Enlarge Photo

Update from a Boston member who traveled to Istanbul in June, 2010 with her family:

Our travels were awesome!

We loved a ten hour plane from JFK to Istanbul—a full night’s sleep makes for a great start to a journey.

The Park Hyatt was very nice. Service was good. Rooms are spacious with fabulous black-out shades. The doormen and concierge were extremely helpful. The roof pool and dining is a real treat and I understand unique among the city’s hotels.

Everyone in the family loved Istanbul. We’d stay next time, if in a pool month, at the Kempinski or the Four Season Bosphorus for sure—the waterside location is just too tempting an attraction.

We had mixed feelings about the Four Seasons, Sultanahmet. The location was perfect for our late afternoon arrival, and late morning departure the next day. It also allowed my daughter to get a quick tour of the Old City from both the roof top bar/dining of the hotel and an early walking tour the next morning. We really enjoyed walking around early in the morning before the tourists had arrived.

The food was disappointing—very mediocre. The restaurant service was exceptionally slow. The Front Desk and Concierge were excellent. The furnishings, both in the public areas and in the rooms are dated and in need of freshening up. LOCATION is what this property has going for it, but that’s about it. We knew it was expensive, but it was really expensive given our lukewarm experience.

TRAFFIC is the first word that comes to mind when I think of Istanbul!!

The guide you arranged for us was excellent.

We ate at Mikla —our hands down favorite. We ate inside with a western view, but an outside, covered table would have been equally spectacular.

Tugra was fun—nice to get on that property, but sadly there was a massive tent in front of our table that was not only in the middle of noisily being taken down, but also totally blocked our view. We loved eating outside and trying new dishes.

Les Ottomans was fun—more of a lively, young crowd—and eating on the water is so energizing. The more casual/familiar menu was a nice surprise for the girls.

The private boat charter on the Bosphorus was the highlight of Istanbul. Thank you. No one should ever miss that experience if the weather allows.

Read our Istanbul report

Read Melissa’s picks from a recent trip to Istanbul

Enlarge Photo

From Elena Bowes, London

I just spent a fabulous five days in Istanbul with my two daughters. We had so many highlights that we came back to London knowing we’d return to this beautiful, historic city on the water. Highlight number one was the Four Seasons Bosphorus, which is a definite must with kids. While the other Four Seasons in the old city may be more charming, it is small and compact. Kids like space. In fact, whenever my 16-year-old needed “alone time” away from her sometimes annoying 10-year-old sibling, she just grabbed her iPod and headed for the hotel’s expansive terrace overlooking the bustling, pretty harbor.

My personal highlight at the Four Seasons was the two-hour long “Private Hammam Moment” with swimsuit-clad Leila giving new meaning to the word pamper. While I lay on a heated stone bed, Leila scrubbed and exfoliated my entire body clean of any dead skin, poured hot water all over my body, then blew big bubbles onto me, massaged me thoroughly and generally made me feel like an overgrown baby. When I was finished, my skin felt about as close to baby soft as its ever going to feel. If you don’t have two hours to spare, try and book an hour massage with Christina who is known for her “healing hands”, and has been voted one of the world’s top five masseuses in the world. The Four Seasons takes the personal touch to new levels. The spa staff happily offered my forgetful youngest a disposable bathing suit; fresh, delicious snacks awaited us daily in our rooms at teatime; the maids put bookmarks in our books at night; and when my daughter couldn’t figure out how to turn on the shower, a Four Seasons employee dressed in a suit got completely wet showing her how the taps worked. And apologized about wearing shoes.

And then there was Istanbul itself. We loved our Indagare recommended tour guide. A short version of the actor Jeff Goldblum, Askin was not only knowledgeable and passionate about his city, but he knew when to dish the dirt, i.e. when my daughters and I needed a recess break from the history lesson that is Istanbul. Askin, who has shown around everyone from Hillary Clinton to Paul Allen to John Travolta, took us to all the main tourist spots. Teens will love all the lurid tales of the harem days at Topkapi Palace, and the Blue Mosque is awe-inspiringly beautiful. We liked the Istanbul Modern museum set on the water, especially the trendy cafe where we spotted actress/model Eva Mendes celebrating a long, fun birthday lunch with friends. Our favorite restaurants were Zuma (5 Raphael St; www.zumarestaurant.com) for dinner and House (multiple locations; www.thehousecafe.com.tr) for lunch. Bagdhad Street on the Asian side was fun to stroll along – a bit like the Champs Elysee – and we saw the most amazing jewelery at Sevan Bicakci’s modest shop (Molla Fenari Mah. Gazi Sinanpasa Sk. No. 16; www.sevanbicakci.com) in the old town. The 36-year old jeweler has already been voted the world’s best jeweler three times at a Las Vegas Jewelery Fair, and London’s Victoria & Albert Museum are exhibiting his creations this June. Both Queen Elizabeth and Michelle Obama own pieces so his shop is a must-see, especially if you get a private back room tour complete with Turkish coffee and divine homemade pastries. Still not convinced? Eva Mendes was his next appointment.

Read our Istanbul cheat sheet

Read suggestions for an active family who wants adventures in Turkey

Read a member postcard on a family’s two-week trip in Turkey

Read about the Turkish Riviera

For travel advice or to learn about special trips or preferred rates at hotels, contact our booking department by calling 212-988-2611 or by sending an inquiry

Enlarge Photo

A California-based Indagare member recently returned from a birthday trip with her husband, which took them to St. Petersburg and Istanbul. Here she shares her discoveries and suggestions for other travelers planning a similar journey.

Wow! Still digesting everything from this incredible trip.

After an ordeal over canceled flights at the Russian airport, the VIP service provided by our travel specialists that welcomed us in Turkey was a great start. Yesim, our guide, and Ilham, our driver immediately began telling us about Istanbul on our way to the fabulous Four Seasons Bosphorus.

You were right—this Four Seasons is wonderful. Upon arrival, we had a fantastic birthday cake waiting for us along with some fruits. We were also upgraded to a junior suite with a partial view of the pool and the Bosphorus. They call it a partial view, because we were on the side of the building, but I call it a great room with a terrific view. Loved it! We ate the cake and fruits after arriving late, and then went straight to sleep.

Yesim was a wonderful person and a terrific guide for us. We laughed a lot and really enjoyed all of the time we spent with her. She definitely knows all about Turkey—the history, current events, religious history, art, architecture, food, etc. Our driver, Ilham, was always right where he was supposed to be and he was always smiling and helpful. I can’t say enough nice things about Yesim, Ilham and our travel specialists. We will definitely utilize their services again. We have a plan to visit some other parts of Turkey, and they are a big part of that plan!

We ate at some local places with Yesim that were wonderful, but we also loved the nearby House Café. The Turkish and Continental-themed Ulus 29 has a similar location as Sunset Grill, but less of a California feel—no sushi. We can eat California style at home, so we think it was a better choice. People eat late in Istanbul (think NYC), and many places turn into clubs for dancing after midnight. The pistachio kebabs at Hamdi are a must! And definitely get the breakfast included at the Four Seasons—wonderful.

Note: At the hotel, there are a lot of outdoor weddings in June/July and they like their music loud until midnight. If that’s an issue for someone, they may want to stay on the other side of the hotel, although they will likely sacrifice the view. This was only a problem for us on the night we had to get up early for our flight to Ephesus. (We didn’t know there would be a wedding, and it was like a disco in our room that night.) Otherwise, join in the party. The weddings look like a lot of fun! Apparently, it’s okay to partake if you’re a guest—and we would have, had we known. I’d check that with the front desk staff. We just stayed out late and had fun ourselves.

We shopped far more than we expected, but the craftsmanship and prices were fantastic. We loved the Spice Market for shopping, and quite a few other shops as well. Again, Yesim was invaluable: we just had to mention what we were looking for, and she took us to the best shops with wonderful products, where they treated us fairly during bargaining. Bargin you must!

One highlight off the beaten track was the incredible preserved mosaics at Chora church (or Kariye in Turkish), which date from 800 AD. There’s a great shop near there where we bought some ceramics. You can’t miss it: look across from the exit and to the left.

We loved everything we did…you know how wonderful Istanbul is. The Underground Cistern and Topkapi Palace were incredible. At Topkapi, be sure not to skip the room that holds the relics of Mohamed. If you do, you’ll miss the staff that Moses used to part the Red Sea.

One special thing we did which should not be missed is a day trip to Ephesus. We flew down at 8 AM with no problem and returned on the 7PM flight, which, although a little delayed, still got us back to the hotel in time for a late dinner. We weren’t worried. Again, our guide was fantastic. He had studied Archeology and History, and had even worked as intern on a dig at Ephesus. He loves Ephesus and shared all of his love and knowledge of it with us. It was incredible to walk down the marble walkways that Caesar, Anthony, and Cleopatra once frequented. We also went to the Temple of Artemis (now called the British Pit because most of it is in England), and saw where Mary lived out her last days up on the hill, which was very peaceful. Ephesus was seriously special, a wonderful part of history, and a very meaningful part of our trip.

Tip: The hammam at the hotel is a wonderful experience. The massages are more variable—we each had two, two were good, two were OK. Loved the energizing massage after the hammam—I really did feel energized.

We love history and art and appreciate religious history. Our trip was full of these things and more. Wow! Still digesting everything from this incredible trip. Thank you so much for all of your recommendations and help. We are very happy that we joined Indagare and we look forward to traveling again soon now that we have found you. If you have any specific questions, please feel free to ask. I’m happy to share any information I have left out or answer any questions you have.

Read a postcard from another member about her first look at the Four Seasons Bosphorus

Read a postcard from Elena Bowes about five days in Istanbul with her two daughters

Read an interview with art consultant and Istanbul Insider Isabelle Icoz

Read our Istanbul cheat sheet

Read our report about sailing on the Turkish Riviera

For travel advice or to learn about special trips or preferred rates at hotels, contact our booking department by calling 212-988-2611 or by sending an inquiry