SuB Hotel, Karaköy, Istanbul
Modern Stylish Small Hotel. Doubles from £75 B&B
There’s so much to commend about this trendy-friendly hotel, not least its location in Karaköy, an area that until recently was dismissed as Istanbul’s nondescript and none-too-welcoming docks area. Ironmongers or prostitutes, Karaköy was where you went for screws. Now, however, the old ateliers, warehouses and dives of this super-central area, a ten-minute walk from Galata Bridge, are being remade as bars, cafes, galleries and museums, drawing in an arty crowd that wouldn’t be seen dead across the Golden Horn in Sultanahmet.
The decidedly industrial look – a collage of exposed brickwork and tubing, riveted aluminium and chain curtains, the whole reminiscent of Hoxton or Hamburg – is on show at SuB Hotel where the open-plan ground floor functions as foyer and reception, breakfast area, all-day café, bar and lounge. That’s it, apart from the likeable loft-style rooms, the roof terrace, and the passion for Karaköy of delightful owner Çığdem Sungur and her young staff, making this just the base to discover how much more there is to Istanbul than touristy Sultanahmet.
Çığdem was formerly owner of Portus House, a bright and likeable pansiyon with apartments that’s an excellent base for families or groups of friends on a budget.
For more on the area, visit my Istanbul Articles page and scroll down to ‘Boho by the Bosphorus’.
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