Shangri-La Bosphorus, Istanbul
Istanbul, Turkey · 5-star Hotel Shangri-La Circle
Shangri-La Bosphorus, Istanbul in photographs
When to go
We do not yet have enough months on record to call a cheapest season for this one. It is on the tracker and this page updates as that fills in.
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 Shangri-La Circle. 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 Shangri-La Bosphorus opened on 11 May 2013, the brand's second hotel in Europe after Paris. It occupies a former tobacco warehouse from the 1930s on the European shore of the Bosphorus between the Dolmabahçe Palace and the Naval Museum in Beşiktaş. The restored six-storey neo-classical façade survives, and two sycamore trees that are centuries old stand in the courtyard.
Inside, the design takes its cue from the Dolmabahçe Palace, with marble, chandeliers and a skylit, domed atrium, and the hotel displays more than a thousand European and Asian artworks. There are 186 rooms, 17 of them suites, and nearly all of the suites have a private terrace. Most rooms look over the Bosphorus.
Dining includes IST TOO, an all-day restaurant with a sushi bar and a 12-metre grill, and Shang Palace, a Chinese restaurant known for Peking duck carved at the table, plus a lobby lounge and a bar. The CHI spa has eight private treatment suites, a hammam, a sauna and steam rooms, and there is a heated indoor pool. The ferry dock outside the door makes the hotel a good base for crossing to the Asian shore.
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 621 ≈ €555 |
|---|---|
| What it usually costs | USD 652 ≈ €583 |
| Dearest we have seen | USD 683 ≈ €610 |
| Times we looked | 2 |
| Gap between the two | - |
| Last checked | 2026-08-29 |