This was my first time in Istanbul, and I decided to go with the St. Regis as my previous experience with the hotel brand has been fairly positive, as was this trip.
It's a fairly walkable area, but it's at the very top of a few hills, so just make sure you're prepared to walk. Once inside the beauty of it and service is just top tier. The rooftop restaurant Spago is amazing, along with the service. The Brassiere downstairs is also great.
The rooms are very largely sized, but a few downsides... The shower head is a rainfall head, but the shower itself is so small you're stuck under it and sort of constricted in your movement. It's hard to wash yourself like that, and the bathroom and closet are so big, as is the room that they could've made the shower a bit bigger for sure. The TV in the bathroom also was basically useless, it did not work at all. There's also a few details here and there overlooked (dings, scratches, wood not finished to 100%) but nothing enough for me to really complain about to the hotel directly.
I would stay here again if I go back to Istanbul at any point in time, but I would probably break my trip up where half of it is here and the other half at the Four Seasons Bosphorus, not the Sultanahmet one. read more