It was ridiculous, the only time I have felt like I was on vacation while still in the hotel. It's the Hilton Istanbul Bomonti. We caught a sale a few months after it opened and the Taksim Suite was cheaper than the two rooms we were going to need at our usual hotel by the airport. When we found out the room included access to the 34th-floor lounge with 360-degree views and complementary breakfast, snacks, beer, wine and sometimes liquor through the evening, we decided it wasn't so extravagant at all, just good financial planning! We got on good terms with the staff by pretending not to notice the plutocrats' kids terrorizing the place, and they looked the other way when we smuggled friends in later. Looks like there's a summer sale going on now, and the same suite is listed for TRY518 = US$193. Maybe that won't have to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience after all...