The Best Places to Stay in Ankara, Turkey

Facing a modest park in Sogutozu, the central business district in Ankara, the Wyndham has a striking chandelier in the lobby – almost like a tubular jellyfish – suspended above a monochrome inlay floor design, underlining the swanky modern feel of the hotel. Sleek rooms have ripple-pattern carpets, desks, floor-to-ceiling windows and glass-wall bathrooms. Suites come with balconies. Business travellers, in particular, might relish some downtime at the indoor pool and full-service spa (which naturally includes a hammam, but there’s also a barbershop) along with a full-size snooker table.

South of the city centre in the Çankaya neighbourhood near Kuğulu Park, this Hilton high-rise is fused to a long elevated greenhouse-like building incorporating a restaurant, a lobby lounge, a gym and a 750-guest ballroom. The four-lane indoor pool features a glass-canopy roof and floor-to-ceiling windows facing a semi-circular terrace. While the big-window rooms and suites are sober and sensible, rather more interesting design percolates the public areas, from the elaborate cage latticework in the lounge to the suspended hoop-lights in the restaurant.

Beside the cavernous Karum Mall in the Çankaya neighbourhood, the cylindrical landmark tower of the Sheraton has a cathedral-like lobby dominated by a suspended perforated wheel faintly resembling a space rocket exhaust. As a convention centre property, much of the clientele is likely to be business travellers, but leisure amenities get far more than lip service. There’s a huge fitness centre and a large indoor pool (both with glass-canopy roofs), squash and tennis courts plus a golf simulator, while the groovy jazz bar has strikingly cool and curvaceous decor.

Barely a stone’s throw from the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, this 17th-century former caravanserai (inn with a courtyard) with a himis (traditional timber frame) construction has been meticulously converted into an upscale hotel. Even with a courtyard now covered with a steel-framed glass roof, the heritage fabric has been skilfully retained while incorporating modern amenities. That courtyard now features a small atmospheric lounge alongside a decorative water pool, while compact yet elegant rooms are beautifully appointed with vintage-style furniture, rugs and lamps, some with portraits of Chinese Manchu nobles and Ming-style vases.

Soaring above Sogutozu, the central business district, the modern skyscraper of the Marriott offers the kind of aerial city views few others can match. In the lobby, trumpet-shaped chandeliers and polished marble floors and gryphon statuettes herald contemporary luxury throughout, much of it tinged with Ottoman-style detail. Restaurant offerings are particularly good, from the Turkish cuisine in Fire & Flavours to a more casual steakhouse (with seafood) plus a sports bar and, crowning the lot, a 22nd-floor rooftop cocktail bar with an open terrace.

Facing Kurtuluş Park in downtown Ankara, this nine-storey edifice is rather fetching at night with vertical two-tone spotlighting. The public interiors are interesting with timber detailing from floor to ceiling and a white baby grand piano in the Park Restaurant. Straightforward rooms have a modern, almost Scandinavian feel with blue armchairs and attractive olive-and-turquoise bedspreads. The Aria spa specialises in massages, from Swedish to reflexology and mechanical G5 devices.

The part-brick, part-neoclassical facade of the Gordion wouldn’t look out of place in Europe, but here, the thrust of the polished elegant interiors is a distinctly Ottoman-meets-European style. Vintage handmade furniture, oak panelling, Turkish Vakko textiles, Italian wallpaper, framed lithographs of nobles and sultans, and display cases of military medals lend shape, texture and colour. The conservatory restaurant seems relatively plain in comparison, even though there’s a ceiling mural of a map depicting the Mediterranean region from the Black Sea to the Atlantic.

Near the Karum Mall in the Çankaya neighbourhood, the Lugal, with a contemporary sheen and modern rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows and natural wood furniture, lends a sleek glossy atmosphere. The highly regarded Aruni restaurant features an eclectic menu of mainly Anatolian dishes, some rather obscure. Unless you’re vegetarian, it’s worth making a beeline for items such as the King Midas lamb with plum sauce – much more affordable than it sounds – or goose casserole, both cooked in wood-fired ovens.