If you’re lucky enough to regularly stay in five-star hotels there are a few things you’ll know come as standard. Impeccable service, of course; a good selection of high-end in-house bars and restaurants; chic, spacious rooms; ideally a full-service spa; and, while you may never use it, a high-tech gym. But, when the baseline is this high, how does a new luxury hotel stand out from the crowd? And how, at an entry room rate of €1,050 per night, does it justify charging more than twice as much as every other five-star hotel in the same city? Allow the Peninsula Istanbul to demonstrate…

Opened in January 2023 as part of the Hong Kong-based hotel group’s expansion into Europe (swiftly followed by the Peninsula London, which opened this summer in Belgravia), the first thing that’s immediately notable about the Peninsula Istanbul is its location. As one of the world’s oldest cities, many of Istanbul’s main tourist attractions are located on a small spit of land formerly inhabited by ancient Byzantine and Ottoman civilisations more concerned with fending off invading forces than whether or not their successors would have room for tennis courts and a swimming pool.

The upshot is that space is at such a premium that only the Four Seasons has managed to create a luxury hotel within Istanbul Old Town (by converting an old prison and forgoing the swimming pool – not everyone’s idea of a perfect hotel), leaving everyone else to choose between dotting themselves along the edge of the Bosphorus or opting for views by perching on the hill overlooking the Golden Horn. Either choice means a compromise on proximity to all the action.

Not that this has deterred the big boys from setting up shop in Istanbul. The Shangri-La, St. Regis, Raffles, Mandarin Oriental, Kempinski, Conrad and Fairmont brands are all present and correct – some having been in the city for decades. All of which makes it an act of true hospitality wizardry that the Peninsula managed to secure itself a sprawling site across four period buildings on the waterfront between Karaköy and the recently-regenerated Galataport district.

For context, this puts the hotel as close to Istanbul’s tourist attractions as it is possible to be, without actually being in the Old Town, while also being just a short stroll from the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art and the city’s buzzy upscale shopping and dining destinations. It’s even handily located on the city’s very limited tram network (the hotel does offer a driver service but Istanbul traffic is legendary and arriving at the Grand Bazaar in a Rolls-Royce does tend to limit one’s haggling power).

Of course, location alone does not a great hotel make but, remarkably, very little seems to have been sacrificed in service of space. Lush gardens surround a waterfront outdoor swimming pool (a surprising rarity at Instabul’s five-star establishments) while a second indoor pool is offered in the vast subterranean spa, alongside a gym, hammam and eight treatment rooms.

Breakfast, meanwhile, is served in the vast lobby restaurant (all a la carte, naturally – the Peninsula doesn’t go in for anything so gauche as a buffet) which then transforms into an all-day Mediterranean restaurant marked by a pleasing mix of international sensibility rooted in local tradition. Sure, you could order eggs benedict or lobster linguine, but why would you when the Peninsula’s homegrown chefs are turning out exquisite plates of çilbir (poached eggs with garlic, yoghurt and chilli) and mezze of muhammara, hummus, acılı ezme, baba ganoush, girit ezme, and sea beans? At the Gallada restaurant, meanwhile, chef Fatih Tutak puts an Asian spin on proceedings with a menu inspired by the route of the Silk Road from Turkey through Central Asia and into China, served on a glorious rooftop terrace (again, a curious rarity in Istanbul) from which to gaze at the boats lazily chugging down the Bosphorus.

So that’s location, amenities and dining all accounted for; but what of the rooms? Thanks to the lateral layout of the Peninsula’s four buildings, the oldest of which dates back to the early 1900s, the majority of the hotel’s 138 rooms and 39 suites benefit from large floor plans and dramatic views over the Bosphorus, while most suites also offer private gardens or terraces.

Interiors are a pleasing mix of Ottoman glamour – dark woods, gilded accents and marble bathrooms – and state-of-the-art mod-cons. Our room featured no fewer than 19 touchscreen panels controlling everything from the temperature of the toilet seat, to the light levels and the room’s Do Not Disturb sign. Want to order room service or request a valet to shine your shoes? There’s an app for that.

If you’re the type to get excited about top-of-the-line bathroom amenities (at the Peninsula they’re custom-made by local fragrance experts Mert Güzel and Murat Katran) then you’re guaranteed to delight in the Dyson hairdryers and nail polish-drying fans to be found in each room’s elegant dressing area. The Peninsula Istanbul is also the only hotel I have ever stayed at where my room came with its own all-in-one printer/scanner/photocopier. Did Wizz Air require that we print the boarding passes for our flight home? Of course not. Did we want to take advantage of doing so? Absolutely.

Yes, the Peninsula Istanbul is still shiny and new, and it’s easy to dazzle with state-of-the-art facilities when everything is still fresh out the box, but it’s clear that serious levels of care and attention to detail have been poured into every part of the guest experience. It’s difficult to imagine those standards slipping in the coming years.

They say a rising tide lifts all boats and, if the Peninsula is an indication of where luxury hospitality in Istanbul is heading, sign me up for a return visit.

Rooms from €1,050 per night, visit peninsula.com

Read more: The best luxury hotels in Venice