UPSCALE HOTEL GROUP Four Seasons has opened new properties in Turkey and Italy.
The 166-room Four Seasons Istanbul at Bosphorus is a painstaking conversion of a 19th-century Ottoman palace, while the 117-room Four Seasons Firenze consists of two Renaissance palaces, flanking an 11-acre garden.
Facilities at the waterfront Istanbul hotel include an outdoor pool and a 22,605ft2 (2,100 m2) spa, and function space for up to 1,000 people. The Florence hotel has a fitness centre and a library/reading room, with an additional 37 rooms in a separate building within the gardens that were due to open in September.