The Best Hotels and Resorts in Europe and the UK: The Gold List 2024

"There are certain hotels that look like they have been lifted straight from a film set, and this one—with its vast, marble-floored lobby, regal palm trees, and flawlessly uniformed bellhops—has a serious Wes Anderson feel. Originally built by a 17th-century sultan, the Çirağan Palace Kempinski is an Ottoman-era imperial palace overlooking the glistening Bosphorus. Weave through winding corridors to delve into rooms complete with four-poster beds, tulip-patterned headboards, velvet armchairs, marble bathrooms, and red-and-cream-striped wallpaper. The palace’s other areas are similarly decadent: There’s riverside fine dining with magnificent Turkish dishes at Tuğra, a centuries-old Ottoman arch, and the original palace hammam, tucked away behind a large wooden door with floor-to-ceiling marble and ornate carvings. As well as being an imperial residence, the hotel also hosted parliamentary procedures, royal courts, and beauty pageants; it even served as a playing field for the Beşiktaş football team. All in all, it’s a blissful, storied escape in the middle of one of the world’s most historical cities. From $542. —Lale Arikoglu" - CNT Editors