Hotel
Çırağan Palace Kempinski Istanbul
A five-star Kempinski hotel built around a restored 19th-century Ottoman palace on the Bosphorus shore, with an infinity pool and 317 rooms.
A modern Beyoğlu hotel in Tepebaşı topped by the Michelin-starred Mikla restaurant, with a panoramic terrace and the Pera 77 jazz and world-music venue.
Good to know
The Marmara Pera is a modern city hotel in Tepebaşı, on Meşrutiyet Caddesi in Beyoğlu. It belongs to The Marmara group of hotels, and its tall building stands out on the ridge above the Golden Horn, which gives many of its rooms and its public spaces wide views over the water to the historic peninsula. The hotel says İstiklal Avenue is about two minutes' walk away.
The building's best-known tenant is upstairs. Mikla, the restaurant founded by chef Mehmet Gürs, occupies the top floors and holds a Michelin star in the 2026 guide, with a menu built around Anatolian produce. Its terrace bar is one of the best places in Beyoğlu for a sunset drink, and staying in the hotel puts it within a lift ride of your room. The hotel also has a panoramic terrace of its own.
Pera 77, in the same building, is a venue for jazz and world music, combining food with live performances, so an evening out need not involve a taxi. Rooms are modern and practical rather than historic, and those on higher floors facing the Golden Horn are the ones to request when you book.
The hotel suits couples and independent travellers who want to stay in Beyoğlu, close to restaurants, bars and galleries, at a more moderate price than the area's luxury hotels. It also works well for business travellers. Check room categories carefully, as the view varies a great deal from side to side, and book Mikla separately and in advance if you want a table on a weekend. Taxis can pull up on Meşrutiyet Caddesi outside, which makes arriving with luggage straightforward compared with the steep lanes of Galata.
The location is one of the hotel's strengths. Şişhane metro station on the M2 line and the Tünel funicular are a few minutes' walk away, connecting you to Taksim and, across the Golden Horn, to the historic peninsula. The Pera Palace Hotel and the Pera Museum are across the street, the Galata Tower is a short walk downhill, and İstiklal Avenue, with its shops, cafés and side streets, starts just around the corner.
Yes, Mikla, the Michelin-starred restaurant and bar, is on the top floors of The Marmara Pera.
Yes, Pera 77 in the hotel hosts jazz and world-music performances.
The hotel says it is about two minutes' walk.
Rooms on higher floors facing the Golden Horn.
Yes, the hotel has a panoramic terrace, and Mikla's terrace bar is upstairs.
Meşrutiyet Caddesi No:15, Tepebaşı, Beyoğlu.
Şişhane on the M2 line, a few minutes' walk away.
The Pera Palace Hotel, the Pera Museum, İstiklal Avenue and the Galata Tower.
Bar
A long-running bar, restaurant and late-night club on the top floor of the historic Mısır Apartment on İstiklal Avenue, with panoramic city views.
Tour operator
The neighbourhood food-tour company that began in Istanbul in 2009 as Istanbul Eats, known for its day-long Two Markets, Two Continents walk.
Thing to do
One of the world's oldest covered markets, begun in the 1450s, with 61 vaulted streets of carpet, jewellery, ceramics and textile shops.
Attraction
Justinian's sixth-century domed basilica, now the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque, with a separate visitor route through its upper galleries above the prayer hall.