I have been curious about Raffles Istanbul for quite a while but usually Fairmont is solid value for the money and they treat me well there, for cheaper than Raffles so I never tried Raffles until now.  At the moment Fairmont is still closed and I found a Best Price Guarantee at Raffles to bring the price down to a level lower than what they normally charge in low season so I gave them a try.  I believe the top 3 hotels in Istanbul are St.Regis, Raffles, and Four Seasons.  I have never stayed at FS but I am familiar with StR so I can provide a comparison (along with a comparison with Fairmont).  Overall I was quite satisfied with Raffles and I can recommend it for a premium luxury experience. 

Location

One of the few weaknesses of Fairmont is its location in a business district without much around it and the nearest subway station is a 10-15 minute walk away so not very close.  Raffles is only 3km from Fairmont but it’s significantly better because it’s connected to the Zorlu Center luxury shopping mall with many restaurants and a food court.  Also you can walk underground to reach the Gayrettepe subway station with a bit shorter walk than from Fairmont and more convenient if weather is not good since it’s indoors.

Room

I booked the entry level “Deluxe Room” and as per Accor rules I received a modest one-category upgrade to the “Premier Room” which I believe the main difference is that it’s a corner room.  There is a large balcony that wraps around the room so it has more outdoor space than the deluxe room but I think is the same size inside.  The room is quite large at 62 sqm, much larger than the entry level rooms at St.Regis which are 40 sqm.  In fact, even when I get a suite upgrade at StR is still smaller than the rooms at Raffles because they have small suites (57 sqm).  So comparing the price tag at Raffles and StR is somewhat misleading if comparing the cheapest rooms because of the difference in size.  The room at Raffles looked nice although design-wise StR is hard to beat.  I liked the floor to ceiling windows at Raffles on two full walls with thick and sturdy patio doors, and it had nice hardwood floors.  The bathroom had a frosted glass window to allow natural light in the bathroom, and also had electric controls to draw the blinds down for privacy.  The patio doors also had curtains and sheers that were controlled by the panel by the bed side.  The rain shower worked well with good water pressure and everything was functional.  One issue was that we could hear noise from the rooms above us and besides us, so soundproofing is not ideal which is surprising for a luxury hotel in a modern building.  Air conditioning was working fine during the day, but did not bring temperature down as cool as we would have liked for sleeping time. 

We had a welcome gift of baklava and a box of Turkish delight desserts, and a bottle of red wine which is more generous than the standard drink vouchers for Accor elite members. 

Bathroom amenities were “Ortigia” which I had not heard of before and seemed to be specifically branded for Raffles Istanbul.  I realize this is a matter of personal choice but I prefer Le Labo at Fairmont, Le Remède at St.Regis, or other luxury amenities at Ritz Carlton (Asprey Purple Water) and Waldorf Astoria (Salvatore Ferragamo).  The scent of Ortigia products seemed more suitable for golden age women than for a broader range of guests.

Dining

One weakness of the Accor loyalty program is that Diamond guests only get free breakfast 2 days out of 7 except in Asia where it’s 7/7; many other hotel chains which do not limit breakfast to 2 days only.   Istanbul is sitting between Europe and Asia and there does not seem to be consistency between Accor hotels regarding the breakfast benefit being included or not, but fortunately Raffles gives free breakfast every day to elites and given the very high quality of the offering the value was quite material. 

They did not have a buffet but their a la carte menu was very extensive and included interesting and creative options such as breakfast burritos, artichoke florentine, chia bowl, etc.  On many days we asked them to make small modifications to match our taste and they met our desires every time.  I would also note that the smoked salmon was high quality and delicious.  Overall I found breakfast to be significantly better at Raffles than at St.Regis although I have not been there post-covid so I am not sure if they have improved their a la carte menu.

The restaurant itself looked great with very high ceilings and wide spacing between tables which provided for a relaxing environment.  They also had a few tables to eat outside if desired. 

We ordered room service once and unlike breakfast, it was a forgettable meal with higher prices than the nearby shopping mall. 

Service

As soon as we arrived in our room we opened our suitcase and realized I made a bone-head mistake: I took someone else’s suitcase at the airport!  This was embarrassing, it is the kind of mistake that people who rarely travel can make.  So I immediately needed Raffles’ help to fix this problem and thankfully they found the owner of the suitcase with a search on Instagram and contacted the owner who came to the hotel to pick up their bag.  Raffles also contacted the airport who put my suitcase aside and waited for me to go pick it up. 

Service during our stay continued to be very good, with frequent assistance printing documents and bringing them to our room, housekeeping being done always exactly at the time we requested, etc.  In addition, housekeeping was meticulous and attentive, always reorganizing our charging cables and they even left a hotel branded cloth to clean sunglasses which was a nice touch. 

There where a couple of minor issues for example one day the hotel did not seem to have enough staff – I called many times at reception and nobody answered the phone and when I walked downstairs nobody could assist me for a while because the single staff member was occupied with another guest.  It was impressive that at check-out they had clearly marked the incident in my file because the night shift receptionist that I had not met before apologized about what happened that day after reading the notes.  A suggestion for improvement is that staff in the restaurant were friendly and efficient but unlike in some luxury hotels, did not address us by name and did not always remember our preferences such as choice of drinks like what top hotels do.

The hotel was a bit lax with covid precautions.  There was no temperature check either at the main entrance or at the secondary door linking with the shopping mall.  On the flip side, service in the restaurant was respectful of guests, not only staff had masks but they stood with a wider distance than normal from guests when talking or taking orders.

Gym

The main area of the gym had a lot of equipment but the low ceiling provided a somewhat claustrophobic feeling.  Thankfully there was an area with more equipment outdoors which was nice, and also a studio next to the main room.

Wifi

Wifi worked ok although a hotel of this caliber should probably do a bit better than 10 Mbps. 

Overall

Overall we had a solid stay, the breakfast is far superior than any other hotel we have stayed in Istanbul, and while the room upgrades at this property are modest, at least all rooms are very large so in those circumstances I am less concerned about upgrades.  It makes Raffles a good choice in high season because if I want a suite at a competitor such as St.Regis I would possibly have to pay for it due to low odds of upgrades when the hotel is full, and the price tag would exceed the price of the standard room at Raffles and I would have less space overall.  Where Raffles might be at a disadvantage is during low season when competitors are able to upgrade more generously, in such circumstances for travelers having elite status with many chains, Raffles will appear somewhat expensive.  However for Accor loyalists Raffles is the top option in the city and if money is no object then you cannot go wrong.  For the budget conscious Fairmont remains a great choice in my opinion as the drop in quality is not enormous and the price savings are material.  In my experience Accor is stronger in Istanbul than in many other parts of the world and Raffles provides a top-end luxury option to the portfolio which is sometimes missing elsewhere.