Travel: Istanbul

Amidst the Anglo-Ottoman splendour of its gilded ceilings, brass chandeliers and Turkish carpets he parked me in an enormous armchair, ordered two dry martinis and went down on one knee to propose. Unlike Greta Garbo, just one of the Pera's famous visitors, I did not "want to be alone" so took him up on his offer.

The hotel was built in 1892 to accommodate passengers arriving in Istanbul on the Orient Express and at that time was the embodiment of elegance and luxury attracting guests such as Queen Elizabeth II, Alfred Hitchcock, Jacqueline Onassis, Ernest Hemingway and perhaps most famously, Agatha Christie. With just one half-hearted facelift in the 1980s the hotel had gone in to gentle decline.

In 2008 the hotel closed for a restoration costing E23 million and I hoped that they'd managed to retain the unique if somewhat musty atmosphere en route to proper ventilation, power showers, and wifi. First glimpse of the Pera Palace and I could see that the ravages of 120 years of pollution had been blasted from the exterior and that it was now glowing in the late afternoon sun. In to the marble reception with the wonderful Art Nouveau Patisserie de Pera to the left and the Orient Bar to the right and I gave a sigh of relief. OK, so everything was freshly painted, the bellboy had a new uniform and the well-worn rugs had been replaced but things were just where I'd left them. We were transported, as before, to our room in the unfailingly charming wrought iron birdcage lift (the first electrical-powered elevator of its kind). And once on the fourth floor I could see the new glass roof that throws much-needed natural light on to the six ornate glass domes that form the ceiling of the grand Kubbeli Salon. Our room, painted in a subtle almond green and overlooking the Golden Horn, was a study in unfussy good taste from the discreetly etched PP on the taps, to the antique wardrobes and handwoven Ousak carpets.

I'm certain many clandestine assignations have taken place in the Orient Bar over the years, especially as Kim Philby and Mata Hari, are believed to have stayed. I sipped a cocktail and took in the eclectic mix of patrons. The waiter whispered to me that the attractive Turkish woman quaffing champagne at the bar was a famous soap star but I was more interested in the funny little man in horn-rimmed spectacles and crumpled cream suit scribbling furiously in a notebook. Writer? Film producer? Detective? He looked so much like he slipped off the pages of a Christie novel I wondered if the hotel had hired him to sit there.

The food in the new Agatha Restaurant echoes the Anglo-Ottoman theme of the hotel and I sampled a delectable coalition between East and West when I tucked in to my breast of duck with black rice and juniper berries.More stylish than genteel is the new Pera Spa. We lazed in its small but perfectly formed Turkish Bath, scrubbing away the dirt of city after a day spent tiptoeing round the harem of the Topkapi Palace and haggling in the bazaar. Then we headed up for a sleuth around Room 411 where Agatha Christie is said to have puzzlingly disappeared to for 11 days in 1926. On previous visits it had struck me as rather a spooky shrine but it's since been transformed into a cosy sanctuary. Nice touches include a vast collection of her novels, an antique typewriter and a replica of the key found in the room believed to fit her lost diary. A night spent here would be a treat for any Christie fan.

Previously the Pera Palace was like an ageing Hollywood star, relying on the glory days of her youth to keep her fans loyal. But now she's back in a starring role, giving her most captivating performance yet.

THE FACTS

Rooms from E230 per night, www.perapalace.com

Pegasus Airways flies from London Stansted to Istanbul S.Gokcen. Flights from 34.99 one-way excluding taxes, www.flypgs.com

This article was originally published in The Scotsman Magazine on Saturday 23 October 2010.