The Istanbul Edition (editionhotels.com/hotels/istanbul/)
This hotel has 78 rooms all oozing with warm golds and browns with lots of Ottoman influences (if you love views then book a top floor room). Spa fans can indulge in the ESPA Spa for an experience that will blow your mind or head to the Cipriani restaurant, Gold Bar, Drawing Room or Screening Room for some well-deserved rest and relaxation. A perfect pool is also at your disposal, which might just be the best place to spend the afternoon after some sight seeing around the city.
Hotel Les Ottomans (lesottomans.com)
Located in a former 18th-century Pasha's mansion, Hotel Les Ottomans is extravagantly restored in a Baroque Istanbul style. Theatrical and stunning, it has just 10 suites. Book a treatment in the Caudelie spa and spend the day there, with arguably the best luxury hammam in town. One of the hotel's draws is the several boats at your disposal - including a six-person speed boat, a tour boat for scenic rides up the Bosphorus, and the Ma Biche yacht.
Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet (fourseasons.com/istanbul)
What was once an early 20th-century prison is now a 21st-century luxury hideaway. Located in one of the oldest and most interesting quarters of one of the oldest and most interesting cities in the world, the Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet is an ideal base from which to explore. The bold ochre-tinted walls of this restored neo-classic Turkish prison stands in playful contrast to the sharp white walls of the Blue Mosque and the pinkish hue of the Hagia Sofia - both just steps from your door. The hotel's 65 guest rooms and suites hint at their ancient (and infamous) past, all the while celebrating the rich culture of Turkey with faience tiles, Ottoman antiques, tapestries, and intricate carpets.