Off the busy Taksim Square is Harbiye, an area mixing leisure and business into one. VE HANDOJO visits Bentley, A Hotel that keeps the balace of it all.

Beyoglu might be the most happening district in Istanbul, thus unofficially making it the most happening part of Turkey as a whole. This is where art is celebrated at its highest, music is heard in every corner, old buildings are dressing up for the night, business is rolling, literally thousands of people flooding Istiklal Street, democracy is alive in Taksim Square, and Siraselviler Street is the new Montmarte. Lines of five-star and boutique hotels stand side-by-side with fine dining restaurants and shisha cafes. Jews in synagogues, Melvlevi Sect (followers of the famous Mevlana Jelaleddin Rumi, a mystical philosopher and sufi) in their Lodges, pilgrims in centuries-old Byzantinian churches, Muslims in Ottoman mosques, queers in tight leather pants, all rolled into one.

Really, how do you stay sane in a place like this? There are just too many things to do, to visit, to eat, and to buy. After a day full of viewing beautiful calligraphies in The Blue Mosque, ornaments in Hagia Sophia museum, opulent jewelry inside the Topkapi Palace-cum-museum, blue devil’s eyes everywhere, one can only wish for a mind-clearing comfort to come home to.

Bentley Hotel, member of Design Hotels, offers a solution so simple everybody else wonders why they never thought of it before. I am not going to use the overly used – and oftenly misunderstood – term of “minimalism”. In a lot of cases, “minimalism” is merely an answer to a budget cut in the design department. Bentley Hotel is simply functional, and functionally simple.

The seamless and neat look of Bentley Hotel comes from Milanese architects Piero Lissoni and Nicoletta Canesi. Each of the 50 rooms – including 8 floor suites and 2 penthouses – has a neutral look, completed with two-line internet access (free of charge), and a bathtub. Suites have mini hi-fi set, espresso machine, and even jacuzzi tubs surrounded by a panoramic and private terrace, overlooking the Bosphorus and The Golden Horn. Rooms are easily turned into office spaces with direct phone and fax lines.

Situated at the intersection of Harbiye and Nisantasi, Bentley Hotel is within walking distance of Istanbul’s popular restaurants, clubs, distinguished shopping areas, as well as the Military Museum, Open-air Theater, major concert halls, congress and exposition centers, travel agencies, subway and other exciting travel spots and conveniences.

Offering simplicity as the most comfortable solution to the city, Bentley Hotel stands as a design ambassador in the heart of Istanbul.

Bentley Hotel
Halaskargazi Cad. No. 75
34367 Harbiye, Istanbul
www.bentley-hotel.com

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