Istanbul is simply overwhelming. A city which straddles both Europe and Asia and has a population of about 14.2 million (with nearly 10 million living on the European side), its rush hour traffic makes New York City’s look inviting. Many of the hotels are in the popular historic areas such as Sultanahmet (old city) or Taksim (new city) but most of the time thec streets of these areas seem like a non-stop flow of humanity. That is the reason that I chose to stay at the Hilton Bomonti-a new five star hotel which caters to business people and conventions. The hotel is located in an upper middle class section of Sisli, an Istanbul neighborhood. A ten minute walk to the metro, you can get to all of the popular parts in the old or new city in about 20 minutes. The hotel is beautiful. It has a nice spa, indoor and outdoor pools and one of the best Executive Lounges I have seen anywhere both in design and food/drink offerings. The rooms are large and modern. The wifi is great. But its greatest asset are its people-willing to offer you (and guessing when you need) help. The GM Remco Norden has done a great job in making the Hilton Bomonti one of the best hotels in Istanbul. But for me the best part is the welcome and calm embrace it gives you when Istanbul begins to overwhelm you!
