Sunday, April 5, 2015

Istanbul Trip


map
DEN-ORD-IST-ORD-DEN

I recently took a short trip to Istanbul.  After a quick flight to Chicago, I boarded my Turkish Airlines flight.

Turkish Airlines 5, ORD - IST, A330
9:50pm - 4:25 pm
Duration: 10:35 h


Seats

TV

Porsche amenity kit

We took off and the dinner service started right away.  

Table setting
Appetizers - seafood and strange mozzarella stick

Mushroom soup 
Chicken and rice entree
Dessert cart
Turkish coffee

Dessert

The food was pretty good.  I watched the movie Whiplash, but it was the airplane version, so all the bad language was changed (e.g. f*** changed to fudge).  Considering every other word in that movie is cursing, I probably didn't get the same feel for the movie as if I'd watched the non-censored version.  There was also Mandarin subtitles on all the movies that you couldn't get rid of which was super annoying.

The flight went by pretty quickly and we soon landed in Istanbul.  We made it through customs and were soon in a taxi to the Park Hyatt Istanbul.  The drive took about 45 minutes and the taxi driver had some trouble finding the hotel.  Eventually he just told us to get out because he couldn't find it.  We asked somebody where it was and it was just around the corner.

Park Hyatt entrance
As we walked up, a bellman helped us with our bags and we headed over to the check-in desk.  We were informed we'd been upgraded to a spa king room, and we'd get free breakfast along with a $100 food and beverage credit.

Lobby
The check-in agent then escorted us up to our room and showed us all the features.  The room was huge and had one of the most amazing bathrooms I'd ever seen.

Room entrance


Room keys

Hallway leading into room


View from room

Welcome amenity book
Welcome amenity fruit
Welcome amenity wine
Minibar
Nespresso machine
Closet
Phone/light and curtain controls
Sink area with normal sink and filtered water sink
Robes

Bathtub

Hammam/steam room

Shower
Shower amenities

Toilet room
Sink in toilet room
We ordered some room service, which was delivered promptly.

Room service
Mezze
Steak
Steak

Tiramisu

Cheesecake
The next morning we ordered room service breakfast.

Breakfast

Menemen


After breakfast we headed out for some sightseeing.

Grand Bazaar

Grand Bazaar

Grand Bazaar

Grand Bazaar













Crossing Bosphorus Bridge between Europe and Asia

After a few great days in Istanbul, we headed back to the airport to catch our flight home.

Turkish ice cream at airport

Turkish Airlines Lounge

Turkish Airlines Lounge

Turkish Airlines Lounge

Turkish Airlines Lounge

Turkish Airlines Lounge

Turkish Airlines Lounge

Turkish Airlines Lounge

Turkish Airlines Lounge

Turkish Airlines Lounge - racetrack

Soon enough it was time board the flight.










Another great trip.  Stay tuned for the next one.