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:: Panoramic Views
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Istanbul is not the largest city in Europe – mainly because a substantial part of its 12 million plus population lives in the part of the city that is in Asia. The bridges that connect the two parts of the city connect two continents and are symbolic of the role that Turkey sees for itself as a bridge between the secular and Christian states of Europe and the Islamic states of Asia.
Swiss group Mövenpick started as a restaurant operator in 1948 and has grown firstly as a fast food operation and lately (since the early 1970’s) as an hotel operator. In 1998 Kingdom Holdings took a 30% stake in the hotel company and the whole operation was repositioned as a hotel management company in the 4 and 5 star segment. In the last year turnover grew by 7.7 % to over £260 million ($488 million). During 2005 the group signed agreements on 13 new hotels, including hotels in Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar, and Mauritius. As well as the new hotel in Istanbul the group also signed an agreement for a new hotel in Izmir. 2006 openings include hotels in Buraydah (Saudi Arabia), Doha (Qatar) and there are 11 openings planned for 2007, 7 in 2008 and one so far for 2009.
As a meeting place for the two cultures politically, as well as commercially, Istanbul is booming, with new hotels springing up in both new build and refurbished forms. Four Seasons already has a newly opened converted prison with a second hotel being converted from a waterside palace. Kempinski too has a converted palace by the waters of the Bosporus, whilst Mövenpick has, as a part of its growing group of hotels in the Islamic world, a new hotel it describes as a ‘business boutique’.
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| Reception desk with backlighting. Rollover to see the bar by evening |
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| Bar by day. Rollover to see the neatly designed washroom |
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Located in the a business district on the main road in from the airport, and thoughtfully designed by local architects and designers Metex Design Group, the Mövenpick hotel is a crisply tailored piece of design with generously sized rooms that offer the international traveller and businessperson rooms which are up with the best designed rooms in hotels in Europe or the US in quality, and larger than most. Built in an undistinguished tower form, the hotel’s business lounge on the top floor offers some of the best views across Istanbul towards Asia, and the views from the bedrooms are similarly spectacular. The hotel is on a main underground rail and bus station giving easy access to other parts of this sprawling city.
The entrance lobby is continued as a double storey spine walkway though the centre of the hotel, linking lift area, bars, lounges and the restaurant. Overlooked by a mezzanine area that is also the access route to the meeting rooms and with staircase leading down to the main conference room, this area also provides a cool generous space that acts as an informal meeting area and a 'street' for guests.
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