Zeynep Özçelik returned from an eight-year stint in Hollywood with a kooky hotel concept. She devised a suite-only guesthouse where young creatives – be they movie directors, designers or writers – could work in luxurious privacy with a lightning-fast WiFi connection and an in-room coffee machine. The model has certainly caught on. Some guests have stayed a month or more, and the chatter in the communal rooftop kitchen-cum-bar centres around the city’s latest exhibitions, art house films et al. Despite neighbouring the old British Embassy – now the UK’s Consulate-General – the area remained rough ‘n’ ready until long after the millennium, with I’zaz a derelict townhouse until Zeynep purchased it. She placed a suite on each of the four floors, connected by a cast-iron spiral staircase with a brushed brick backdrop. Rooms are accessed by keycode, and each has a tidy shower room and an Ottoman-style bay window boudoir for checking out the colourful street life below.