Ciragan Palace Kempinski Istanbul

A five star experience in every way. Not located extremely close to the Old Town if that’s what you’re looking for. But the history, service and location on the Bosphorus.

We stayed for 4 nights in the hotel and we could not be happier with our choice. The hotel as a whole is incredibly beautiful, all areas are certainly photo-worthy. The rooms are spacious and tastefully decorated in the spirit of the palace and with great views of the Bosporus. Service is immaculate, the staff does go above and beyond by being both proactive and trying to match your every request both in the room and in the restaurants and sitting areas. The breakfast is very diverse with multiple delicious options both in the buffet and à la carte. Coffee is also very good. Would highly recommend this hotel for high end visitors.

Just got back from a great trip to Istanbul and wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone at the Hotel, from the moment we arrived to the moment we left (including the late check out which made our last day very easy) the whole experience was first class. Rooms were lovely, service was excellent and they helped us have a fantastic experience in Istanbul! While all the staff were brilliant I wanted to mention the staff at the Concierge desk (Zeki, Ugur, Sinan, Baris, Onder and Emre), absolutely fantastic. Every request was dealt with perfectly, amazing restaurant recommendations (brilliant tables at the time we wanted), great trips/tours and super helpful at all times. Can't wait to come back!

I recently had an excellent stay at this hotel, largely due to the outstanding service provided by my butler Erhan and housekeeper Serpil. Both of them delivered thoughtful, professional, and warm service from start to finish. Butler Erhan was incredibly attentive and efficient. He responded quickly to all my requests, offered useful suggestions, and always greeted me with a friendly smile. He made sure my stay was smooth and comfortable, taking care of every detail with great patience and professionalism. His service truly made me feel well looked after. Housekeeper Serpil kept my room perfectly clean and tidy every day. She paid great attention to small details, refreshed the room carefully, and maintained a consistently pleasant and polite attitude. The room was always spotless, fresh, and welcoming thanks to her hard work. I am extremely satisfied with the service from Erhan and Serpil. They are both excellent staff members who represent the hotel’s high standard of service. I highly recommend this hotel and would love to return again in the future.

The Palace granduer/location and charm of this hotel cant be faulted but the challenge this hotel has is it needs to listen to its guests and be a lot more diligent to what it is saying/doing rather than just saying random things to guests. On arrival we mentioned to the checkin team we would like to use Discovery dollars to clear our bill we were told thats fine - upon checkout we had a late checkout being titanium members and were told we could settle the bill later - again we mentioed do not use the CC on file use Discovery Dollars we were told thats fine - then as we had booked a late spa we were told we cant pay at checkout after the spa and the spa receptionist was having none of it - infact she was borderline rude after spending 600 euros in an hour or so - that was quite shocking - then speaking with a front desk manager we were told they have closed the bill and used the Card we told them not to use - then as we are leaving we get told we cant use Discovery dollars for the payment but can use a small amount - apparently some Kempinski rule we were told (where that came from i dont know) by this time we were tired of listening to a team at the front desk who clearly do not know what to say or do and just wanted to leave . when we first got to our room there was a complimentary bottle of wine we mentioned to 3 differnt teams - the luggage team then later to room service and then to front desk saying we dont drink alcohol ( The whole world does not believe it or not ) we even said to room service send us a cup of tea that would be fine guess what nobody bothered doing anyting. the other challenge in a hotel of this capacity which was a little shocking is the lack of vegetarian options (again the whole world does not eat meat or fish and has moved on) and really did not do the Kempinski brand any justice here. in fact it put us off booking a Kempinski at our next destination in a week or so. the only place open to sit and have even a soft drink (besides a formal restaurant) was a cigar lounge and if you dont smoke really does not work.. when someone is at this level of hotel and basic amenities and understanding are not there then you do worry for a brand like Kempinski.. also if you have a loyality programme and your team dont understand it then why bother.