Besiktas, Istanbul
Newly Chic in Istanbul
The New York Times’ latest article on Istanbul focuses on the up and coming Besiktas neighborhood. Highlights include the W Hotel Istanbul, the Four Seasons Bosphorus Hotel, 1897 Konyali restaurant in Istanbul, Marc Jacobs and Jimmy Choo boutiques, and Kaymakci Pando restaurant in Istanbul.
Newly Chic in Istanbul
By GISELA WILLIAMS
THE old Istanbul neighborhood of Besiktas, which runs along the European side of the Bosphorus, has long betrayed a blue-collar state of mind. Its bustling markets, schools and ferry stations have been home to fishermen, off-duty cabdrivers, teenage students and Besiktas soccer fans.
But suddenly the area, pockets of it at least, are going seriously cosmopolitan, with names like Marc Jacobs, Jimmy Choo and Jean-Georges Vongerichten now near cramped vegetable stands and rickety tobacco shops.
At the heart of this metamorphosis is the historic Akaretler Row Houses, a two-block cluster of landmark town houses built by a 19th-century sultan to house his workers. As recently as a decade ago, it was a sinking eyesore. But in 2005, Serdar Bilgili, a developer and former Besiktas soccer club president, bought the complex and transformed it into one of Istanbul’s trendiest areas, with upscale apartments, international boutiques and elegant cafes.
At its center is a shiny new W Hotel (Suleyman Seba Caddesi 22; 90-212-381-2121; www.whotels.com/istanbul), the chain’s first in Europe. The lobby, with its mirrored surfaces, billowing curtains and colored lighting, could serve as the fictional set of “Real World Istanbul.” On the third floor is an outpost of Mr. Vongerichten’s Spice Market.
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