If it’s true, as the old saying goes, that the most important variable in real estate is location, then there are probably few pieces of hotel real estate more valuable than the one occupied by Ayasofya Pansiyonlari. Here, on a cobbled lane behind the famous Aya Sofya mosque, arguably Istanbul’s top tourist attraction, stand a row of 19th-century wooden houses, carefully restored by the Turkish Touring and Automobile Club into a sixty-three-room hotel.
And it’s quieter than you think. Despite being round the back from one of the world’s most-photographed buildings, there’s no more than a steady trickle of foot traffic on the lane outside. Some rooms face courtyards or the walls of the old Topkapi Palace (just another one of the Sultanahmet district’s ancient treasures) — booking a front-facing room, though, is a must, as the experience of waking up to a view of the Aya Sofya itself is a singular one.
There are a handful of terraces, courtyards, dining rooms, plenty of places for a meal or a drink — it’s not quite a luxury hotel, but it’s more than comfortable enough. In the end, though, the point is not the what, but the where — you’ll wake up every morning in a place most visitors struggle to get to by bus, by ferry, by cab. If they only knew.
author Daily Tablet Hotel, source www.tablethotels.com