Mandarin Oriental Istanbul’s Incredible Interiors Echo the City’s Rich History

The paradox facing the first-time visitor to Istanbul , entering a suite at the Mandarin Oriental Bosphorus , is a knotty one: If you wish to fully savor the interior design project surrounding you, you need to do the very last thing you wish to—leave. Albeit just for a few hours. Because it’s only once you’ve taken in some of the city’s historical gems—such as the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque and Sultanahmet Square, the focal point of Constantinople when it was capital of the Byzantine Empire—that you’ll truly absorb the wit and wonders of the decor project executed by New York-based Tihany Design.

Elegant flourishes that pay homage to the hotel’s storied locale even extend to the Ottoman mosaic patterns on the leather TV remote control cases, and stunning Çintemani patterns (once used on Sultans’ robes) gracing the interior of the mini-bars (which incidentally, if they were they any larger, would warrant a “walk-in” prefix). Wallpaper designs based on the tulip – a symbol of power, wealth, and luxury in Ottoman culture – are featured throughout The tulip motif—a symbol of power, wealth, and luxury in Ottoman culture, and thus rendered all over the city’s marbles, mirrors and wrought irons—features in bronze and onyx marble as well as tiling in all 77 rooms and 23 suites (the latter start at $16,585 per night). Serious scholars of local art would also recognise the influence of Çesm-i Bülbül—a glass-making technique invented by a Sufi artisan who learned his trade in Venice in the late 18th century—in the lighting fixtures welcoming guests into their quarters.

Note, too, the “Tree of Life” (which connects sky and the Earth in Turkish mythology) motif on various wall panels. As for the public areas, whilst sipping on a pre-dinner cocktail at Novikov Bar, look out for a bronze wall panel inspired by Ottoman maps and stapled leather panels resembling soldiers’ armours from the same period. Meanwhile Nuage—an imperious, four-metre-high chandelier in the lobby—has been created by French lighting firm Concept Verre, which makes pieces for Sultans’ palaces.

Hanging by the main entrance, it’s a suitably majestic piece to welcome visitors to a hotel which, in terms of occupancy and revenue, has quickly become the Mandarin Oriental group’s most successful outlet (intriguingly, the Bodrum outpost comes in at second). The ‘Tree Of Life’ embroidery found in all rooms and suites Manuel Cruz Namaste It’s not just the hotel’s historical surrounds that have been paid reverence by a creative team that also includes Singapore-based HBA Architecture and local architects Toner. Mandarin Oriental Bosphorus nestles on the European-side side of the Bosphorus (the district, Kuruceşme, is perhaps the city’s most prestigious neighborhood).

Such is the reverence towards the meandering strip of water on whose banks the hotel sits – the continental boundary between Europe and Asia, which links the Black Sea with the world’s oceans – that most suites enjoy a multiplex-screen view of it. In many, such are the building and bed dimensions that guests are afforded an infinity pool-style view of the water on awakening. Venturing from the rooms, guests reach the lifts via an atrium flanked by a partially see-through wall, made from redgum wood from Australia, which recreates the gentle waves of the river.

Like the sultans of yesteryear in the former political hubs in the old town nearby, monitoring senate conversations anonymously, guests can see and hear the masses mingling in the lobby below without being seen or heard themselves. The Bosphorus can also be thanked for the curved timber corners in many of the suites, which call to mind superyacht interiors, as can the swirling blue and grey pattern on the hallway carpets. Novikov Bar and Restaurant Manolo Yllera If the interior design aesthetics are impressive, the marriage of architecture and engineering behind—or rather, beneath—this property is positively mind-frazzling.

The building itself, inspired by the ornate riverside “Yali” mansions surrounding it, stretches just over 650 feet along the strait whilst the lift only takes guests three stories upwards. And yet the areas above ground—including lobby, bars, restaurants, boutiques, rooms, and suites—make up only half of the whole premises. It doesn’t take a structural engineer to fathom the logistics of creating a cavernous space below ground so close to a 360-foot-deep shipping route, and yet venturing below ground the visitor will, agog, behold the property’s incredible potential as a venue for grand-scale occasions.

The quirkily shaped and pillar-strewn Crystal Event Room is inspired by the underground chambers of the Basilica Cistern around five miles away, which was built by a Byzantine emperor in the 6th century (it was a filming location for From Russia With Love), and is just one of the yawning spaces available for events. One of the hotel’s subterranean spa gardens Manolo Yllera The hotel has three subterranean ballrooms in all, the largest 10,225 square feet, whose walls are festooned with richly textured Turkish fabrics. Of the six more intimate meeting rooms, the coziest is one whose interior emulates that of an Orient Express carriage, complete with integrated bar and built-in train-style benches.

And then there’s the spa: a whopping 37,675 square feet of it in all, if you include the pulse-slowing courtyard and garden areas which are light-bathed (and therefore verdant) despite being at eye-level with the murkier depths of the Bosphorous. As well as generous sized pool and gym, yoga or Pilates studio and two beauty rooms, there are 11 treatment rooms and one VIP treatment room—all with in-room private changing and shower areas—whilst those who’ve succumbed to the local flavor with the décor will head, instead, for one of the hammams with private scrub rooms, including one dedicated to couples (saunas and steam rooms reside in the changing rooms, so are single sex). The couple’s option for a traditional Turkish hammam Said couples are likely to include newlyweds, given that the hotel boasts not only a team of wedding reception planners but The Naile Sultan Suite (from around $22,072 per night).

From its balcony, an elegant, curving marble staircase leads down to the pool-flanked Bosphorus Garden event area: a space tailor-made for nuptial ceremonies, close by the aforementioned ballrooms. The suite even has double showers, a private hot tub and his and hers prep rooms for the big day. When it comes to cuisine, head into the centre of town and within the Cağaloğlu Hamam (the last Turkish bath built in the Ottoman period ), you’ll find Lokanta 1741—think seafood and kebab varieties such as zucchini “Kalye” with rice salad, baby squid in ink sauce—whilst Cuma, tucked away amongst antique shops in the artsy district of Çukurcuma, focusses on delectable Turkish cuisine with ingredients sourced mostly from the nearby Feriköy and Kastamonu markets.

Each can boast one of the city’s 53 Michelin stars. Olea—which specializes in Italian fare with a “Cibo di Famiglia” approach Back at the hotel, besides the aforementioned Novikov Bar (an all-day restaurant offering a melange of Asian, Mediterranean, and Italian cuisine), riverside dining destinations include Olea—think Italian fare with a “Cibo di Famiglia” approach typified by the delectable tagliatelle with oxtail ragu. Plans are afoot for more waterside restaurants, which will make the hotel’s culinary repertoire even more eclectic.

Unless traveling alone—and if not planning on getting hitched during your stay—you’re likely to make a beeline for the lordly Royal Bosphorus Suite (from $44,145 per night). A 5,091-square-foot area haven with a 164-foot-long façade, connectable to two or four further bedrooms, it boasts a private gym and winter garden as well as living and dining room, fully equipped kitchen (with discrete entrance for staff), private winter garden and jacuzzi. Naturally, you call the shots in advance on how the bar in the lounge area will be stocked.

That mandatory trip into town for a spot of cultural enlightenment may have to go on the back burner. See below for more pictures of Mandarin Oriental Bosphorus: The Oriental Meeting Room, designed to resemble an Orient Express carriage The Presidential Suite Living Room The Presidential Suite main bedroom The Spa’s Relaxation Area Manolo Yllera A treatment room Manolo Yllera Entry to a traditional Turkish hammam Manolo Yllera The Wedding Garden, just off The Naile Sultan Suite The Çintemani pattern which lines all the rooms’ and suites’ mini-bars manuel cruz namaste.