I’m going a little bit off the order of our trip here but I’ll cover my Pegasus Airlines flights as one post later on. 

We knew that we wanted to spend some time in Istanbul but as our trip was focused on the Bodrum EDITION, we didn’t have much time to squeeze in a full few days in one of the most intriguing cities in the world. Therefore, we decided to stay in Istanbul for a night and spend a full day in Istanbul before flying out late in the evening.  With this in mind, it didn’t make sense to stay in the old city, so we looked for a reasonably priced hotel easily accessible by transit, away from the dense historic city centre and the Taksim neighbourhood. This made for an easy Uber ride into and out of the city. 

As a Marriott loyalist and a Gold member, it was the first place I looked for a hotel. The Istanbul market is flush with several chain hotel options right across the Marriott brand, at relatively reasonable prices. 

As we wouldn’t be spending much time in the hotel, we didn’t think it was a worthwhile use of points to stay in a top tier hotel, so we chose the Renaissance Istanbul Polat Bosphorus Hotel. It was a very reasonable 130 Euros a night (plus taxes), but we decided, at 1 CPP, that it was better value to use 17,500 Marriott Bonvoy points for a free stay. (Note: As of March 2020, this hotel will move to Category 4, costing on average 25K Bonvoy points a night) The hotel was less than half an hour (via public transit) from the main tourist attractions of the Spice Market, the Blue Mosque and the Grand Bazaar.  

Both our arrival and departure in the evening meant that the best option for us was to take a taxi both ways. From SAW airport, our almost 40km Uber to the Bosphorus district was 120 lira, whereas our 38km Uber to Istanbul New Airport was only 102 Lira. Both the departure and the return took 40 minutes, which is quite good compared to the stories about horrendous traffic that I’ve heard. 

The Room 

Our base award rate was for the Deluxe King Room with a Bosphorus view, but I reached out to the Renaissance Istanbul Polat Bosphorus a few days beforehand via chat (Big shoutout to Ricky at the Prince of Travel for his article) and they said they would upgrade me depending on availability. Low and behold, we arrived to find out that we were upgraded to their best room, a corner sea view suite! The check in process was smooth and professional, although I did notice this sign saying “In order to improve our quality of service our conversations are being recorded.” That is a little bit off putting, let me know in the comments if you have seen that before. 

When we proceeded up stairs our upgraded King suite, here is what we found. 

Entering the door, to the right there was a large living area with two couches facing a large TV and a fantastic city view along with a welcome gift of Turkish delights, some fruit, and some sparkling water, a very nice touch. 

Behind the couches was a desk for working, with plenty of universal plugs, perfect for a business traveller on the go. 

A Nespresso machine, much appreciated for a traveller on the go, although we enjoyed some Turkish coffee in the city instead. 

The bathroom was between the living area and the bedroom, and had both a bathtub and a large shower but unfortunately there was only one sink in the bathroom. They did make up for it with a makeup mirror, definitely a nice touch for business or pleasure. 

The bedroom wasn’t anything special, but the bed was great, almost as good as a Westin bed!

The view from the room at the Renaissance Istanbul Polat Bosphorus was outstanding, overlooking the Bosphorus River. 

For those of you craving in room food, the Renaissance Istanbul Polat Bosphorus has an extensive room service menu including an all day menu. 

Lounge

Although I don’t have platinum status, I was given executive lounge access. The lounge at the Renaissance Istanbul Polat Bosphorus was nice, but I can’t comment on the food and beverage offerings as they were closed when I visited at night. They only serve food from 12pm to 9:30pm with an honour bar and hors d'oeuvres between 5:30pm and 9:30pm That being said, coffee and soft drinks were available at all times. 

Renaissance Istanbul Polat Bosphorus rooftop bar and restaurant

As we arrived late, we decided it was easiest to eat at the rooftop bar. I don’t really have a strong opinion on the rooftop bar, the bar food was reasonably priced and the service was good, but the crowd was a weird mix of hotel guests, locals and expats. 

Facilities

The facilities at the Renaissance Istanbul Polat Bosphorus were fantastic for a city hotel. The indoor pool was large, and empty while we were there. The facilities would be great for a family travelling. 

The gym was one of the best I’ve ever seen. There were full squat racks, plenty of treadmills and free weights to name a few. 

If that’s not enough, there were also spa facilities at the hotel. I didn’t take part, but it looked nice. I did manage to snap a picture of the Renaissance Istanbul Polat Bosphorus spa menu just in case! (Roughly 4 TL to 1 CAD, 5 TL to 1 USD, 6 TL to 1 Euro)

Overall the experience at the Renaissance was better than expected for a business hotel. Although I was off put by the recording at the welcome desk, the staff were friendly, the lounge was large, there are plenty of fitness facilities, all at a reasonable price. I wouldn’t hesitate to stay there again.