Overall, the two score the same.
Four Seasons Hotel Firenze leads on wellness (+6), dining (+1.5) and rooms & design (+0.5); Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet on location (+4) and service (+0.5).
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Tell us about the trip and we’ll say which one we’d book, then book it for you at the same rate as booking direct, with our perks on top.
Fat Favorite, 17.5 out of 20. Four Seasons Hotel Firenze
Fat Favorite, 17.5 out of 20. Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at SultanahmetFlorence, Italy · Four Seasons
One of Florence’s largest hotel spas plus a big outdoor pool, with a modern gym guests single out for its equipment.
A Renaissance palazzo hotel in Florence set within eleven acres of private gardens near the historic centre.
Read the full verdictIstanbul, Turkey · Four Seasons
Steps from the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and Topkapi Palace, with a tram outside for anywhere else on the old peninsula.
A 65-room former prison turned boutique Four Seasons in Istanbul’s old town, steps from the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia.
Read the full verdictOut of 20. The bars start at 10, so half a point still shows.
Overall Level
Overall: Four Seasons Hotel Firenze 17.5 out of 20, Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet 17.5 out of 20.Service +0.5 Why
Service: Four Seasons Hotel Firenze 18 out of 20, Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet 18.5 out of 20.Four Seasons Hotel Firenze: Staff get thanked by name constantly, from concierge to doormen to the pool team, though one checked-in guest got an unusually hard upgrade pitch.
Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet: Guests describe staff calling them by name from day one, a birthday cake appearing with no one told, and lost items couriered to the airport.
Rooms & Design +0.5 Why
Rooms & Design: Four Seasons Hotel Firenze 18.5 out of 20, Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet 18 out of 20.Four Seasons Hotel Firenze: A 15th-century palazzo with frescoed ceilings and an eleven-acre garden, plus newer rooms in Palazzo del Nero that still feel Renaissance rather than renovated.
Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet: A former neoclassical prison turned boutique 65-room hotel around a courtyard, with original beams and prisoner inscriptions left visible on purpose.
Location +4 Why
Location: Four Seasons Hotel Firenze 15 out of 20, Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet 19 out of 20.Four Seasons Hotel Firenze: A genuine walk, not a stroll, to the Duomo and the Uffizi, which some guests count as the whole appeal and others count against it.
Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet: Steps from the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and Topkapi Palace, with a tram outside for anywhere else on the old peninsula.
Dining +1.5 Why
Dining: Four Seasons Hotel Firenze 17 out of 20, Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet 15.5 out of 20.Four Seasons Hotel Firenze: Il Palagio holds a Michelin star and breakfast gets consistent praise, though poolside food and the base buffet read as afterthoughts.
Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet: The courtyard breakfast and the Avlu restaurant get real praise, but the all-day restaurant is small and a few call dinner merely good.
Wellness +6 Why
Wellness: Four Seasons Hotel Firenze 17 out of 20, Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet 11 out of 20.Four Seasons Hotel Firenze: One of Florence’s largest hotel spas plus a big outdoor pool, with a modern gym guests single out for its equipment.
Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet: No pool and no spa on site; you take a shuttle or courtesy yacht to the sister Bosphorus property for either.
Strengths of Four Seasons Hotel Firenze
Strengths of Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet
Trade-offs of Four Seasons Hotel Firenze
Trade-offs of Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet
Only at Four Seasons Hotel Firenze
Only at Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet
What you're paying for here is the garden. Eleven acres of it, walled off from the rest of Florence, with pheasants and a Renaissance chapel tucked inside, and it turns a stay in a loud, crowded city into something closer to a week at a country estate. The palazzo itself earns the comparison too: frescoed ceilings, carved stone, courtyards that guests keep calling a living museum, and that's before the newer rooms in Palazzo del Nero, which manage to feel fresh without losing the character. The staff are the other half of the case - concierge teams tracking down last-minute Uffizi tickets in peak season, a waiter at the pool restaurant who gets remembered by name years later, a front desk that replaced a too-firm mattress without a fuss.
Price it in honestly: this is a twenty-minute walk from the historic center, not the five-minute stroll some other Florence addresses offer, and a few travelers who prioritize being in the thick of it count that against the hotel. One guest's honeymoon check-in involved a surprisingly pushy suite upsell that read as tone-deaf rather than discreet, and the air conditioning has drawn more than one complaint in peak summer heat, loud enough in at least one room to disrupt sleep. None of that is rare at this price point, but it's worth knowing before you book a room without confirming the AC is working properly.
Book it for families: the garden, the pool, and a staff that treats children like actual guests make this one of the easiest full-luxury stays in Italy with kids in tow. Solo travelers or couples chasing a five-minute walk to the Duomo might be happier elsewhere in the city, but for anyone who wants a retreat that still puts Florence within reach, this is the one to pick.
This is the old-town choice: a former prison turned 65-room courtyard hotel, a few minutes' walk from the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, and the reason people keep coming back is the staff, not the building. One guest was called by name on day one. Another had a birthday cake and champagne in the room, and the pillowcases changed to read "Happy Birthday," without ever mentioning the date to anyone. A manager sat down for dinner in the courtyard and pulled up old photos on an iPad to walk a guest through the building's past as a political (not violent) prison, the original beams still carrying prisoner inscriptions.
Price that against what's missing. There's no pool and no spa on property — you shuttle or take the courtesy yacht to the Bosphorus sister hotel for either, on set departure times that a few guests found inconvenient. The all-day restaurant is small for a Four Seasons, and while the courtyard breakfast gets consistent praise (the simit with honey, the Turkish eggs), dinner and the bar draw more mixed marks — one long-stay guest called the food and cocktails solidly good but not great. Rooms vary too: some suites split the bed and bathroom across two floors via a staircase, a quirk of the building's prison-era layout that a few travelers found genuinely annoying rather than charming.
Book this one for a first Istanbul trip, when walking to every major sight matters more than a pool. The location and the service are the case, and neither slips. Travelers wanting a bigger resort feel with a proper spa tend to look at the Bosphorus waterfront hotels instead, but for old-town charm and staff who notice everything, nothing nearby competes.
We’re Sofie and Nicolas, and we’ve stayed in hotels like these ourselves. Tell us what the trip is and we’ll tell you which one we’d book, and why. We’re not really a booking service, but a few times a year we plan one properly for someone; if that’s what you’re after, say so.
It's just the two of us, so we take on a handful of trips at a time. If we're full, we'll say so. We reply within a working day. The hotel pays us, not you: your rate is the same as booking direct, and the perks come on top.
Four Seasons Hotel Firenze: One of Florence’s largest hotel spas plus a big outdoor pool, with a modern gym guests single out for its equipment. Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet: Steps from the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and Topkapi Palace, with a tram outside for anywhere else on the old peninsula.
Four Seasons Hotel Firenze is ahead on the spa. Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet is ahead on where it puts you. Four Seasons Hotel Firenze adds Family, Wellness and Italian Design; Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet adds Romantic and Culinary. Both are tagged Urban, Heritage and Architecture.
Four Seasons Hotel Firenze leads on this. Four Seasons Hotel Firenze: One of Florence’s largest hotel spas plus a big outdoor pool, with a modern gym guests single out for its equipment. Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet: No pool and no spa on site; you take a shuttle or courtesy yacht to the sister Bosphorus property for either.
Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet leads on this. Four Seasons Hotel Firenze: A genuine walk, not a stroll, to the Duomo and the Uffizi, which some guests count as the whole appeal and others count against it. Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet: Steps from the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and Topkapi Palace, with a tram outside for anywhere else on the old peninsula.
Four Seasons Hotel Firenze is in Florence, Italy; Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet is in Istanbul, Turkey.
Neither: Four Seasons Hotel Firenze and Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet both hold Three Michelin Keys in the Michelin Guide’s 2026 hotel selection. The Keys come from the guide’s own anonymous inspections and are separate from the Fat Score.
Fat Voyage scores every hotel out of 20 across five dimensions — service, rooms & design, location, dining and wellness — read from the trip reports in the most active luxury travel communities, critics’ reviews and verified guest reviews, with the long, detailed and recent ones counting most. Nothing is paid for, and no hotel can buy a place.
