By Katia Freire

During my recent stay in Istambul, I had the pleasure to be guest of the Opera Hotel. I was invited to attend EMITT, and choosing the hotel where I would lodge was up to the organization board  of the exhibition. Quite frankly, I was a bit afraid to find myself in a room in one of those very noisy - yet very famous and glamorous - hotels in hectic Taksim Square. I may admit that – when I was checking in at Opera, I felt blessed by fortune for such a lucky choice.

Opera Hotel is one of Istanbul’s world-class venues  – classified into the  so-called “design hotel” category -  in a warm, fasionable yet intimate habitat, where the perfect blend of cosmopolitan style and  international mood of its cuisine and staff are ready to be a choice of self-indulgence in the heart of Istambul.

All this cosmopolitan mood is spread across a sixteen-storeyed building which curver façade reminds a free interpretation of Liberty style .

 A few steps from the subway station Kabatas, it’s  16 floors host 75 rooms, two restaurants, a free private parking on site and free of charge Wi-Fi available in the entire building. 

The hotel is located in 26,  Inonu Caddesi and, despite it is  at 10 minutes on foot  from  noisy and jammed Taksim Square, you will not realize it.

In fact, from the beggining of the street the panorama starts changing completely: stylish buidings in both part of the streets host a handful of consulates, the Military Hospital – based in an elegant building of 1849 - and a handful of stylish pubs and bistrots, are all within reach.

In another hand, in case you decide to have dinner inside the hotel, you could stay in the Mozart Restaurant & Bar – in the ground floor - and choose a table close to the windows overlooking  the waters of the Bosphorus sea – or simply straight outside, in the terrace (if you are lucky enough to find free places out there.  You can also choose to step and stare in the 8th floor and order a dish at the Skyview Restaurant in the roof of the hotel, where the 270° view of the Bosphorus in your right and the Marmara in your left will take your breath away. You can either choose special selected Turkish dishes or world cuisine for dinner.  In case you decide to stay to spare the night time, the spaces of the restaurant turn into a discoteque in a moody atmosphere.

Moreover,  Opera followed the mainstream that was started by SwissHotel, years ago, and offers to its guests an wellness area with a small yet very cute hammam. Thus, for a treat, you can count on a fitness  room,  massages, steam room, sauna  and a beauty center. As part of the leisure area, the hotel also offers a swimming pool outside the hammam surface.

The daily breakfast at the Mozart Restaurant is a cut above the average in terms of quality and quantity.

All rooms at the Opera feature a seating area with a good selection of beverage in their minibars.

In some of the rooms and suites the guest can take his bath in the hot tub in front of a scenic sea view.

A handful of  architectural details deserve to be quoted:  the Onix marble the guest will find out lining here and there in the “milieu” of Opera, as well as theoaken parquet- flooring used in most of the rooms and in the roof restaurant .

The onix marble - specially produced in the city of Gebze, in western Turkey -  also in its feature “Dark Emperador”-  was profuselly used not only in the rooms but also  in the congressual floor and its meeting rooms.

As per the oaken parquets, we know that Turkey is a genetically-blessed country in terms of wooded territories – and is plenty of oak tree areas - but it is really remarkeable when you see that a hotel uses such a material without parsimony and rather focusing on high-standard and eco-friendly materials. In rough words: marble and oak  are distinguished materials known  as cute, clean, hearty and charming.  As well as the whole mood of Opera Hotel. And you also feel as if you were far from the madding crowd !

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