A couple of hotels in Istanbul

during the past 24 months I have always stayed in 2 hotels. One of them now owes my heart but both are really good

First one is Marmara Pera Hotel, near the always fun and busy Istiklal street with tons of nice places to spends time at (live music, food, drinks) as you may have read on my previous posts. The hotel on its own is really different, being circular all rooms have street view and the furniture does try to be a bit vintage. The breakfast room is large and the food complete and the prices are right. It is not noisy and the beds are nice (although it is almost impossible to get a queen bed). On top of this you have the great restaurant at the top, with some of the best views and drinks and a superb location and you have a very good buy (prices are around 120-150 Eur per night)
However I wanted to find a more unique place for my upcoming stays

So I try the Sofa Hotel in the Nicantasi area, the coolest area in Istanbul, packed with trendy bars and glamorous shops.

This is one of the best places I have stayed in my life, and I can tell you I have been in many places. The place is special and unique. Great service, the guys at the reception really mean well, the room is just spectacular, great bed, silent, the space seems created to spend time there. The bathroom is just an experience on its own. Gigantic shower (you can stay there for an hour), bath products from L'Occitane, superb bath rope
Then a Chaise Lounge where you can read for a while after coming back from work. And the room is equipped with a DVD player, music stereo and more
They always leave a fruit basket at your arrival to the room that can serve as a snack for your stay, they leave little orange/chocolate treats every night, what else can you say

Apart from the cafe area (where there is a nice book shop and very good sofa where I do work for a long time and the ice coffee is great), there is one of the trendiest bars in Istambul called Longtable

Haven´t have the time or budget to try the Spa yet but I am sure it is a great place

Just a few small details to improve: Breakfast is nice (although at 22 Eur I usually just go down the street to the House Cafe) and the concierge is probably where they can improve (they don´t seem to be on top of their game but improving). Then WIFI should be available in all rooms and for free in a hotel catering to travellers like me (at the end I spend up to 4 hours in the cafe area where WIFI is free and good but I will prefer to do this at my room specially on the after dinner work time)

The room price at 140-150 Eur is a superb price for a place that can compete with any 5 star hotel around the world

I do believe the Sofa leaves up to their new mission "A personalized experience" and I always look forward to be back here

Istanbul II: drinks, tapas, an amazing dinner and more drinks in Pera

Pera is a great neigborhood near Taksim but it seems very local and it is one of the key nightlife spots for young (and no so young turks)
But before nightlife there are a lots of things you can make happen in the neighborhood
If you want to snack a bit and have some Raki (fresh grapes drink mixed with water and ice that Turkish drink all the time specially in the summer and that I love) go to Pera and get lost of the streets behind the Marmara Pera hotel in the Pera neighborhood where any of those places with tables outside serve great Turkish tapas and drinks. It is also a great place to go out at night and have drinks and listen to live music.
Here in this neighborhood is also Babylon, a multi-purpose performance space/club, is the trend-setting live music venue of Istanbul. Lots of jazz, blues and interesting performances. Check www.babylon-ist.com for the dayle live music performances

For a good dinner (but really really expensive for Istanbul prices) and even better drinks with probably the best view of the city go to the restaurant at the top of the Marmara Pera Hotel, Mikla. Very posh and the food is served well but in small plates and you probably won´t be full and your wallet empty. However I do think their cuisine is good and some of the fish plates just superb. But if you are not in the mood to spend that type of money (around 90 Eur for dinner) then just go there for a drink. The bar is great in the winter and if cold you can just watch the view from the inside. In the summer the views become superlative, you can go upstairs to the outdoors terrace (where the pool just complements the ambiance) and sip very well done Mojitos while watching one of the best views you will have in your life
http://miklarestaurant.com/

Some Istanbul places I: from an afternoon drink, an snack and dinner at Ortakoy

I have been lucky to spend many times in Istanbul. I first discovered the city in 1997 when I was there for 4 months working on a consulting engagement with Accenture (former Andersen Consulting). I was more of a tourist on the weekends but I really got to love the city
During the last 2,5 years we have had several clients in Istanbul and now we have a small office, so together with my turkish country manager I have got to discover both posh and local places
let me bring you some of them

For a little walk and a drink while enjoying one of the most beautiful and relaxing "water" view I always like my sunday walks at Ortakoy. Love to have a drink at one of the semi open terraces, you can always eat a potato with 1000 toppings in one of the little kiosk where the toppings are presented graciously in different figures. The view of the Golden Horn from here at sunset is just amazing. Just be aware that what it may seem as a little taxi ride may take up to an hour on a sunday afternoon. Why not walk from Besiktas to Ortakoy?

Finally if the potatoes are not your thing or you are still hungry and you don´t want to move out of the area, there is a very good oriental and green cuisine restaurant in Ortakoy, Banyan (which they also have a branch at has also a branch in Nicantasi)
http://www.banyanrestaurant.com/tr
The restaurant is on a second floor near the Radisson and facing an amazing view (check the picture on the website for an idea)
To start with the view of the Ortakoy Mosque is superb. On the background the Bosphorus Bridge, also called the First Bosphorus Bridge (one of the two bridges in Istanbul, Turkey spanning the Bosphorus strait (Turkish: Boğaziçi) and thus connecting Europe and Asia, between Ortaköy (on the European side) and Beylerbeyi (on the Asian side)), which at night and since April 2007, a fully computerized LED lighting system of changing colours and patterns, developed by Philips, illuminates the bridge at night and makes it a superb show on its own
With such a view (which in the spring and summer is even better with their terrace), the food does really plays along well. A mix of Asian, thai, fushion well cook, presented and serve. The banyan plate is a good option if you dont want to think much for the starters and sample most of them a little bit and then all mains are good

Tea and pastries in Madrid

just a short post to tell you about a couple of places I love to spend time but better to have something to bite there when I am feeling more as "foreign" tea style or boulangerie

First one is Deli Panific. I think there are very few places in Madrid making real french boulangerie and Deli is for sure the best. Great pastries (croissants, pain aux chocolat, chausson aux pomme (and the even better the frambroise version), amazing bread (try the little brochette with 4 bread styles), other french delicacies (very good foie de canard) and an unforgetable tarte aux tatin with a very thin crust (both in individual version and family one :-) and also a fig style one

It is in Chueca almost with Alonso Martinez (Hortaleza 75, Tel. 91 702 4658)

Second place is Vailima, an english tea room / Salon de Te in Barrio Salamanca. A very extensive selection of teas, nice china in a small but cousy space and really good "bizcochos" of orange, raisins and other versions
Very nice for a little snack or relaxing conversation around 5 pm any day
they also sell all type of teas

Vailima, General Pardiñas, 54, Tel. 91 309 0955