Hello from Istanbul, or as the locals like to think the world where one Euro equals one Lira.

I’m just spending the night at the Park Hyatt Istanbul, and damn I’m blown away by this place. I generally love Park Hyatts, though this must by among my favorites.

It’s a category five hotel meaning it would have cost 18,000 Gold Passport points per night, but instead I booked through American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts at a rate of 200 Euros, which includes a $100USD hotel credit, free breakfast, a room upgrade, and 4PM check-out (though I get everything except the $100 hotel credit for being a Diamond member anyway). It seemed like a no brainer to pay in this case.

This is one of the smallest Park Hyatt properties at just 90 rooms, and the service has totally been up to the standards you’d expect from such a small hotel. I took a public taxi to the hotel, and as the bellman opened the taxi’s door he welcomed me to the Park Hyatt by name. As I walked up to the reception desk I was also addressed by name without identifying myself. Now that’s service!

What this hotel is best known for is their Spa King rooms, which I got upgraded to. These aren’t suites, but interestingly they’re more expensive than their standard suites, and now I can see why. The rooms are a decent size, with a king bed, desk, and chair with ottoman.

But check out the bathroom. Oh, the bathroom! It features a soaking tub, rainforest shower, and even a steam room. That’s right, a steam room in your hotel room!

It even has mood lighting where you can choose the color. After all, nothing ruins a bath quite like your non-preferred color of lighting! ;)

Anyway, I’ll have lots more details with the trip report, though let me simply say this hotel is awesome. Not only is it physically a beautiful hotel, but the degree to which service is personalized is almost unlike anything I’ve experienced before. At breakfast this morning the guest relations manager came by to welcome me and told me to let her know if I needed anything. I guess that’s a benefit of having only 90 rooms!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to the steam room…

Posted on February 2nd, 2013 by lucky
Filed under: Hotels, Hyatt, Travel | 33 Comments »

  1. February 2nd, 2013 at 2:28 am

    Fábio Vilela said,

    That’s a H*** of a suite! Amazing!

  2. February 2nd, 2013 at 2:49 am

    stvr said,

    rainforest shower?

  3. February 2nd, 2013 at 2:55 am

    Julian said,

    Do you get stay and points credit if booking through Amex fhr? Thanks.

  4. February 2nd, 2013 at 3:06 am

    lucky said,

    @ stvr — Yes, I believe that’s the marketing term for these kinds of showers.

    @ Julian — Yep, you sure do.

  5. February 2nd, 2013 at 5:32 am

    wwk5d said,

    Seems like Turkish Airlines needs to steal away their HR manager…

  6. February 2nd, 2013 at 6:00 am

    JRL said,

    From what I remember of the Spa King rooms, the bathroom felt like it was at least 50% of the square footage. Also that’s a prayer sink without a drain, NOT a bidet… (thank you housekeeping for your understanding).

    JRL

  7. February 2nd, 2013 at 6:20 am

    JetAway said,

    Of course it’s a chair with an “ottoman”-you’re in Turkey.

  8. February 2nd, 2013 at 6:44 am

    FlyingDoctorWu said,

    Was the manager Gulchin Kural who welcomed you? She was quite helpful in our two stays last year. Though our rate was nowhere as good as yours in October. Which way does your room face? The pool or the street? My one quibble with the hotel is that the noise insulation is very poor. Oh and check out the size of the business center.

    FDW

  9. February 2nd, 2013 at 6:57 am

    lucky said,

    @ JRL — ROFL!

    @ FlyingDoctorWu — Yep, that’s her! My room faced the pool and there was indeed a bit of noise.

  10. February 2nd, 2013 at 8:01 am

    Craig said,

    Will you be staying at the W during this trip? I’d love to here your opinion of that property relative to the Park Hyatt.

  11. February 2nd, 2013 at 9:22 am

    Kathy (Will Run For Miles) said,

    I opted to stay at the Grand Hyatt, just because I was only there two nights and wanted to be closer to everything. The Grand Hyatt was also beautiful, the suite was great, the Club breakfast and happy hour fabulous. The Fitness room was large with new equipment, lots of space and windows. About the only complaint I can come up with is that they didn’t have headphones in the fitness center!

  12. February 2nd, 2013 at 9:27 am

    Mike S. said,

    What’s the neighborhood like? Any good restaurant options near by.

    Beware of the Istanbul taxi scam where they swap a higher bill for a lower value note.

  13. February 2nd, 2013 at 9:42 am

    FlyingDoctorWu said,

    @ Mike S.- the area is very very upscale. There is an Omega boutique around the corner. One of the fanciest department stores I’ve ever been is (Beymen) is nearby too… it feels very very cosmopolitan, but not terribly Turkish… Tons and tons of shopping. All the major internation brands (Cartier, Marks and Spencer, Zara, etc etc) We ate a Mezzalune a couple times which was excellent Italian. Kosebasi, a Turkish place across the street, is solid. Lots of good international eating options. Also, this seems to be the heart of the Istanbul cafe scene. Lots of people out and about… I do think it’s quite far from the major tourist sites, so it doesnt make a good base for first time visitors (15 minutes by taxi without traffic.. but there’s no such thing as no traffic)

    And yes, the taxi scheme sucks where they swap a 50 for a 5.. they are freaking magicians… the taxis from the PH are very reliable.

    @Lucky- On Saturday nights there is a club nearby that seems to go on and on and on… try the menemen in the morning.. very tasty…

    @Craig- we didn’t stay at the W but I like the location of the PH better. The W is at the bottom of the Hill and it seems to be a less happening area.

  14. February 2nd, 2013 at 9:58 am

    Bamboola said,

    Check out the Hilton Whistler. It also has in-room steam rooms.

  15. February 2nd, 2013 at 10:08 am

    wxguy said,

    You took a public taxi and the bellman greeted you by name? Having taken a public taxi myself in IST, are you sure he didn’t say, “Hello, aren’t you Lucky to be here!”

  16. February 2nd, 2013 at 10:17 am

    Scottrick said,

    I’m planning on going here for my honeymoon. Are FH&R rates eligible rates for stay/night credit and for using a confirmed suite upgrade?

  17. February 2nd, 2013 at 10:23 am

    Chris S. said,

    Call me naïve, but what the hell is that fixture between the bathtub and shower?

  18. February 2nd, 2013 at 10:32 am

    FlyingDoctorWu said,

    @Scottrick. Yes to both. Also for Virtuoso. Bear in mind that the confirmed upgrade books into a park suite. The contracted Vurtuoso upgrade is park king to spa king on checkin.

  19. February 2nd, 2013 at 10:40 am

    AUSTEX said,

    @Chris S. See JRL’s post (No. 6) above. It’s for performing wudu (if you do). Woo-Hoo! Hope that clears things up.

  20. February 2nd, 2013 at 11:23 am

    Levy Flight said,

    I often ponder what to do in great cities like Istanbul for accommodation. On the one hand this is nice but it”s a chain. Down by the Blue Mosque there are some gorgeous, authentic boutique hotels which are just amazing. No points but real. So far i have tended to go for the small hotels if I am not flying in and out on business but having some time with the wife. Tanks for sharing though, i am looking for ideas to spend my Hyatt points on

  21. February 2nd, 2013 at 11:33 am

    FlyingDoctorWu said,

    @ Levy FLight- For a points based stay in the old city, The DOubletree Old Towne is a good option as well as the Crown Plaza Old City.

  22. February 2nd, 2013 at 12:02 pm

    lucky said,

    @ Craig — Unfortunately was just in Istanbul for the night, and have a policy of avoiding Ws whenever possible unless I have a compelling reason not to. Might check it out on my next trip, though.

  23. February 2nd, 2013 at 12:02 pm

    lucky said,

    @ Kathy (Will Run For Miles) — I wanted to try the Grand Hyatt since it looks awesome as well, but since I had only one night I went with the Park Hyatt. Will definitely check it out during my next visit.

  24. February 2nd, 2013 at 12:04 pm

    lucky said,

    @ Mike S. — Agree with FlyingDoctorWu. It’s not my favorite area for general sightseeing, but lots of great restaurants nearby.

  25. February 2nd, 2013 at 12:06 pm

    lucky said,

    @ wxguy — LOL, definitely by name. Hotel has only 90 rooms and was pretty empty, so maybe I was the last check-in of the night.

    @ Scottrick — Yes and yes.

    @ Chris S. — Something to wash your feet or something. I didn’t totally get it either. :p

  26. February 2nd, 2013 at 12:11 pm

    Andrew said,

    The restaurant across the street is pretty good. Give it a try. This hotel is definitely my favorite Park Hyatt.

  27. February 2nd, 2013 at 12:26 pm

    troy said,

    I was there in December and yes that particular manager seems to be everywhere. At breakfast in the morning, concierge desk during the day, dinner at night. I don’t know when she sleeps or leaves the building.

    For what it’s worth, I wasn’t impressed with this place. The gym, in particular, really bothered me. Tiny and really lacking a lot of basics (e.g. weights above 10 kgs).

  28. February 2nd, 2013 at 4:18 pm

    kfloveinme said,

    OMG! This post brought a HUUUUUGE SMILE on my face! I stayed there at the end of December and those were my fiance & I exact words…WOW! The service was amazing. I told my fiance that when we become rich & successful I want a bathroom like or similar to Park Hyatt Istanbul.:)

  29. February 2nd, 2013 at 4:31 pm

    Andrew said,

    Hope you got to actually explore Istanbul, even for a little bit. Fantastic city.

  30. February 2nd, 2013 at 5:24 pm

    amusing said,

    The turkish taxi trick happens in Rome as well

  31. February 2nd, 2013 at 7:06 pm

    Philatravelgirl said,

    Now that’s an impressive room and bath! I may need to try on my next visit although had such an amazing stay at the W it might be hard to switch

  32. February 4th, 2013 at 7:56 am

    Guil said,

    We must have bumped into each other in the lobby. I was there with the wife and a friend fri-sun, just got home last night. Fantastic hotel, I can’t say enough nice things about it. Used hyatt chase reward nights and got the Spa King also, including a nice bottle of wine to start our stay! Service was phenomenal, I’d go back to Istanbul just to stay at this place again :)

  33. February 8th, 2013 at 11:28 am

    Caren Altas said,

    I’m staying here now, my second visit here & I just love it! The staff are abs amazing it definetely gets a 10 from me……..

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