Hilton has lots of choices in Istanbul and I previously read some discussion in the past on FT about which property is the best among them, particularly between Hilton Bosphorus, Hilton Bomonti, or Conrad.  I stayed at Bomonti a few years ago and the lounge was great, but the problem is the difficulty in receiving suite upgrades as Hilton Diamond which affects the value proposition for people who value suites.  I had not tried Conrad until now; based on my stay and I was quite happy about the beautiful suite with wonderful views of the city.  I can recommend this hotel and I will return. 

Room

I booked a Deluxe Bosphorus View which is the lowest room type eligible for Conrad Impressario benefits and received an upgrade to a Bosphorus Suite which is the third category of suites, above the Park Suite and above the Park Suite with Balcony.  This went exactly in line with my previous perception that Conrad is the best Hilton property for odds of suite upgrades.

I thought the hardware was very solid and good value for the money.  I expected a more aging hotel but the suite had nice hardwood floor in the living room (but carpet in bedroom), 1.5 bath rather than only one, and in the main bathroom there was a stand-alone shower rather than a shower in the bathtub.

Several hotels in Istanbul have great water views but Conrad is quite hard to beat especially from our 11th floor room.  We could see the Blue Mosque in the distance along with the city sky line and the sea.

Conrad did not cut out any amenities as a result of covid: we had shaving kits, dental kits, mouthwash, bathrobes, and there was even a pillow menu which is always great to help us sleep better.  The bathroom toiletries were the standard Shanghai Tang found in other Conrad hotels.

Despite the room being a bit hot in the afternoon if we left the curtains open due to the sun beaming straight in the large windows of the room, air conditioning worked well and we were comfortable during the night.  The main problem with the room was weak soundproofing as we could hear people talking in the room next to us.

Dining

Breakfast was offered in the main restaurant from 7am to 10:30am - this was definitely not the highlight of our stay and I thought breakfast was quite weak.  There were some hot dishes - everything was buffet-style behind a counter with staff to serve guests, unlike many other hotels we have been in Istanbul which had some kind of a la carte menu to go along the buffet, but not Conrad.  In addition, fruit selection was subpar.  Also service was not particularly impressive: we sat down and waited quite a while for someone from staff to come to our table but nobody came so I had to grab utensils and water myself even though it was early morning and there were almost no guests in the restaurant.  Someone eventually came to us but only after we had already started eating.

Happy hour was 6-8pm in the executive lounge.  Thankfully they did not cut out food options post-covid in the lounge: there were bite-size hot and cold choices but none of them were self-serve.  There were staff to serve what guests wanted and it was the same for beverages: drinks were available upon request but they did not want guests to pour themselves a glass or grab a bottle.  The lounge might not be as nice as it used to be on a high floor of the hotel, but there was seating outside on a terrace which can please some guests, in addition to the tables in

Given that we booked the Conrad Impressario package we had 100 USD food & beverage credit included.  The in-room dining prices were quite reasonable relative to other similar hotels in the city and 100 USD gets you quite far.  At check-out the exchange rate they used was fair, unlike some hotels which take a significant haircut.

Wifi

In many hotels in Istanful, wifi leaves to be desired based on standards elsewhere in the world, but at Conrad wifi worked very well with speeds of about 60 Mbps which is among the best I have seen in the city.

Overall

Overall I was pleased with our stay and for a hotel where you can often get a room for a bit above 100 EUR and not very different price from the 2 Hiltons, it is solid value.  In order to receive a suite with view I believe it might be necessary to book a room above entry level (= room with view), so in reality it cost around 150 EUR for the room we had, but nonetheless compared to suites we stayed in other hotels in Istanbul, Conrad’s offering is competitive for the price tag.