Çırağan Palace Kempinski Istanbul
Istanbul, Turkey · 5-star Hotel GHA DISCOVERY Steady pricing
Çırağan Palace Kempinski Istanbul in photographs
When to go
The cheapest month we have found is October, at around USD 668 a night - -6% against what this hotel usually asks.
Where to book
- Book on Booking.com - Free cancellation options, guest reviews and a familiar checkout.
- Hotel website - Photos, facilities and location.
The loyalty angle
This hotel sits under GHA DISCOVERY. We have not yet checked what it saves on this property specifically. Every price on this page is the public rate, so a member may pay less than the figures shown.
Our notes
About the hotel
The Çırağan is a real Ottoman palace. Sultan Abdulaziz had it built between 1863 and 1867, with the finishing work running on to 1872, to a design by the palace architect Nigoğayos Balyan; his sons Sarkis and Hagop Balyan carried out the building. The palace stands on the European shore of the Bosphorus between Beşiktaş and Ortaköy, behind a high garden wall and with its marble façade on the water. A fire on 19 January 1910 left only the outer walls standing, and it remained a ruin for most of the twentieth century.
A Japanese company bought the ruin in 1987, restored it, and added a modern hotel building in the garden. The hotel opened in 1990 and the restored palace in 1992. The palace now holds the most lavish suites, among them the Sultan Suite, which CNN Go listed in 2012 among the most expensive hotel suites in the world; most other rooms are in the hotel building beside it. It is worth asking which of the two you are booking, because the price and the feel are quite different.
It is a five-star Kempinski hotel and the grand address of the Bosphorus shore. It sits between Beşiktaş and Ortaköy, and a marble bridge links the palace to the Yıldız Palace grounds.
The area
Istanbul runs on two continents and never really stops. Give the old city a morning: in Fatih, Hagia Sophia and the other UNESCO sights are all within a short walk of each other. Then cross to Karakoy, the harbour district of five-star hotels, Michelin kitchens and grilled-fish wraps from street stands, and finish with baklava from Karakoy Gulluoglu, baking since 1949.
The Istanbul Modern, opened in 2023 on the Bosporus, is the best place for Turkish art. For a proper hamam, the sixteenth-century Zeyrek Cinili Hamam reopened after a long restoration.
The cheapest boat tour in the city is the public ferry: Eminonu to Kadikoy on the Asian side costs about a dollar, and Kadikoy's market streets are the place for dinner. With a free day, the Princes' Islands are about 90 minutes from Kabatas.
Background: The New York Times, 36 Hours in Istanbul, Valeriya Safronova, June 2025.
In the blog
Istanbul: three palaces on the Bosphorus, and a one-dollar boat
Istanbul's best hotels line the European shore of the Bosphorus. We track three of them, all around USD 600-720 a night. The best boat trip in the city costs about a dollar.
2026-09-24 · Istanbul, Turkey
What it costs through the year
| Cheapest we have seen | USD 629 ≈ €562 |
|---|---|
| What it usually costs | USD 707 ≈ €632 |
| Dearest we have seen | USD 780 ≈ €697 |
| Times we looked | 5 |
| Gap between the two | 21% |
| Last checked | 2026-08-02 |