You expect slick style in an Italian hotel, but Turkey? Actually, the Turks also know a thing or two about avant-garde design, on the quiet. East really does meet west at Sumahan (0090 216 422 8000, sumahan.com), a restored Ottoman distillery-turned-hotel on the shores of the Bosphorus. This 18-room hotel has a great website to show off its timeless watery views, surveyed from the cool interior comfort of rooms with stone walls, wooden floors, plump white pillows and covers on the queen and king-size beds, flat-screen TVs and modern fireplaces (which will no doubt come into their own in winter).

There is a choice of deluxe rooms, and suites called junior, loft, family and executive, some on two levels with their own mini hammam, or opening on to a private, waterfront garden. A motorised launch ferries guests to and from the city centre. Room rates start from £150 per night with travelintelligence.com. For flights, try easyJet (easyjet.com), which has just launched a service from Luton to Istanbul: out on a Friday and back on a Sunday or Monday, return fares start at around £80.