Park Hyatt Istanbul – Maçka Palas, the Hotel Review

This summer we spent a few weeks in Turkey, and we absolutely fell in love with this country. We began our Turkish journey in Istanbul, one of the oldest and biggest cities in the world. We were happy to discover that Istanbul has several Hyatt properties, which not only meant that we could enjoy our stay in Istanbul for free (on points) but also would get exceptional service.

For our first 3 nights in Istanbul, we chose to stay at Park Hyatt Istanbul – Maçka Palas. This hotel is located in the Nişantaşı district of the city, within the walking distance of Taksim Square, various restaurants and shops, and just a short ride to the historical part of Istanbul.

Booking

Park Hyatt Istanbul – Maçka Palas is a Category 5 Hyatt Hotel that costs 20,000 Hyatt Points per night (17,000 Hyatt Points on off-peak, and 23,000 Hyatt Points on peak nights).

💡 Good to Know

If you are flexible with your travel dates do not forget to check the Points Calendar for off-peak nights so you can enjoy your stay for less points.

When we learned in early 2022 that Hyatt is going to bump up some of its properties in their categories and that Park Hyatt Istanbul – Maçka Palas is going to be one of them (moving from Category 4 to Category 5 tier), we decided to book our stay before the big change!

Thus, saved ourselves some Hyatt Points for 3 nights by paying only 15,000 Hyatt points per night for a Standard Room and even redeeming two Free Night Certificates (since it was still a Category 4 hotel at the moment of booking). The cash rate was $351.41 on average per night. You can read more about booking Hyatt hotels with points and redeeming the Free Night Certificates here.

Check-in

When we arrived at Park Hyatt Istanbul – Maçka Palas, it was late Saturday evening. For instance, we left California on Friday at 6 pm, and with a direct 13-hour flight from San Francisco to Istanbul that we had just taken and a 10-hour time difference, we were a little in a “where am I?” mode 🫠.

When you enter this posh hotel, the very first thing you notice in the lobby is the picture of the famous Salt Bae (Turkish chef whose technique of preparing and seasoning the meat with salt became an Internet meme) on the wall. Somehow it did not even occur to us that he might have a connection to the hotel; maybe he was just that popular in Turkey, we thought 🤷🏻‍♀️.

Apparently, as we discovered later at the check-in – not only does Nusret (aka Salt Bae) owns two restaurants in the hotel, but he is actually the very recent owner of Park Hyatt Istanbul – Maçka Palas itself.

When we approached the check-in desk, there was no line, in fact, we barely even saw any people during our stay, but again we were out exploring the city most of the days.

So for the 3-night stay, we actually happened to have 3 separate reservations (one on points and another two with free night certificates), and it usually takes time to confirm that and to combine nights. Also, since we have the highest status with Hyatt (Globalist), we always ask if the hotel happens to have any room upgrades available for us, so again, it takes time to sort things out.

To our pleasant surprise, the front desk clerk Leyla, had already combined all three reservations, had already upgraded the Standard Room that we initially booked to a Premium Room, and had already arranged the roll-away bed for Sophia in the room. She was just that amazing at her job! We probably did not look our best after the long flight, and she was very kind and understanding.

Later she even left a card and a box of chocolate for Roman on Father’s Day, knowing that we live in the US and celebrate it later than in Europe 😊!

To be honest, this was our first time staying at Hyatt hotel outside the US as Globalists and we didn’t know what to expect.

Leyla accompanied us to our room and gave us a quick tour of the amenities which was very helpful.

The Room

Right when we entered the room, we noticed Globalist goodies on the counter with some little treats and fruits along with the welcoming letter. This nice touch was definitely appreciated by the girls, who were already happily eating the lollipops they got from the front desk 😅.

The Premium Room (66 sq. m.) that we got was on the 6th floor and featured 1 King bed, a deep soaking tub, a rain shower, and a steam room. This room was actually bigger than the Standard Suite (51 sq. m.) and had a steam room that the Suite did not have!

The rollaway bed for Sophia was already set up, even the slippers were waiting for her.

Now, for Zoe, we did not request a crib since we were changing 6 hotels on this trip (you can read about our road trip through Turkey here) and some of the hotels did not provide a baby crib at all, so we knew we had to put her somewhere.

We brought our favorite foldable travel crib by Lumiere and set it up by Sophia’s bed!

Now about the bathroom, the bathroom of our room at Park Hyatt Istanbul – Maçka Palas deserves a post itself 😅.

The bathroom was very generously sized and had several separate areas. It started with an open space with large mirrors (ladies especially loved the wall-length mirror), a long counter with a regular sink, a filtered drinking water sink, and a set of toiletries. There was also an additional small sink in a separate restroom which could be locked from the inside.

The bathroom continued into another area with a deep soaking bathtub on one side and an open shower cabin with a rain shower on the other. Both had full-sized toiletries and sponges!

See that little remote in the picture below, it could dim or adjust the overhead color-changing lights.

There was also a TV on the wall that you could watch while soaking in the tub!

Now to our favorite part of the bathroom – the steam room! Yes, we had a private steam room in our bathroom. With a push of a small button, you turn it on, and the steam starts to fill in the cabin. It was actually pretty spacious, and we could all fit in there.

Dining

Nusr-Et

This is the famous steakhouse owned by Salt Bae. Unfortunately, we did not get a chance to try this restaurant for dinner. It was actually a funny story of how we tried to have dinner there on the very first evening of our stay at Park Hyatt Istanbul – Maçka Palas and Istanbul itself.

Remember how we were exhausted and jet-lugged upon arriving at the hotel? So right after check-in, we went upstairs to have dinner at the Nusr-Et, but we weren’t exactly sure where to go. We walked to the left side of the hallway and found what seemed to be the entrance to the restaurant. We asked a couple of waitresses and some other staff members that were passing us by about how we could join them for dinner, but each person told us that we need to keep going further or go back.

Finally, we found the host, and the lady told us that no kids were allowed at the restaurant after 5 p.m. and that we needed to go to the “right” entrance, not the “left” one, and showed us the door. When we went through the door, we somehow just exited the hotel 😅.

On the way out we saw Salt Bae himself sitting at one of the tables and talking to the restaurant staff.

We had no choice but to enter the hotel again from the street, meanwhile being greeted by the concierge saying “welcome back, sir” 🤣.

Oh well, we thought, not this time then, and proceeded to the other restaurant on site in the hotel lounge. We had already planned to dine in the city for all the other evenings, so this was our only dinner at the hotel.

Breakfast

Being a Globalist with Hyatt has several perks, and one of them is a complimentary breakfast for four of us. We were eager to check out what kind of breakfast Park Hyatt Istanbul – Maçka Palas had to offer.

This is us in the picture below every day at 6:59 am at breakfast because Zoe would wake up at 4-5 am every day and we were practically starving by the restaurant opening time 😩.

Breakfast was served at Nusr-Et Restaurant (by the poolside) between 7:00 am – 10:30 am. We guessed that was the part of the restaurant the staff was talking about when they sent us to the “other entrance” the other night.

For breakfast, the hotel had a buffet and menu options, and both were included with our stay. The breakfast menu pictured below featured traditional Turkish dishes, such as Menemen (scrambled eggs with tomatoes and bell peppers), as well as regular dishes such as Eggs Benedict and waffles.

The buffet had some really great options too, with pastries, fruits, eggs, chia seed puddings, and yogurts.

Our favorite part about breakfast at Park Hyatt Istanbul – Maçka Palas was the traditional Turkish dish called Gözleme cooked right in from of you from the scratch by a lovely lady. Gözleme is a stuffed turnover with different fillings, such as potatoes, cheese, or ground beef.

You could order as many as you like (we checked), we ended up ordering 10 of them on our last morning 🤭. They were so-so good, little that we knew that it would be the best gözleme we have tried on our Turkish trip, as we basically ordered them everywhere we dined (you can read more about our road trip through Turkey here).

Lounge at Park Hyatt – Maçka Palas, Turquaz Restaurant

There is a restaurant called Turquaz Restaurant located in the lounge at Park Hyatt Istanbul – Maçka Palas. It is open daily from 11 am to 11 pm and offers Turkish cuisine under the glass atrium.

We ordered grilled octopus, deep-fried manti (small dumplings), a Turkish mix of grilled meat, and mushroom casserole! Everything was presented really nicely and tasted wonderful!

The Wine Bar

There is a wine and cocktail bar in the lobby of the hotel. This bar gets its name from the wine selection they offer, they have more than 70 different wines!

Amenities

Park Hyatt Istanbul – Maçka Palas offered a rooftop outdoor pool, spa, and fitness center.

The Pool

A stretching outdoor rooftop pool was right by the Nusr-Et restaurant. Although we did not try the pool, the area looked very cozy and stylish.

Bottom Line

Park Hyatt Istanbul – Maçka Palas is one of the best hotels we have ever stayed at. It definitely has a style with its luxurious interior design, sophisticated room decor, and fine dining options.

The hotel is conveniently located within the walking distance of various restaurants, shopping, and activities. The staff was very friendly and helpful, we were provided with exceptional service.

Park Hyatt Istanbul – Maçka Palas definitely made our stay in Istanbul memorable and we absolutely recommend it!

On Points With Kids Summary

3 nights spent at Park Hyatt Istanbul – Maçka Palas booked for 15,000 Hyatt Points and 2 Free Night Certificates. The cash rate for 3 nights was $1,054.23 which equals 2.34 cents per point, an outstanding value especially if take into account the amazing Premium Room upgrade that we got!

You can apply for the following credit cards to earn Hyatt points that can be redeemed at the Park Hyatt Istanbul – Maçka Palas:

• Chase World of Hyatt Credit Card application
• Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card application (Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be transferred to the World of Hyatt program)