Hilton vs Ritz-Carlton

Finally the sun is shining! Everything looks so different…and with that I mean so much better. Still it’s a bit chilly but Esther and I have found a good place to stay out of the wind and enjoy the sun. Because Esther is doing her research about the Istanbul Hilton Hotel in the 1950s, it was about time she actually went to see it for herself. I joined her for this little trip. We were surprised how easy it was to enter the hotel and pretend we were actual guests of the hotel. It looked so nice and luxurious, probably a wonderful hotel to stay when you’re visiting Istanbul. We walked around in the hotel where Esther took all the pictures she needed to take. We also walked the gardens where there was a big tennis court, squash hall, running track, fitness school and……..a huge outdoor swimming pool. Of course we were almost alone there, just one other crazy man. The sun beds looked so inviting so we thought why not enjoy them. We already felt like major intruders anyway. So I think we laid there for almost an hour…enjoying the sun, the quietness and the beautiful garden. Eventually we left and took a final look at the beautiful view on the Bosphorus. Talking about everything we saw, we also came across the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. It looked so ugly from outside and it ruined the view from the Hilton a bit. But than we had a wonderful idea…why not also check the Ritz-Carlton from the inside?! After lunch we walked to the Ritz-Carlton and I must say…it was even more luxurious than the Hilton Hotel. The door was opened for us by this perfect looking door keeper (like the one that you see in the movies). And inside there were these big chandeliers, beautiful furniture and even an old wooden gate/door. Because I’ve read somewhere that the Ritz-Carlton has a very good spa we actually had something to ‘do’ there. So I asked if we could maybe see a brochure about their spa offers and we were directed to the basement of the hotel. We’d better ask it at the office of the spa. As we walked down the stairs our noses will filled with the most delicious aroma therapy oils and everything looked just perfect! We were given a brochure and they offered us tea. Excuse me, Herbal Tea! The best one I’ve been offered so far! And it was served with dried fruits. Of course we felt like we totally didn’t belong there, but we thought let’s play the game and see about the things they offer. The prices were exactly what we expected…a massage for one hour was around 200 TL. Perhaps it isn’t even that high…but with our limited Erasmus scholarship budget it doesn’t work so well. Anyway we drank our tea and asked some information about the massages, they offered us a good discount and would send some extra information by mail. It was such a funny experience!





Hilton


Ritz-Carlton