Istanbul : yes, at TravelGuys, we are not going to stop traveling because of some crazy people who spread terror in the world… Especially in such a beautiful city.
The significant drop in traffic to Istanbul ispulling down prices, both for air travel and hotels. Result: a €129 round-trip ticket on KLM and a St. The St. Regis at the unbeatable price of 150€ per night, breakfast included. Unbeatable considering the service standards of the brand, for which it is difficult to find promotional rates below 600€ per night anywhere in the world. A look back at this exceptional stay.
Booking
The choice of hotel for Istanbul was difficult: between the excellent rate of the W and the comfort of the St. Regis. But in the end, the latter won out because the price difference is justified and I already know the W.
The reservationwas made directly on the SPG website with my company discount code.
The day before my arrival, my reservation was changed by the hotel to a St. Regis suitewhile I booked a standard room: excellent!
Arrival
I arrived at the hotel after 1am. The whole team was waiting for me: “Welcome to Istanbul, Mr. Delestre“, even before I entered the hotel.
As in any good palace, the check-in is done seated.
Everything was already prepared for my arrival, and Iwas led by my Butlerto my suite on the 4th floor of the property.
Room
As said previously the St. Regis Suite which was assigned to me is located on the 4th floor of the establishment, and overlooks the beautiful park of Beskitas.
For my arrival, 3 large bottles of water and ice cubes had been prepared, as well as a nice basket of fruit.
The suite is composed of an entrance that opens onto a large living room that includes a desk, a sofa and a table that can be used for dinner. This room is equipped with mirrors which accentuates the feeling of space.
A well-stocked bookcase completes the room’s furniture.
On the right, the room is spacious and restful, the bed extremely comfortable. A dressing areacompletes this night space, with very large storage for luggage and clothes.
The bathroom is very spacious, has a bathtub separate from the shower and a television integrated in the large mirror. The toilets are separate.
In each room,a cell phone is available to all guests: it allows access to the Internet anywhere in the city, and serves as a Wi-Fi access point, to avoid having to consume a data plan.
To finish, a small virtual visit of this magnificent suite:
Service
As in all the hotels of the chain, a Butler is permanently available to answer all your wishes. Also, two pieces of dry cleaning per day are offered, as well asfree coffee and tea all day.
And as is the case at many Starwood hotels now,Let’s Chat was available, making it easy to communicate with the hotel front desk and butler.
Catering – Breakfast
The reserved rate included breakfast, so I didn’t go without!
The meal is served in the nicely decorated brasserie on the ground floor.
The service is very attentive here too.
An extremely qualitative cold buffetis proposed, as you can see:
Hot dishes can be ordered at your discretion from the wait staff, as well as any cold dish not on the buffet, such as a fruit salad that was excellently cut, I must admit.
Of course, the buffet is not impressive, but the main thing is the quality of the food in the plate and there, it is a top notch breakfast!
Bar
The establishment has 3 bars. We chose the bar behind the reception, which was deserted in the early evening, to explore the cocktail menu proposed.
This one, composed of about twenty pages, allows you to discover the creations of St Regis’ Regis all over the world
We have chosen to explore the differentvariations of Bloody Mary!
Catering – Dinner
For dinner, we chose to try Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant on the top floorof the hotel.
As usual, the American chef offers an Asian-inspired cuisine, but extremely refined to match the standards of the Starwood Group luxury chain.
Result: quite mixed, all in all. If the food is excellent, the service is rather average contrary to the one proposed in the rest of the hotel. The prices are extremely high, especially the wine list which is really outrageous.
Nevertheless, a little wink from your two favorite TravelGuys:
Spa
All hotel guests have access to the spa at no extra cost, even without booking treatments. The spa is very nice, and Bertrand and I were obviously the only two clients.
The equipment, besides being luxurious, is of excellent quality. The sauna and hammam ( unisex), as well as the wave pool are worth mentioning.
The fitness room is also very well equipped.
Departure
The departure formalities wereextremely simple, without a hitch. A late check-out at 5pm was offered to me, but I didn’t need to use it because of the time of my return flight.
Conclusion
Excellence at a reasonable price is possible. Especially in a city like Istanbul, which suffers from the drop in the number of tourists and smashes the prices in all respects.
