Casa Foscolo Hotel

Casa Foscolo Hotel

On the terrace at Casa Foscolo, in Istanbul's Beyoğlu district, the sun drops behind Pera's rooftops while a bartender pours cocktails built on seasonal ingredients, the Galata Tower visible over the railing. That terrace sets the register for a compact, eighteen-room hotel housed in a renovated neo-classical building, two kilometers from the city center and a walk from Şişhane and Galataport. The owners treat the whole property as exhibition space: artworks run through the rooms and public areas, with a dedicated workspace-exhibition space on the B1 floor and the full collection viewable via QR code at reception. In the lobby, the Minoa corner doubles as coffee bar and library, where a book picked up over an espresso can be bought and taken upstairs. Rooms range from Superior doubles with balconies to a two-bedroom suite with a private living room and kitchenette, most fitted with rain showers, Nespresso machines and a French balcony or terrace over the rooftops. Breakfast is à la carte and locally sourced, though the fuller cooked-to-order spread carries its own charge, and a 100 EUR deposit is taken per room per stay. Concierge, laundry and dry cleaning are handled on site, useful for anyone spending days moving between Pera Museum, Istanbul Modern and the SALT Galata galleries without checking a bag. It will not suit anyone bringing a pet, since the hotel does not accept them, or travelers who want a full business center rather than a shared fax and copier. What Casa Foscolo has that its Pera neighbors mostly do not is art built into the building itself, corridor by corridor, rather than confined to one lounge wall. Eighteen rooms in a renovated neo-classical building in Beyoğlu, where art fills every corridor and a terrace bar looks toward the Galata Tower. It suits travelers based around Pera's museums who want quiet and a library corner with their coffee, not those wanting a full business center or pool days.