Hilton Istanbul Bomonti

Index to Genius1 Trip Reports

Opened in 2014, Hilton Istanbul Bomonti is, perhaps unsurprisingly, located in the Bomonti district of Türkiye’s largest city. Whilst it’s some way from the city centre and most of the famous sights (Taksim Square is a 15-minute drive away for example), the property is large and modern, and still in excellent condition for a ten-year-old building. I stayed for 4 nights in April last year whilst attending a conference being held in the property’s extensive basement facilities which span across four subterranean floors.

The property’s approach is attractive, with a central water feature and landscaping, rising to meet the buildings of the Bomontiada music, food and art hub directly across from the hotel’s entrance. Security checks for both vehicles entering the drive and people entering the lobby are undertaken, as is common in many hotels in the city.





There was no wait to check-in at the desks located to the right of the lobby, where friendly staff processed my details in short order which was welcomed with a relatively late arrival time approaching 21:00. I was offered a welcome drink voucher and directed to the lifts just to the right of reception, adjacent to the entrance to the eforea spa and shopping arcade beyond that.









The rest of the lobby (known as The Grand Lobby) is spacious and welcoming, with a bar (yes, called The Grand Bar) off to one side and plenty of different seating options, including an outdoor terrace. A central spiral staircase descends to the first basement level where the hotel’s all-day (and only) restaurant The Globe can be found. It’s really quite an elegant lobby.











My standard room on the 11th floor was spacious, with floor-to-ceiling windows offering views across the residential side of the city. As well as a king size bed, the room had plenty of space for a comfortable armchair and matching ottoman, and a neat curved desk. I appreciated the provision of a recycling bin in addition to a general waste bin – something hotels are increasingly offering, but should be rolled out quicker.















There were a few niggles with the room itself – there was no coffee machine, the tea bags were low quality Lipton affairs, and facilities to charge devices were limited, as neither charging socket in the desk’s media panel worked, and one of the two bedside table sockets was occupied by the alarm clock’s plug. The switches to turn on the bedside table lamps were quite well hidden. Do not disturb could be activated by a button, but there was also a card on the door handle which fell off every time I opened the door.



The bathroom was large, with separate cubicles for the walk-in shower (with painful non-slip floor) and toilet, a bath and a single basin. Whilst slippers were provided, bathrobes were only available on request. Crabtree and Evelyn amenities were offered in large bottles, and all other amenities (with the exception of a shower cap) were by request only. There were no glasses in the bathroom.












Housekeeping standards during my stay weren’t quite to the level I’d have liked – bedsheets weren’t changed despite requesting for them to be multiple times, drinking glasses weren’t replaced and – an increasing annoyance of mine – my soap was disposed of after only one use. On the plus side, the complimentary water was replaced daily.

I enjoyed breakfast each morning in The Globe, which despite being busy was a perfectly acceptable buffet restaurant. The selection was large without being amazing, and the service acceptable without being noteworthy – particularly in terms of proactivity. Hot drinks were waiter served, although there was no à la carte menu.



I sampled dinner in the restaurant on the evening of my arrival which was only just OK. I’d recommend seeking out one of the restaurants in the adjacent Bomontiada complex over eating in the hotel, as we did on another evening.



In-room dining on a subsequent evening was much better, with service taking only 30 minutes despite a 45-minute wait being advertised on the online ordering system.



Cloud 34 Bar is located on the hotel’s top floor (the 34th), and whilst I only used it during a networking event as part of the conference I was attending, the views were pretty impressive.



The eforea spa, accessed from the ground floor, is spread over three floors, and includes gender-specific Turkish hammam rooms, sauna and steam rooms, indoor and outdoor pools with loungers (although the outdoor pool was still closed for the winter season in April), fitness centre and individual and couples’ treatment rooms.







Use of a swimming cap is required in the pools, and the spa reception will happily sell you one fairly cheaply if you don’t have your own. I used the indoor pool, which was plenty long enough but had protruding steps at one end and lacked a jacuzzi – don’t make the same mistake as I did and confidently walk into the circular children’s pool thinking it was going to be warm and bubbly. As you would expect, there are plenty of complimentary towels and slippers for use in the spa, and a bar is available when the outdoor pool is open.



Check-out in the early morning of the day of my departure was efficient, and the hotel’s car service was waiting for me to take me the 35 minutes to the airport, as it had been when I arrived a few days earlier.

Hilton Istanbul Bomonti is a modern corporate hotel, which despite some housekeeping issues offered a comfortable business stay. I’d stay again without hesitation if a conference was being held there, but would likely choose a more centrally located property if in the city for leisure.