Rejuve
at the Per
Istan
By Inka Piega
T
alk about the royal
treatment! If you plan to
visit Istanbul and have a few
bucks to spare, there is no
better place to stay than the
emblematic Pera Palace Hotel. You
can´t beat it for location,
atmosphere, luxury and pampering.
The hotel was after all first built to
cater to the well heeled and famous
clientele who, following the fashion
of the time, travelled on the Orient
Express to the city on the Bosporus
and had nowhere adequate to stay.
Orient Express was written in her
favorite room: number 411. A bit the
worse for wear, the hotel closed for
a while to undergo extensive
renovation, which lasted a few years.
In September 2010, it opened its
doors again, more glamorous than
ever before and with the addition
of the latest amenities to cater to
refined clientele tastes.
Along came the Pera Palace.
The art deco marvel opened its
doors in 1892 and featured the first
electrically operated elevator in
Turkey, as well as hot and cold
running water. It was also the venue
of the first ever fashion show in
Istanbul in 1926. Countless
celebrities have stayed there, from
Hemingway to Orson Welles to
Attatürk, Greta Garbo and, of
course, Agatha Christie.
Let´s take the aforementioned royal
treatment step by step. The hotel
will collect you from the airport in
Part of the thriller Murder on the
10
a chauffeured limousine and upon
arrival, the doorman will step out,
open your door and greet you by
name even if you have never been a
guest before. It´s simply a nice touch
and makes you feel welcome.
I couldn’t get the Agatha Christie
suite, now decorated in black and
burgundy red, but I had absolutely no
complaints of being allocated the
Greta Garbo suite. Furnished with
antiques, among them a fabulous
dresser, no luxuries were missing,