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Istanbul's cursed palace turned five-star hotel

  • Exterior of Çırağan Palace.
    1/10

    Istanbul's cursed palace turned five-star hotel

    Exterior of Çırağan Palace.
    Photo courtesy of Çırağan Palace Kempinski
  • Hotel lobby of Çırağan Palace.
    2/10

    Istanbul's cursed palace turned five-star hotel

    Hotel lobby of Çırağan Palace.
    Photo courtesy of Çırağan Palace Kempinski
  • The Sultan Suite living room.
    3/10

    Istanbul's cursed palace turned five-star hotel

    The Sultan Suite living room.
    Photo courtesy of Çırağan Palace Kempinski
  • The Sultan Suite master bedroom.
    4/10

    Istanbul's cursed palace turned five-star hotel

    The Sultan Suite master bedroom.
    Photo courtesy of Çırağan Palace Kempinski
  • The Sultan Suite master bathroom.
    5/10

    Istanbul's cursed palace turned five-star hotel

    The Sultan Suite master bathroom.
    Photo courtesy of Çırağan Palace Kempinski
  • Çırağan Palace Kempinski pool at night.
    6/10

    Istanbul's cursed palace turned five-star hotel

    Çırağan Palace Kempinski pool at night.
    Photo courtesy of Çırağan Palace Kempinski
  • Çırağan Palace Kempinski gardens.
    7/10

    Istanbul's cursed palace turned five-star hotel

    Çırağan Palace Kempinski gardens.
    Photo courtesy of Çırağan Palace Kempinski
  • Tuğra restaurant and lounge.
    8/10

    Istanbul's cursed palace turned five-star hotel

    Tuğra restaurant and lounge.
    Photo courtesy of Çırağan Palace Kempinski
  • Le Fumoir pavilion at night.
    9/10

    Istanbul's cursed palace turned five-star hotel

    Le Fumoir pavilion at night.
    Photo courtesy of Çırağan Palace Kempinski
  • Bosphorus Grill over looking river and bridge.
    10/10

    Istanbul's cursed palace turned five-star hotel

    Bosphorus Grill over looking river and bridge.
    Photo courtesy of Çırağan Palace Kempinski
Exterior of Çırağan Palace.
Hotel lobby of Çırağan Palace.
The Sultan Suite living room.
The Sultan Suite master bedroom.
The Sultan Suite master bathroom.
Çırağan Palace Kempinski pool at night.
Çırağan Palace Kempinski gardens.
Tuğra restaurant and lounge.
Le Fumoir pavilion at night.
Bosphorus Grill over looking river and bridge.
Updated

The Ciragan Palace Kempinski, an Ottoman pleasure dome turned five-star hotel, has its own jetty and heliport for the A-list, one-name celebs (Kobe, Madonna, Oprah) who mellow out in the $40,000-a-night Sultan's Suite. This may well be the toniest hotel in Europe – the Kempinski recently knocked Parisian landmark Hotel Le Bristol off its vaunted perch as the best hotel in Europe at the 2013 World Travel Awards – but it wasn't always so. The grandest building on Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait was constructed in the mid-1800s, at least partially on the grounds of a monastery for whirling dervishes, deeply religious Sufi Muslims who – as local lore would have it – cursed this monument to excess. Read more about the Çırağan Palace Kempinski hotel. | Pam Grout

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