Best hotels in Istanbul: ten places on both sides of the Golden Horn

The old prison between the mosques

The building was a prison before it was a hotel, and you can still tell from the ochre walls and the watchtower on the corner. It now sits between Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, close enough to hear the call to prayer from both, and the courtyard inside the walls is a pocket of silence in the busiest part of the city.

Staying here means having the old city to yourself early in the morning, before the coaches, and late at night, after they have gone. It is small for a luxury hotel, with rooms that vary a great deal in size and outlook. It is made for anyone who wants the best of Sultanahmet and is willing to pay for it. Skip it if you want a pool or nightlife; the pool is at the sister hotel on the Bosphorus.

A roof terrace over the Sea of Marmara

Amira is in the quiet streets of Küçük Ayasofya, the part of Sultanahmet that slopes down to the Sea of Marmara south of the Blue Mosque. From the roof terrace you watch the ships waiting to enter the Bosphorus, and in the evening tea is served up there as the lights on the Asian shore come on.

It is a medium-sized hotel run with a care that has made it one of the most talked-about in the old city, with staff who remember how you take your breakfast. It is ideal for first-time visitors who want somewhere safe, central and personal. Rooms are not large and there is no bar to speak of, so it is the wrong choice for anyone planning to spend evenings in the hotel.

An indoor pool and cooking classes by Gülhane Park

The hotel stands beside Gülhane Park, the old palace garden below Topkapı, with a tram stop outside and Sirkeci railway station round the corner. Inside there is a small pool and a Turkish bath, and the hotel is known for the cooking classes and guided walks it runs for guests.

This is our family choice in the old city: the children get a swim after a day of mosques, the adults get a terrace with a view, and everyone gets a breakfast that takes a long time. It feels traditional and hospitable rather than modern. The wrong choice if you want sharp design and an anonymous lobby.

The Bosphorus from a window on Serdar-ı Ekrem

The hotel is on Serdar-ı Ekrem, the street with the finest old apartment houses in Galata, a couple of minutes below the tower. Several rooms have tall windows looking straight at the Bosphorus and Sultanahmet across the water, and the roof terrace faces the same way. Inside it is high ceilings, parquet and calm.

It is right for anyone who wants to live in a neighbourhood of coffee bars and small design shops, with a view that does not come at a palace price. It is a small hotel, so service and mood depend on the day. The wrong choice for anyone who struggles with hills and stairs, because Galata is steep in every direction.

A banking palace with a rooftop over the Golden Horn

The hotel occupies a former bank on Bankalar Caddesi, the street where the Ottoman Empire's banks stood in a row. The marble staircases and tall windows remain, the rooms are dark and tailored, and the rooftop bar faces straight across the Golden Horn to the bridge and the mosques on the far side.

This is our design choice in Istanbul, for anyone who wants a hotel that feels like the city itself: heavy, handsome and a little dramatic. The Karaköy quay and the ferries are a few minutes down the hill. Not for anyone who wants light rooms and a lobby to linger in; this is a hotel to go out from.

A modern hotel in the old dock quarter

The hotel is in a restored nineteenth-century building just off Karaköy Square, where the tram, the ferries and the old Tünel funicular meet. Istanbul Modern and the waterside cafés are directly below, and from some rooms you look across to the old city.

It feels international and relaxed, with a lobby bar used as much by neighbours as by guests, and rooms larger than is usual on this side of the bridge. It is a strong pick for anyone who wants modern comfort within walking distance of both Galata and the ferries to the Asian side. Less suited to anyone looking for Ottoman atmosphere, which you will not find here.

Built for passengers of the Orient Express

The hotel was built to house travellers arriving on the Orient Express, and it still looks the part: a lift in wrought iron and wood, a tea lounge with domes in the ceiling, and a room named after Agatha Christie, who is said to have written here. It stands in Tepebaşı, with views over the Golden Horn from the west-facing rooms.

Staying here means staying inside a story, and it suits anyone who wants old Europe in Istanbul rather than new Turkey. Istiklal Avenue and the Tünel station are round the corner. The caveat is that history costs a little in smaller bathrooms and stiffer rooms than the new hotels offer, and the street outside is busy.

Art deco and a private hammam in the room

The hotel occupies an art deco building in Nişantaşı, the quarter of the city's most expensive shops and best restaurants, and it is not large. What sets it apart from everything else in town is the bathrooms: many rooms have their own Turkish bath in marble, with a heated bench and brass taps, so you can take a hammam without sharing it with anyone.

It appeals to anyone who wants calm, good food round the corner and a hotel that feels like a private flat. Nişantaşı is a half-hour walk or a short taxi ride from Taksim, and further from Sultanahmet. Less suited if you want to walk to the monuments, nor for anyone who wants a view, since the building sits on a city street.

A sultan's palace with a pool at the water's edge

Çırağan was an Ottoman palace before it was a hotel, and its marble facade still faces the Bosphorus directly, with a private jetty in front. The pool sits right at the water's edge, so you swim with tankers and ferries as your only horizon, and the garden behind is large enough to forget you are in a city of fifteen million people.

This is a hotel for an occasion: a honeymoon, a big birthday, or simply a weekend where the holiday rather than the city is the point. Rooms in the hotel wing are large and classical; the suites in the palace itself are something else entirely. The wrong choice for anyone who wants to walk to Hagia Sophia before breakfast, since that is half an hour by taxi in good traffic.

Asian calm by the Beşiktaş quay

The hotel sits right on the water in Beşiktaş, beside the Naval Museum and a couple of minutes from the ferry pier where the boats leave for Kadıköy and Üsküdar. Inside it is light, high-ceilinged and hushed, with large rooms, many of which look straight out over the strait, and an indoor pool and spa for the rainy days.

It is well suited to anyone who wants the Bosphorus outside the window but also easy access to the rest of the city: the ferry from Beşiktaş is the fastest route to the Asian side, and Dolmabahçe Palace is next door. It feels more international than Turkish. Less suited to anyone who wants a neighbourhood with street life, since the Beşiktaş quay is busy by day and dead at night.