Radisson Blu Bosphorus Istanbul?
Jul 19, 2013, 1:47 am
#46
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 4,396
. It's a nice hotel in Ortakoy and the service is good too. Enjoy and make sure you chow down on lots of kumpir.The ferry made the Ortakoy location very convenient! If only they ran the ferry more than once in the morning.
Jul 22, 2013, 6:35 pm
#47
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2008
Location: WAS
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Jul 23, 2013, 10:43 am
#48
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: SVX
Programs: HHonors Gold, Aeroflot Bonus, local tram pass
Posts: 132
Jul 24, 2013, 1:09 pm
#50
Join Date: May 2013
Location: RMS
Programs: DL Plat, UA Gold, Bonvoy Titanium, Hilton Credit Card Diamond
Posts: 8,794
I'm debating between this hotel and Pera for my honeymoon. We'll only be in Istanbul for two days before heading to the Greek Isles. I'm leaning towards Pera to reduce travel time to historic sites. However, staying on the Bosphorous sounds more honeymoon-esque, and I'm sure my fiancée would appreciate that. However, we'll be near the water in Greece, so maybe I should go for the ability to do more touring in Istanbul because neither of us has ever been. Thoughts?
Jul 24, 2013, 1:32 pm
#51
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 4,396
I'm debating between this hotel and Pera for my honeymoon. We'll only be in Istanbul for two days before heading to the Greek Isles. I'm leaning towards Pera to reduce travel time to historic sites. However, staying on the Bosphorous sounds more honeymoon-esque, and I'm sure my fiancée would appreciate that. However, we'll be near the water in Greece, so maybe I should go for the ability to do more touring in Istanbul because neither of us has ever been. Thoughts?
Take a taxi in the morning to the Old Town/Sultanahmet location (20-40 TL) and take the super cheap 3TL per person ferry back in the evenings.
Jul 27, 2013, 4:45 pm
#52
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 4,396
Review: Radisson Blu Bosphorus (warning, image intensive)
Booked 2 nights for a business class room at 75K points/night at the RB Bosphorus in mid-July. Was originally considering the RB Pera, but upon emailing the management there, was informed that even with Carlson Gold status, a 50K standard points reservation would not include breakfast. Breakfast would be an additional 40 Euros per person per day. There were no available Business class rooms on points at the Pera for the dates that I needed.
The image below is the view from Ciragan Cd.
Initially, I had some apprehensions about getting to the RB Bosphorus in a timely manner, given that my flight arrived at 5pm in the middle of rush hour. It wasn't too bad at all! Took about 1 hour and 40 TL.
A taxi cab to Old Town Istanbul runs about 25-35TL and you can catch a ferry back to Ortakoy at just 3TL a person. Pickup the ferry from Eminonu.
Our Business class room had a beautiful view of the Bosphorus and the Bosphorus bridge, and overlooked the Starboard restaurant below.
A Nespresso machine is included in the business class room. Wi-fi was standard, but a little weak.
Showers were excellent with wonderfully strong water pressure, however, the bathtub had a very tall lip, so be careful when getting out! Beds were among the most firmly comfortable that I've ever slept in.
The Business class room was located in an adjacent complex from the main building, and had to be accessed in a slightly circuitous & confusing manner, through two separate elevators. It also had the misfortune of being located atop the Zuma bar & lounge, and boy do those Turks know how to party. I could hear some bass from the nightly parties below.
Main building
My adjacent building
A glimpse of the wonderful super buffet breakfast and outside omelette/juice cart.
The image below is the view from Ciragan Cd.
Initially, I had some apprehensions about getting to the RB Bosphorus in a timely manner, given that my flight arrived at 5pm in the middle of rush hour. It wasn't too bad at all! Took about 1 hour and 40 TL.
A taxi cab to Old Town Istanbul runs about 25-35TL and you can catch a ferry back to Ortakoy at just 3TL a person. Pickup the ferry from Eminonu.
Our Business class room had a beautiful view of the Bosphorus and the Bosphorus bridge, and overlooked the Starboard restaurant below.
A Nespresso machine is included in the business class room. Wi-fi was standard, but a little weak.
Showers were excellent with wonderfully strong water pressure, however, the bathtub had a very tall lip, so be careful when getting out! Beds were among the most firmly comfortable that I've ever slept in.
The Business class room was located in an adjacent complex from the main building, and had to be accessed in a slightly circuitous & confusing manner, through two separate elevators. It also had the misfortune of being located atop the Zuma bar & lounge, and boy do those Turks know how to party. I could hear some bass from the nightly parties below.
Main building
My adjacent building
A glimpse of the wonderful super buffet breakfast and outside omelette/juice cart.
Last edited by drzoidberg; Jul 30, 2013 at 8:38 am
Jul 27, 2013, 4:59 pm
#53
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 4,396
The breakfast featured one of the most amazing spreads and includes an omelette station. Western style and Turkish coffees are also included in the price. A juice bar costs an additional 20TL, with extra being charged for using kiwis.
Breakfast is taken at the Starboard restaurant outside and guests are treated to wonderful views of the Bosphorus.
I definitely recommend their Turkish waffles with honey, black forest berry coulis, and vanilla bean creme anglaise! Mmmm.
I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves..
A dozen different kinds of Turkish delight
Breakfast is taken at the Starboard restaurant outside and guests are treated to wonderful views of the Bosphorus.
I definitely recommend their Turkish waffles with honey, black forest berry coulis, and vanilla bean creme anglaise! Mmmm.
I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves..
A dozen different kinds of Turkish delight
Last edited by drzoidberg; Jul 27, 2013 at 6:04 pm
Jul 27, 2013, 5:06 pm
#57
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 1,470
Questions on the RB Bosphorus
So did your Award stay @ 50K / night, include the Breakfast Buffet? How much was the buffet dinner / lunch? How good/bad was the Wi-Fi speed? How much was a cab from/to IST airport?
And did you get a chance to check out the new Shangri La, which is supposed to be somewhere in the vicinity?
And did you get a chance to check out the new Shangri La, which is supposed to be somewhere in the vicinity?
Jul 27, 2013, 5:08 pm
#58
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 4,396
So did your Award stay @ 50K / night, include the Breakfast Buffet? How much was the buffet dinner / lunch? How good/bad was the Wi-Fi speed? How much was a cab from/to IST airport?
And did you get a chance to check out the new Shangri La, which is supposed to be somewhere in the vicinity?
And did you get a chance to check out the new Shangri La, which is supposed to be somewhere in the vicinity?
Wi-Fi speed was fast enough for me to surf the web and check/post on Flyertalk.
Cab to/from IST airport was about 40-50 TL if I remember correctly.
I didn't get to check out the new Shangri-La, although our taxi passed the Four Seasons on the way in I think.
Jul 28, 2013, 9:10 am
#59
Moderator: Mileage Run, InterContinental Hotels
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 5,928
Thank you for the photo report, drzoidberg! Looks like you had a great trip! IMO, this is one of the top-10 CC properties. I will merge your report with the existing thread on the property, so others searching for it will have access to all the information in one place.
--jpdx, CC Moderator
--jpdx, CC Moderator
Jul 28, 2013, 1:56 pm
#60
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 4,396
Thank you for the photo report, drzoidberg! Looks like you had a great trip! IMO, this is one of the top-10 CC properties. I will merge your report with the existing thread on the property, so others searching for it will have access to all the information in one place.
--jpdx, CC Moderator
--jpdx, CC Moderator
