Pera Palace Hotel

About this place Pera Palace Hotel

The Pera Palace was built in 1892 to accommodate passengers arriving on the Orient Express — a building with a guest list that includes Agatha Christie (she wrote Murder on the Orient Express in Room 411), Ernest Hemingway, Mata Hari and Atatürk himself. As a gay-friendly hotel, it occupies a different category from purpose-built LGBTQ+ properties: a genuinely historic five-star property in the heart of Beyoğlu that maintains an LGBTQ+-welcoming policy and has been cited by international LGBTQ+ travel publications as one of Istanbul's most comfortable options for gay visitors. The hotel is one block from the main Cihangir gay bar area and walking distance from İstiklal Caddesi and the Galata Tower. Rooms are traditional in character — heavy fabrics, dark wood, period details — with all modern facilities. The ground-floor Agatha Christie Bar is Istanbul's most atmospheric hotel bar. At the upper end of the price range for Istanbul but entirely reasonable by Western European standards.