This Istanbul Hotel Looks Like a Fortress. Inside, It’s a Tranquil Escape.

Stay Here For

Proximity to Istanbul’s biggest tourist sites, including the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia—and a peaceful respite from the crowds and kebab shops.

While the canary-yellow paint job and blue Iznik tiles framing the entryway stand out on the cobblestone streets of Sultanahmet, Istanbul’s densely packed Old City, it’s this Four Seasons’ rich and varied pre-hotel history that makes it such a fascinating place to stay.

Originally designed in 1918 by Mimar Kemaleddin in the Turkish neoclassical style, the building was first used as a jail and detention center for defendants awaiting trial. Four Seasons took it over in 1996 and renovated it top-to-bottom in 2022. Original features such as hand-painted ceilings and marble archways abound, but there are contemporary touches aplenty—from the quartet of nazar boncuğu (evil eye) mirrors hanging on the lobby wall to the DJs dropping beats at the terrace bar at sunset, where conversations at neighboring tables unfold in Russian, French and English. (Most, though, involve someone standing at the edge of the terrace with a phone in hand, documenting the gobsmacking beauty of Hagia Sophia—seemingly just a napkin’s toss away.)

The hotel’s inner sanctum is a garden courtyard bursting with palm trees, magenta begonias and squash blossoms, the latter of which the culinary team puts to use at Avlu Restaurant, a modern Anatolian spot from acclaimed Turkish chef Özgür Üstün. If Avlu Restaurant is the beating heart of the property (it’s where breakfast, lunch and dinner are served), then its statuesque wood-fired oven flanked with green Iznik tiles and a bounty of copper pots and pans is the main chamber. When that fire gets going and out pops lahmacun, delicious Turkish flatbread topped with minced meat, it sends even the hotel’s youngest guests into a clap-happy frenzy. (Like all Four Seasons properties, this one is particularly welcoming of multigenerational groups and families with young children.)

Kurna Spa, a bijou retreat with two Turkish hammams (including one designed for couples), beckons with sumptuous Arabescato marble, more Iznik tile and old-world touches such as filigreed copper pots and Ottoman-era bath clogs. While you can always book a deep-tissue massage or reconditioning facial, it’s the traditional Turkish bath with its full-body scrub and lathery foam massage that you really need in your life—or at least, after a daylong sweep of the city.

The Essentials

The Location

Set in a densely packed neighborhood, the hotel is steps from Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapı Palace, the sixth-century Basilica Cistern (Yerebatan Sarnıcı) and Sultanahmet Square, once the central hippodrome of Byzantine Constantinople. The Grand Bazaar is less than a mile away on foot, or you can always retreat into the serene gardens of Gülhane Park—the oldest in the city.

Galata Tower, a 14th-century Genoese watchtower overlooking the Golden Horn, now serves as one of the city’s best viewpoints—and it’s only a 15-minute drive from the property.

The Room

The hotel offers 11 accommodation categories to choose from. The One-Bedroom Suites on the first through third floors hit all the right notes, with separate living and sleeping quarters and views of the courtyard’s blooming begonias and former watchtower. Among the in-room amenities are deep soaking tubs with Turkish peshtemals and Diptyque bath products, hooded ikat robes and a minibar stocked with pistachio-studded milk chocolate. (This is in addition to the usual accoutrements such as satin hangers and Nespresso machines.) For the ultimate indulgence, lock in one of two specialty suites; the Marmara and St. Sophia both have vaulted ceilings and fireplaces, dining areas large enough to throw private dinner parties and flower-laden terraces with views of the Sea of Marmara and Hagia Sophia, respectively.

The Bars And Restaurants

Chef Üstün’s team at Avlu Restaurant is capable of making much more than Turkish flatbread, though it’s certainly among their tastiest offerings. One of their standout seasonal dishes is duck tirit, a slow-cooked bird with phyllo dough soaked in duck stock. Down in the courtyard, Avlu Restaurant’s outdoor dining gazebos encourage diners to linger—all the better to sample the Seven Region Gastronomic Tour, a tasting menu available in meat-centric and vegetarian versions, before ending the night with a sweet from La Pistache Patisserie, the apothecary-like pastry counter in the lobby. The fruit tarts are beautiful to behold, but the pestil, made with mulberry pulp, coconut and hazelnut paste, is a true taste of Turkey.

Or better yet, take the party up to The Rooftop, a seasonal restobar. With clear views of both city and sea, it’s best experienced with a rakı cocktail in one hand—try the curious Echo of Eden, made with pisco, mastic liqueur and matcha syrup—and warm pide in the other. Weather not cooperating? No bother: Reroute down to Lingo Lingo, a buzzy, multiroom lounge with brass-and-leather chandeliers and dim lighting where stylish patrons chat up gregarious mixologists at a bar lined with bottles of grapefruit oil and coffee-infused gin. The East & West, a tasty grape and sake cocktail made with rakı, is among the crowd favorites.

The Standout Feature

The heavenly Turkish bath in the private hammam at Kurna Spa. The marble-slab scrub down begins with a flute of purple basil sherbet and ends with aryan (a salted yogurt drink served in a copper cup), and sloughs away heaps of dead skin, engulfing the body in a froth of lather, leaving you as shiny as a diamond with muscles like melted butter.

The Time To Go

June through August is peak season, with soaring prices and the mercury to match. Spring and fall offer milder weather and fewer crowds, but there’s something magical about seeing the city’s layer-cake mosques dusted in snow come winter.

The Vibe

The hotel is outfitted with its own small mosque that guests may use.

The neat detail you’ll tell everyone at home about: The prisoners’ names carved into a marble column near the hotel’s second-story elevator. The scratch graffiti is a humbling reminder of the hotel’s unique place in Turkish history.

The perfect photo background: The courtyard of The Rooftop, with its expansive aerial views. Go at golden hour when the seagulls loop and dive like fighter jets against an ombré sunset and a DJ spins chill club beats, pausing only for the adhan, or Muslim call to prayer.

The dish you’re re-creating at home: Avlu Restaurant’s kadayif, a mastic-flavored milk pudding served with fig marmalade, clotted-cream ice cream and a dusting of cinnamon.

The souvenir from the gift shop you’re bringing home: A concentrated perfume oil from luxurious Turkish brand Parfûmane. The Ottoman-style crystal bottles in the Beykoz Collection are sold alongside miniature paintings and antique Turkish tomes in Selim Sahaf, the deftly curated hotel boutique.

Selim Sahaf, the hotel’s bijou boutique, is worth browsing for rare books, miniature paintings and divine fragrances.

Everything Else