Checking in to Another Century: The Suites of Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet

Some addresses are simply destinations. Others are time machines.

As the sun sets over Istanbul’s Old City, the domes of Hagia Sophia glow in rose gold light. From the private terrace of a suite at Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet, the call to prayer drifts across the evening air, mingling with the scent of jasmine. Inside, hand painted Iznik tiles catch the warm flicker of lamplight, and beyond an arched doorway, a marble bath promises a quiet escape.

Checking in here is less an arrival and more a passage from the pace of the present to the elegance of another century. The building’s story began in 1918, originally designed in the French style to be a guesthouse before being reimagined as the first modern prison in the capital of the Ottoman Empire. Built between 1918 and 1919 beside the courthouse, it housed detainees awaiting trial and those serving brief sentences, including some of Turkey’s most celebrated writers and poets, such as Orhan Kemal, Kemal Tahir, Sabahattin Ali, Nazım Hikmet Ran, and Can Yücel. Turkish literary classics such as The People of the Captured City, Portraits of People from My Land, and Ward 72 were penned within its walls.

Known in its day as the “luxury prison” for its rooms with Bosphorus views, the building is an enduring example of the First National Architecture movement, where Ottoman influence meets neoclassical style. More than a century later, during its transformation into a Four Seasons hotel, original marble and stone were meticulously preserved in areas such as the entrance to the elevators and the marble wall of Kurna Spa.

Following a meticulous redesign, the hotel’s suites now offer not just a place to stay but an immersion into Istanbul’s layered past. Hagia Sophia stands as it has for generations, a silent witness to empires and travellers before.

The Suites: Names with a Story

The Beyzade Suite, meaning “son of a bey,” speaks of quiet nobility, with a lofty duplex layout, warm textiles, and graceful proportions.

The Shahzade Suite, named for an Ottoman crown prince, carries the dignity of royalty, with neoclassical furnishings, a balcony overlooking the hotel’s serene courtyard, and space to both gather and retreat.

The St. Sophia Suite offers a private terrace with Istanbul’s most iconic view, where the domes and minarets of Hagia Sophia stand as an ever-changing canvas from sunrise to moonlight.

The Marmara Suite is a love letter to the sea, with three private terraces that capture the horizon in every shade of the day.

The Pasha Suite, inspired by the grandeur of Ottoman leaders, blends generous space with timeless design to create an atmosphere of effortless command.

A stay at Four Seasons Hotel Sultanahmet is a chapter in a city that has been writing its story for over a millennium.