About Armada

Armada was constructed in the heart of the old Istanbul peninsula surrounded by the historic city walls in the Sultanahmet quarter, where, at one time, Admiral Barbarossa Hayrettin Pasha had houses built for his sailors in the 16th century, and when these burned down, row houses were built in their place. Therefore, Armada was designed based on old photographs of these houses remaining faithful to the exterior architecture. Today’s comfort and yesteryear's atmosphere were combined and reinterpreted through both interior and exterior décor.

Located at Ahırkapı Caddesi No. 24, Armada Hotel opened on July 4th of 1994 with 108 rooms and 220 beds (following the renovation conducted in 2009, this was reduced to 108 rooms including 40 standard rooms, 60 superior rooms and 8 Deluxe rooms for a total of 216 beds), the Ahırkapı Restaurant and Terrace, the Barbaros and Preveze meeting rooms as well as the Radio Bar. Kutsi Erguner and his friends gave a concert on the Terrace for the opening night, which was attended by those in the tourism sector, the press and the immediate vicinity.

The first project designs for “Armada”, which was pioneered by Kasım Zoto, were executed by architect Haydar Karabey and Murat Sümen. Construction began after the project languished in bureaucratic red¬-tape for six years and was directed by Mehmet Ata Tansuğ. Gürel Yontan was in charge of decoration. Armada was completed in 16 months and its presence immediately created a distinctive atmosphere in Ahırkapı. Armada succeeded in establishing a positive impression with the public through uninterrupted communications projects and subsequently influenced the immediate vicinity so that numerous buildings in the quarter were repaired and brought back to life. Armada Hotel literally served as a civil model of the “social complex” (külliye), which played such an important role in old Turkish urban culture with new, distinctive establishments like Balıkçı Sabahattin, and even the Panayır Café in Darphane, as well as Ahırkapı Pastries and Alafranga Restaurant, (two establishment which today serve as “Giritli Restaurant”)...

The Armada Sera (today’s "Indoor Terrace”), as well as the Reis and Levent meeting rooms were added to the existing structure due to the operational requirements of the hotel between 1995 and 1999. In 2009, the building, equipment, infrastructure and interior decoration were all renovated.

Armada Corporate Culture

• If the city of Istanbul and its cultural and historic treasures had been properly preserved, what we would have today?
• Which of these can we resurrect today at Armada?
• How can we combine these with modern comfort in the best possible way without blindingly imitating the past?
• How can we preserve and pass these on to future generations?

The implementation of the answers sought and found to these questions in the second half of the 20th century, when almost everything characteristic of Istanbul was on the verge of disappearing in terms of both architecture and its culture of life, resulted in the emergence of the “Armada Concept”. Cem Boyner expressed this best when he said in reference to Armada Hotel in an interview on Istanbul in 1995, “I have not seen it yet, but it seems to me that Armada is an honorable revolt against the trashing of tradition. It is much more than just a hotel. It is a concept.”

At one time, the Sultanahmet quarter was the “center of the world” and now it is remembered as an important stopping point in the life of "hippies" of the ‘60s. Yet, restoring the former reputation of the quarter and Istanbul in general to its rightful place in world history and tourism is one of the most important aspects of Armada corporate culture.