JW Marriott Istanbul Bosphorus

Absolutely stunning property, brand new and amazingly designed. The rooms, public areas and restaurants look beautiful, everything is gorgeous. The best part of this hotel is the staff though, service was amazing throughout. Everyone, from the front desk, housekeeping to the F&B manager and restaurant staff was soooooo nice. The room was fantastic, room service was good and the breakfast (during Covid times) one of the best I had in a while. The gym is great, I hope all other facilities will open soon again.nnI will for sure be back soon.

This property of JW Marriott is located at the heart of the Istanbul allowing visitors to access all of the major attractions. This location offers amazing rooftop restaurant and caffe with breathtaking view of the city and Bosphorus, as well as other landmark historic architectures to enjoy.nnThe property manager was kind to welcome me personally and introduce me to the amenities. I was impressed on how the manager shared their philosophy on customer service. She said that there are many hotels that offer superb products, but what differentiate us is that we emphasize the value on building personal connection and creating long lasting memories to make our guests remember how we made them feel. Indeed, they made me feel like a royalty, and also down to earth, truly personable care.nnI can’t wait to return back to Istanbul and stay at this property again.

This hotel is by far one of the best hotels I have ever visited worldwide.nIt is located at the heart of Istanbul and you will fall in love with the great view while having breakfast or dinner. It is close by the bosphorus. The interior design and details of the property are well-chosen and even the colors touch your soul. The hotel staff is doing an amazing job. They are attentive, polite, fluent in English language and very caring. The hygiene and cleanliness at the hotel goes beyond all expectations. Restaurant Octo was a dream for our tastebuds. We met Chef Jorge himself and he introduced the Portuguese cuisine at its best. Each and every dish was perfectly created, an explosion of flavours melting together in our mouth.nThis hotel deserves more than 5*. Absolutely recommend if you want to give yourself a treat.

5 star service, but 1 star for the room that was left for us...nnSince we have not been to Istanbul for a while, and my wife wanted to have a room with a Bosphorus view, having Gold Elite status at Marriott, I reserved and paid for an Executive Sea View King room at the hotel, and had called the hotel in advance to ensure a room with a view and an upgrade. Our initial reservation was through the Marriott app, but I found a lesser price on Kayak/Booking and switched to that booking, and the reservation showed up on my Marriott app again, so I believed we were all set.nnUpon arrival, the service at the hotel is impeccable, from receiving us at the front door, to swift check-in thanks to Gizem Hanım at the reception desk. The hotel has 9 floors - the top two are the bar, restaurant and outdoor rooftop mini pool/bar area. However, the room we were presented on the 3rd floor hardly had any Bosphorus view, because the top floor of the buildings between the hotel and the Bosphorus are the main view. Furthermore, the room is sold as an 'Executive' room, but it only has a narrow table right in front of the TV, which defeats the purpose of allowing being used as a workstation while not smack facing the TV, especially if you will be working on US time (evening time in İstanbul) while here. It was a late night short visit to the room, and we kindly asked for another room but only got told that they had no more Bosphorus view rooms left to show, so we were given one looking out at the Galata Tower. Fortunately, this room had the workstation separate from the TV. So we fully paid for a sea view room, but ended up with a Galata tower/city view room, no upgrade.nnOn the upside, the hotel's service is impeccable - I have stayed at the Ritz-Carlton here in İstanbul, and even they didn't have this level of passionate service and attention to detail, in my humble opinion. The breakfast buffet which was included in our reservation is outstanding - a mini buffet that has all of the selections you could ask for, and in-house baked croissants that are excellently buttery and crispy. The view from the 8th floor breakfast area is superb, with 270 degrees, overlooking the Bosphorus and city. The breakfast crew was so attentive, and warmly accommodated us without any rush even with 15 minutes remaining to close of breakfast.nnBottomline: if you are a traveling executive in need of working while at the hotel, and you want a sea view room, you may not want to stay here. As for Marriott Gold Elite membership, I am questioning what it is worth, as our last three stays with Marriott have not involved any upgrades despite calling the hotel in advance. I used to have IHG Platinum status (now available through an IHG credit card), and enjoyed upgrades because they kept true to their reservations. Marriott needs to do the same. Otherwise, Gold Elite status is useless. (I am also paying $550 per year for Amex Platinum card which gives the now seemingly useless Marriott Gold Elite status, which I will probably cancel)nnP.S.: While receiving Ms. Sevtap Polat's (General Manager of the JW Marriott İstanbul Bosphorus) handsigned kind note was heartwarming at check-in, it was not useful without any contact information of hers, so I am writing this comment to hopefully improve JW Marriott İstanbul Bosphorus holding true to reservations at the hotel, especially not selling 3rd room floors as 'sea view', and Marriott not selling 'Executive' rooms as rooms without workstations that are not smack in front of the TV, and making true upgrades available to Gold Elite members as promised.

I am just leaving this hotel after 15 nights here and I feel like I'm leaving behind a family!! From the second you arrive you are made to feel like you are the most important person in the world. I don't know how Marriott have done it but they appear to have found all of the most wonderful people to work there, from the bellboy to the chambermaid and of course the incredible reception staff. The rooms are beautiful, the reception is beautiful and the breakfast is whatever you want it to be because it feels like they will make you anything you want. This hotel reflects the incredible heart and soul of the Turkish people and the luxury of the JW Marriott group. Incredible location next to Galata Bridge and the buzzing Karaköy area. I walked everywhere! Please stay here to experience the best possible vacation in this wonderful city