Location Istanbul, Turkey Opened 1897 | Opening 1897 | |
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Similar Pera Palace Hotel, Naum Theatre, Çiçek Pasajı, Mısır Apartment, Republic Monument | ||
The Tokatlıyan Hotels, founded by Mıgırdiç Tokatlıyan, were two prominent hotels located around Istanbul. The hotels were regarded as luxury hotels where many famed individuals such as Leon Trotsky and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk stayed. They are considered among the first European-style hotels to be built in Turkey.
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History
The Tokatlıyan Hotels were founded by Mıgırdiç Tokatlıyan, an Ottoman citizen of Armenian descent, who moved from Tokat to Istanbul in 1883 and adopted the last name Tokatlıyan meaning "from Tokat". Mıgırdiç Tokatlıyan eventually settled in Nice, France, where he lived the rest of his life.
Beyoğlu Branch
Mıgırdiç Tokatlıyan established the first Tokatlıyan Hotel in 1897 on the Rue de Pera (modern Istiklal Caddesi) in Pera, Beyoğlu. The hotel was first known as Hotel Splendide but the name soon changed to Hotel Tokatlıyan. It originally had 160 rooms and its furnishings were brought from Europe. The hotel contained high-ceiling halls and rooms and it also had its own coat of arms made with silver which was placed all around the hotel. The Hotel was one of the popular venues of the Istanbul high society for a long time. Many famed individuals such as Leon Trotsky, Josephine Baker, and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk were guests of the hotel. Atatürk considered it his favorite hotel.
During the First World War and the Armenian Genocide, the hotel was vandalized and its windows were broken. It was eventually passed down to the Serbian businessman Nikolai Medovitch in 1919 and after that to the Turkish businessman İbrahim Gültan, who changed the hotel's name to Konak. By the 1950s, due to lack of maintenance, the hotel was run-down and in a deteriorating state, after which the Üç Horan (Holy Trinity) Armenian Church bought the property and attained ownership.
Today, the building still stands at its original location next to the Çiçek Pasajı. Its lower floors are used as a hotel, while other rooms are now shops and banks. Many of the upper floors, which replaced the structure’s dome, are now off-limits.
Tarabya Branch
After the success of the first Tokatlıyan hotel, Mıgırdiç Tokatlıyan opened another hotel at Tarabya in 1909. The hotel consisted of 120 rooms and was situated on the banks of the Bosphorus. The hotel became popular immediately. However, on April 19, 1954, the hotel was heavily damaged due to fire. In 1964 the hotel was reconstructed and its name changed to the Büyük Tarabya (Grand Tarabya) Hotel. The hotel was used as a setting for numerous Turkish movies and TV shows such as Cici Gelin, Acele Koca Aranıyor, Arım Balım Peteğim, and more.
Legacy
The Tokatlıyan Hotel is mentioned in many literary works such as Orhan Pamuk's The Black Book and Agatha Christie's Parker Pyne Investigates and Murder on the Orient Express.