DOCUMENTATIONS

Pera Palace is an icon of hospitality at the South-Eastern corner of Europe. Istanbul became a railway hub as the final destination of a regular train service, which was called in every timetable the “Orient Express”.

'I can only hope there is a message waiting for us at the Pera Palace.' said Aunt Augusta in Graham Greene's novel "Travels with my Aunt", while they steamed towards Istanbul on board of the legendary Orient Express (nicknamed Stamboul <for Ista"mbul"> Train). Aunt Augusta wasn't the only protagonist of a famous novel who sojourned at the Pera Palace.

Busy stret life outside of Pera Palace around 1910

Writers like Greene, Ernest Hemingway or the grand dame of crime, Agatha Christie, immortalised the Pera Palace - first opened in 1892 by the Compagnie des Wagons-Lits*. The hotel currently undergoes a meticulous renovation project, governed by members of the technical university of Istanbul, a group of preservation- and renovation specialist, and last but not least, by Pinar Timer's attention to details. She draws her professional experience from previous assignments with leading luxury groups.

Pinar Kartal Timer is the general manager of Pera Palace in the heart of Istanbul. She currently manages the pre-(re)opening phase of the legendary hotel icon.

In ancient times the city was known as Bycantinum, later Constantinople. Pera Palace Hotel is built in the cosmopolitan quarter of the city then called 'Little Europe in Istanbul' due to embassies, residences of foreigners and cultural activities. In this lively hub, it is located on a hill overlooking the beautiful sunset in the Golden Horn as it cuts the Bosphorus like a horn made of golden rays of light. The Bosporus or Bosphorus (Greek: Βόσπορος), also known as the Istanbul Strait (Turkish: İstanbul Boğazı), is a strait that forms the boundary between the European part (Thrace) of Turkey and its Asian part (Anatolia).

Pera Palace, 'the Pearl of Istanbul', holds the title of 'the oldest European hotel of Turkey'. It is also Turkey's only Select Member of The Most Famous Hotels in the World. Others with similar historical backgrounds have closed down during the course of time, including the Tokatlıyan, d’Angleterre, Park and Yalova Termal Hotels, while the Pera Palace has always stayed in operation.

The lobby in the 1920s

A guide book from the 1920’s wrote: “on the site near the big clubs, theatres and embassies has been built a hotel which alone overshadows everything else. Like all other Grand Hotels, it has an ‘a la carte’ menu  - the only hotel in Istanbul to have hot water therapy baths  - with its situation, luxury and fastidious kitchen, one of the leading hotels in the world  - impossible not to fall in love with the sunset over the Golden Horn  - magnificent eastern Decor ...

The grand re-opening is set for May 2010.

* In the late 1880’s and early 1900’s, to receive a growing cosmopolitan clientele, the Compagnie des Wagons-Lits built hotels like the Ghezireh Palace in Cairo, the Pera Palace in Constantinople, the Hôtel de la Plage in Ostend (Belgium), the Hôtel Terminus in Bordeaux and in Marseille, the Riviera Palace in Monte-Carlo and the Grand Hôtel des Wagons-Lits in Peking.