It was my first time in Istanbul. I did not know much about the city, nor I had time to google around to find the best hotel. I went there for business, so I relied on the opinion of my colleagues who are working there. Their advice proved to be excellent! The Hotel is located in Ortakoy, a cozy block near the first bridge. It's far from the center and abt 45 minutes by taxi from the airport, the only downside of this accommodation. The building has just been renovated, the rooms are brand new, nicely decorated with the Scandinavian touch - which actually gives you a kind of weird feeling, as sometimes you think you are in Stockholm, not in Istanbul - the lounge has a magnificent view on the Bosphorus. Breakfast is just as good as you would expect it to be. I must say I loved my stay in Radisson Bosphorus! A small hitch to report: the complementary Wi-Fi broadband connection is fast for standard mailing and office work, but it's lame when it comes to watching streaming videos like youtube ones. After all not a big deal: you're not supposed to be staying long in your room when you are in Istanbul: there's a lot to do and to see!

one of the best properties in IST for a very reasonable amount of points got an upgrade to a corner suite incl a full breakfast - breathtaking view great location, good breakfast, wonderful design of the hotel - simple, disrceet, nice hotel staff but poor communication - no english, but we are not there to speak to the staff - things are self explanatory in hotels all in all great - i would send them to english schools to study english avoid any hotels in the asian site of IST - too much hassle to commute enjoy it

AVOID THE RADISSON CHAIN. ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE ON HONEYMOON! Very disappointed with this particular hotel in the Radisson group, and overall unimpressed with the standard that they offer as a 5 star hotel. We planned to stay at the Radisson on the night of our wedding, which we had held close by. As it was effectively the beginning of our honeymoon, we had visited Istanbul a few months beforehand to make arrangements and had requested that we have a particular room with a view in which we would also use to take photos. This was arranged beforehand, but come the day, we were not allowed to enter the room (which we had previously booked AND confirmed verbally (both in English and Turkish, and so understanding their reassurances in different languages!) as it had been allocated to someone else! Furthermore, despite having received the okay beforehand, we were told not to take bridal photos in the lobby as it would disturb other guests - insane! There was no one there, which is how I usually find the lobby at the Radisson, and furthermore, how could 5-10 minutes of snapping a bride disturb anyone? After a lot of apologising from the desk manager (a nice guy, but had obviously been overruled by his faceless and unforgiving management), we were shown a smaller room with a view (not as good as the one we had booked), but which SMELT terribly of sewage PLUS could hear the nightclub downstairs VERY clearly. Nice start to our honeymoon. I still wish to this day that I had booked the Kempinski Palace as the honeymoon treat instead! Breakfast was nothing special (Swiss Otel Bosporus breakfasts are far superior), the usual clinical fare. Having stayed at a lot of 5 star hotels in Istanbul, I would recommend the Marmara for a cheaper stay and Kempinski for a more luxe stay or one of the boutique hotels in and around IStanbul (though a lot of them are not that central). BUT DON'T STAY AT THE RADISSON, THEY DO NOT LOOK AFTER THE CUSTOMER! Despite this, the following week we still booked in at the Radission in Rome for 1 night. You may ask why - well as 5-star hotels go, it was cheap! And that I think is what the inherent problem is - the Radisson clearly cuts a lot of corners in their rooms, and a lot of things feel that they are low quality and built cheaply, yet you are supposed to be staying at a 5 star hotel. But in reality, you are not getting 5 star, which is why people's expectations are higher than they ought to be. The Radisson does not deserve its 5 star claims and I would place it at a 4 star instead.

Family of three stayed 5 nights at the Radisson SAS Bosphorus in December 2007. The hotel is first class,very new and the staff are efficient and friendly. The major problem with this hotel ,if you are a tourist to Istranbul,is it's location.It is in Ortakoy and in normal Istanbul traffic,which is pretty horrendous,can take you anything up to 45 minutes by taxi to Taxim square or Sultanahmet. We normally like to take a mid day break from siteseeing around 2-3 PM and go back out for another round in town in the early evening.With the hotel being so far away it just wasn't practical. The Metro/Light Rail of Istanbul also doesn't help much as it ends in Kabatas and from there you need a cab anyway. The neighbourhood of Ortakoy is very nice,with cafes and restaurants on the pier,right by the bosphurus bridge and the Oratkoy Mosque.A small handicrafts market is always on hand as well. Another down side of the Radisson SAS is the pricing for the extra's. We paid 210 Euro per night for a triple room which is reasonable nowadays for a 5 star in Istanbul.But this price did not include breakfast - they charged us 20 Euro per person for the buffet breakfast - which we indulged in once.Other mornings we either went straight to town or went down to a cafe in Ortakoy where u can get a Turkish Breakfast platter for around 12.50 YTL per person. The Hotel has a Hamam - They charged me 140 YTL for a 40 min's Turkish massage and use of the sauna and spa.Comparable rates in first class Hamam's in town,albeit NOT in a 5 star hotel,run for c 60 YTL for a similar experience. The hotel also has a hair dresser and we made the mistake of bringing our 9 year old daughter for a hair cut.I have very little hair left but I was convinced to also have a shave,manicure,head massage etc. Before we knew what was going on they charged us 225 YTL (c $200) for the pleasure.When we contacted the reception to complain they checked with the salon and returned to us explaining that the prices we were charged were actually quite reasonable for a 5 star hotel in Istanbul. Just for futur reference anyone who go's to Istanbul will notice that they have more hair salons per capita than any other place in the world I have seen! Just stop into any decent looking one and you will get spoiled rotten at 1/3 the price we paid. All in all the Radisson SAS is not the place for tourists - there is no shortage of 5 star hotels in the Taxim area or the Sultanahemet tourist area.

Abbiamo iniziato il nostro giro turistico della Turchia da quest'albergo dove abbiamo alloggiato per 2 notti. È un albergo di disegno moderno sulle sponde del magico Bosforo, situato nel distretto bohémien di Ortakoy. Facile check-in e camere chic e alla moda (tipo pittura color grigio talpa, bagno/vasca con pareti di vetro, LCD TV), ma un po' strette per tre persone. La prima colazione offriva una vasta scelta di est ed ovest, particolarmente ottima quando viene consumata di fronte al mare (sarebbe bello se la servissero in terrazza). Ottimo centro benessere. La zona brulica di ristoranti per turisti e gente del luogo che viene ad osservare la scena (diventa magica la sera). Ci sono locali più economici su per la strada perpendicolare alla strada principale dov'è l'albergo, con una drogheria ed un negozio di perline a buon mercato (ed un piccolo Starbucks per i fanatici dei tazzoni di città).