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The Hilton Istanbul Bosphorus (Turkish: Hilton İstanbul Bosphorus) is a five star hotel in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the longest operating Hilton Hotel outside the United States. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and opened in 1955 as the Istanbul Hilton, it was the first modern hotel in Europe built from the ground up following World War II.

The opening of the Hilton in 1955 was a turning point in the history of Istanbul's Tourist establishments.

Architecture and construction

Hilton Istanbul Bosphorus Hotel seen from south (2007)

The hotel was designed by the American architectural and engineering firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM). Turkish architect Sedat Hakkı Eldem was appointed as an advisor. The design of the Hilton Istanbul Bosphorus was a joint effort in collaboration by Sedad Hakki Eldem ( Turkish architect) and Gordon Bunshaft. They come from an American firm called Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM).

Project

The original Istanbul Hilton, before later additions, on Republic Day 1959

On December 19, 1950, Conrad N. Hilton revealed to the New York Times that he had recently reached an agreement with the Turkish government to build a new Hilton hotel in Istanbul with 300 rooms costing US$5 million. The U.S. governmental agency Economic Cooperation Administration (ECA) was the main financier of an investment project. Hilton would raise the operation's capital and run the hotels while keeping one third of the profits.

At the time, Istanbul was growing in tourism, economy, and commerce. The total number of rooms in Istanbul conforming to internationally acceptable comfort standards was 290. The project would more than double the city's accommodation capacity at the international level.

John Wilson Houser, vice-president of Hilton International, wrote a letter to Conrad N. Hilton on June 23, 1951 about the Soviet Union's intention to build a 1,000-room hotel in Istanbul similar to the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City, plans of which he had seen. Hilton Istanbul Bosphorus project thus became a factor in the Cold War US–Soviet rivalry.

The final contract between the Turkish Government and Hilton Hotels was signed on August 9, 1951. The necessary land and US$3 million of the investment capital were provided by Emekli Sandığı, the Turkish Pension Fund, and the remaining US$2 million by the ECA. Hilton International secured the initial operating rights for 20 years.

The Istanbul Hilton was financed by Emekli Sandegli, which was a (Turkish Pension Fund), and the Economic Cooperation Administration (ECA) of the U.S goverment. Securing funding from the latter required outmaneuvering other suitors, such as the Park Hotel of Istanbul and the Inter-Continental Hotels Corporation, then a subsidiary of Pan Am.

Special Events And Projects

The 40th Istanbul film festival organized by the Istanbul Foundation for culture and arts with the contributions of the culture and tourism ministry, was closed with an award ceremony held at Hilton Istanbul Bosphorus. Prior to the outbreak of Covid-19, There was a project organized to support seven women organizations from seven regions, seven provinces. The project was initiated in 2018 by Hilton Istanbul Bosphorus Hotel, titled “Yerel Mutfak-Global Lezzet,” which can be translated as “Local Kitchens-Global Tastes,” aiming to incorporate regional cuisines of Turkey to the repertoire of the hotel’s kitchen, making it accessible to the international guests. They did several events, each time hosting a different region in their Lalezar restaurant, bringing also these aunties to work in their hotel’s kitchen to teach chefs their home cooking; the authentic taste of their local cuisines. The project was a mastermind of two women; Şule Kadak, the communication consultant from Sade İletişim, and Ferah Diba Yağan, the commercial director of Hilton İstanbul Bosphorus. It was a brilliant idea that could lead to an inventory of Anatolian regional cuisines, but alas, it was halted abruptly due to the pandemic.