Sumahan on The Water

The Best Hotels in Istanbul

"For an architectural fix In this city of a thousand palace hotels, Sumahan is a fresh take on a luxury stay: a strongly contemporary architectural reimagining of an 1820s waterfront distillery, which once turned bargefuls of figs into suma, the spirit used to make raki. The property has belonged to the same family for generations, and early this century owner Nedret Butler and her husband Mark, both architects, oversaw its transformation into a sophisticated hotel, with some help from their designer daughters. As a result, there’s a personal, homely feel to the place. Thirteen light, lofty rooms and suites (some with private hamam) are pared back—to what feels like relative Scandi parity in this much-embellished city—and named after local neighborhoods, every one with a view of the Bosphorus, where dolphins can be spotted in early summer; in winter, real fires are lit in every room. In the riverside garden, Adirondack chairs are set in the shade of palms and fruit trees and pink oleander."