value such as complimentary daily breakfast, resort credit, free spa services and so much more! Definitely check out Moss Luxury Travel for your future trips! Now onto our recap of our stay at FS Bosphorus..

Timeless and iconic, the Four Seasons Bosphorus is a beautiful palace hotel between the continents as it sits on the shores of the Bosphorus that links Europe and Asia ! The main building here is a beautifully restored 19th Century Ottoman palace and had the perfect mix of ancient Turkish architecture and modern contemporary design. Staying here truly felt like we had a taste of royalty, which was an incredible experience in itself. This right here is my favorite part of the hotel – the stunning marble terrace with views of the Bosphorus. It felt pretty cool to be on one continent (Europe) and to be able to see the other one (Asia) right across the Bosphorus!

Just like what we saw at out stay in FS Bora Bora, the FS Bosphorus has continues to ensure that guest and employee health and safety remains to be their top priority. Four Seasons has launched an enhanced global health and safety program, called “LEAD WITH CARE”. With the resort also being at a reduced capacity we felt very safe during our entire stay here. Few changes that we noticed :

• Check in : contactless and an easy check in.
• Safety care kits : Our rooms were equipped with safety care packages that had masks, wipes and hand sanitizers.
• App : the Four Seasons App and Chat provides guests with real-time, contactless interactions with employees 24/7 from their own device on nine global platforms and in 100+ different languages. This reduced person to person interactions as much as possible. I was literally on chat all day with them (from concierge to front desk to room service) and they were super efficient in getting everything I wanted to make my stay comfortable.
• Mask policy : All the resort staff wore masks, guests were also wearing masks at all spaces except while eating or being in the spa, pool, etc.
• Digital contactless menus : my favorite updates in the restaurants, spa and in room services ! So easy to scan a QR code with your phone and order food, spa services, in room services, activities, etc.
• Contactless Housekeeping : For housekeeping and turn down services, we were given the option to call in and let them know when the staff could come into our room when we were outside.
• Hand Sanitizers : plenty of hand sanitizing stations throughout the property.
• Social distancing measures embedded in all services for guest protection, including appropriately spaced tables in restaurants, fitness equipment in the gym, modified spa menu and services, etc.
• Breakfast  : for breakfast there was a buffet option; however it was all behind plexi glass and the servers would serve you based on what you wanted. There was also a few items off an ala carte menu.
• Other measures : periodic deep cleaning with hospital-grade disinfectants at all public spaces.

We stayed in a one bedroom junior suite and it was so spacious and luxurious. It had a large bathroom, separate living area, bedroom and partial views of the Bosphorus. Here is a room tour of our gorgeous suite :

Check out their offers page where they have some great deals going on such as get a 4th night free or 20% off your room rate!

The hotel has 4 restaurants on property as well as in room dining. We tried 2 of them during our stay there – Aqua and Ocakbasi. Aqua was the restaurant where Breakfast was served everyday. I loved the beautiful glasshouse setting of this place, overlooking the Bosphorus.

Ocakbasi was their Turkish restaurant and my personal favorite! Instead of dining in the restaurant itself we got to dine in these super cute igloos on the terrace (only around the winter season). Such a romanic setting for date night!

As for activities – the hotel has a stunning outdoor pool which would be so glorious in the summer months, an indoor heated pool at the spa, a world class spa, fitness centre, etc. I got to experience a traditional Turkish hammam and massage at their spa ( thanks to the perk through Moss Luxury Travel!) and it was absolutely amazing. Highly recommend trying a Hammam if you haven’t already – it left me feeling so extra refreshed and rejuvenated.

Overall we loved our stay at the beautiful Four Seasons Bosphorus. Next time around we are dying to try the FS Sultanahmet in Istanbul once it reopens.

Check out my travel guides to Istanbul and Cappadocia for more.

Thanks for stopping by! xoxo

Jyo

Thank you to Four Seasons Bosphorus and Moss Luxury Travel for hosting us on our recent visit to Istanbul. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.