Raffles Istanbul
Istanbul, Turkey · 5-star Hotel ALL - Accor Live Limitless
Raffles Istanbul in photographs
When to go
The cheapest month we have found is September, at around USD 558 a night - -11% 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 ALL - Accor Live Limitless. 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
Raffles Istanbul opened on 1 September 2014 and was the first Raffles hotel in Turkey. It occupies the upper part of a 27-storey, 134-metre tower in the Zorlu Center in Beşiktaş, a complex of residences, offices, a shopping mall and a performing arts centre, designed by Emre Arolat Architecture and Tabanlıoğlu Architecture. It is one of the most visible buildings on the Istanbul skyline, and the stepped, wood-edged terraces you see from the street give it its look.
There are 136 rooms and 49 suites, and a collection of around 200 works by international and Turkish artists. The spa covers about 3,000 square metres, with three Turkish hamams and both indoor and outdoor pools. A ballroom for up to 1,200 guests connects directly with the Zorlu Performing Arts Center.
This is the modern, city-centre choice of the three five-star hotels we follow on the Bosphorus shore: no palace and no waterfront, but a high-floor view over the Bosphorus and the city, and the Zorlu mall below. It is part of the Accor group, and the hotel is run under the Raffles brand.
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 558 ≈ €499 |
|---|---|
| What it usually costs | USD 629 ≈ €562 |
| Dearest we have seen | USD 812 ≈ €726 |
| Times we looked | 4 |
| Gap between the two | 40% |
| Last checked | 2026-10-24 |