Introduction I stayed at a couple of beach resort-style Rixos hotels last year and generally had a good experience, so this time I wanted to try a city-style Rixos to compare and booked a room at Rixos Pera Istanbul. The elite benefits were not the best in part because they do not have many suites in the hotel, but the service was truly five star and I can recommend it. Room I wanted to use one of my Suite Night Awards because I have many which will expire unused at the end of the year, but unfortunately I found out that Rixos is not an eligible brand for those upgrade certificates. Instead I booked the entry level room and hoped for the best at check-in.Rixos was almost full during my stay and suites were fully booked. The upgrade I received was to a premium room which has a view of the Golden Horn. The room was only 28 sqm, a far cry from the several large suite upgrades I regularly get at many other hotels in the city. The style of the room was very classic to match with the old historical building of the hotel. I liked the hardwood floors (no carpet) and everything was in good condition, but the main negative was that the room was hot – they deactivated the air conditioning due to the summer being over but on sunny days the room would get uncomfortable despite cool weather outdoors (20C) and opening the windows was not helping much unless wind was blowing in the right direction. There were comments about noise issues at this hotel before because of the busy street intersection, and obviously with the windows open the traffic was very audible. However I think the windows were double-glazed so when I closed them the noise was not problematic. Dining The hotel was separated in several buildings and also included many venues that when walking by on the street in the past I had no idea were actually part of the hotel as they have a front door on the street for example an English Pub, a coffee shop, and a courtyard near a chapel with an outdoor bar. All nice charming venues which actually attract several non-hotel guests. The hotel now has a lounge, which similar to Fairmont is pay-for-access. They charge 50 EUR per person for it and includes butler service. There was also a rooftop restaurant where breakfast was served for guests who did not have lounge access. I am not sure Rixos Pera is fully aware of the Accor Diamond benefits – my stay was not during the weekend, it was during the week, so technically I should not have received free breakfast but they told me that I would not have to pay. The venue was wonderful with panoramic views but it was very crowded at the time I went. They had a staff-served buffet which I found to be above average for hotels in this price range – they food was excellent quality and had some options generally not found in competing hotels, instead of limiting themselves to traditional dishes only. Service Service was highly polished and was the strong point of this hotel. First off I received a welcome at reception from the front office manager who was also making the rounds in the restaurant during breakfast to greet guests. He offered me a tour of the different venues of the hotel, and once settled in my room I also received a call from the guest relations supervisor to make sure I was happy with my room. Housekeeping staff were friendly and polite when meeting them the hallways and asked me when I wanted service. When I went to breakfast the first morning the lady at the entrance welcomed me by name as soon as I arrived, without evening telling her my my room number. That means hotel staff must memorize guest names by looking at pictures of guests who checked in, which is only done in the top tier service-oriented hotels. When chatting with staff about my overall impressions of the hotel and the fact that the weak point was not having a suite upgrade which I can get at many other hotels in the city, they acknowledged that they are limited in what they can do because they only have 7 suites. However they said if I come back in a less busy time of year they will do their best to accommodate me and considering how service was during my stay, I don’t doubt that they will. Wifi Wifi worked well with download speed of 45 Mbps however upload could have been better, below 5 Mbps. Overall Overall Rixos Pera is the best fit for people who care most about excellent service and might care less about having a spacious and/or modern room. I found Rixos to be almost the mirror image of Sofitel Taksim nearby where I stayed a couple of days earlier and had a nice modern suite but where service was a work in progress. So it’s nice that Accor loyalists have choices on the entire spectrum.