The House Hotel Vault Karakoy ★★★★★

Set in a former 19th century bank and restored by award-winning architect Han Tümertekin, the grand House Hotel Vault Karakoy is a worthy place to lay your head.

Located in the up-and-coming neighbourhood of Karakoy, named by the Guardian as ‘Istanbul’s coolest new hotspot’ and by Condé Nast Traveller as the city’s ‘cool new district’, you’ll find it’s the perfect place from which to begin your exploration of the city.

Once a thriving port, well known for its fish stalls and hardware stores, the area became one of old Constantinople’s leading financial districts with many grand banks. Later, it fell on hard times and into a state of disrepair after the creation of the Republic. Today however, it has emerged as one of the city’s hippest hangouts - where urban grit meets city glamour and where hardware shops sit alongside prominent art galleries, fine restaurants and stylish boutiques.

It’s a fine setting for a hotel that has retained many of its original features, including impressive bank vaults, high ceilings and elegant trims. Decked out with marble columns, graceful statues and gilt mirrors, it gives one a sense of opulence, perhaps of times gone by and the golden days of Süleyman the Magnificent.

Sinan Kafadar, who designed the interiors of the hotel, used the bank vaults as inspiration and created classic luxury throughout. Rooms are large and decorated in an array of vanilla, olive and chocolate hues with elegant mirrors and writing desks. The en-suite bathrooms too ooze extravagance and style, carved out in green Carrara marble with lavish rain showers. The best part about the rooms though, is undoubtedly the beautiful ornate ceilings, stencilled in elegant floral patterns.

The bank theme doesn’t just stop at the building and the name though, there’s also the striking Gold Bar, which actually has a bank vault as its drinks cabinet and green and gold booths for enjoying your cocktails in private. It’s all about the money here. If you want things a little more red or white though, head down to the Vault Karakoy’s own underground wine cellar, set in an original old vault itself. Here you can choose your own bottle to drink back at the bar or in the comfort of your own room.

Pair your tipples with some contemporary Turkish dishes at the hotel’s restaurant Kasa Lokanta. Here you can also enjoy an extensive buffet breakfast, as well as an a la carte lunch option.

After exploring the nearby districts of Beyoğlu with its romantic Galata Tower and historic Sultanahmet with its stunning Blue Mosque - and of course the Hagia Sophia - you’ll want to relax in style. Thankfully you can do just that, back the Vault Karakoy where you can take pleasure in the treatments at the traditional Turkish hammam. There are also steam rooms, saunas and a fully equipped gym to benefit from too.

Don’t get too relaxed though as you’ll want to leave some time for a visit to Istanbul’s famous Grand Bazaar, one of the biggest and oldest undercover markets in the world. Today it covers 61 streets and has over 3,000 stalls, filled with an array of glowing lamps, fragrant spices, colourful ceramics and vibrant textiles. You might even need another hammam to get over that one!

Like many funky city districts around the world, Karakoy is well known for its many fine art galleries such as the nearby Elipsis, Istanbul’74 and Galeri Mana … and yes the Vault Karakoy itself. That’s right, the hotel even boasts its own art gallery at the Vault Art Club, with various pieces on show selected by the hotel’s in-house curator Zeynep Berik. This means you won’t even have to leave the confines of the hotel to see cutting-edge exhibitions, fine art and fascinating cultural events.

This is certainly one place you won’t mind being locked in for the night.