A gilt and crystal palace

The Sultan Suite, Ciragan Palace Kempinski, Turkey

THIS was an Ottoman Imperial Palace before becoming a hotel patronised by the likes of Uma Thurman, Bill Clinton and Jennifer Lopez, who can arrive by yacht or helicopter.

The hotel’s best room is the 4,930 sq ft sultan suite, furnished with 19th- century antiques and decorated with enough gilt and crystal to make Liberace blush.

In the main bathroom, the taps are gold-plated and the walls are lined with three kinds of marble from different parts of Turkey.

at bedtime, guests can control the softness of their mattress on the vast four-poster at the touch of a button. Or, if they prefer, there is a butler on hand to do it for them.

In the morning, guests wake to jaw- dropping views of the Bosphorus — and two continents, because the huge waterway divides Europe and asia.