A Bentley You Can Sleep In

As you may have heard, there was a bit of a contretemps between the heads of design for Bentley and Lincoln (Luc Donckerwolke and David Woodhouse, respectively) regarding the design of and the name of the Lincoln Continental Concept, or at least Donckerolke suggested that Lincoln ripped off the design of the Bentley Flying Spur, and then there is the issue of the name “Continental,” which has associations with both vehicle manufacturers (though Lincoln has the edge on that one).

Which brings us to Istanbul.

But we’ll leave Lincoln behind.

The St. Regis Istanbul hotel has opened its Bentley Suite. Yes, rooms with a view (of Macka Park and the Bosporus). A living room, bedroom, dressing room, powder room, and one-and-a-half baths that feature “a curvaceous design inspired by the Bentley Continental GT.”

The marble floor in the foyer has insets inspired by the design of Continental wheels. The sofa in the living room is made with Bentley seat leather; there is the signature Bentley diamond upholstery stitching. The overhead lighting are predicated on the headlamps as well as a fixture that is predicated on the Nurburgring. The wet bar is predicated on the design and the materials used for a Bentley dashboard. There is a cabinet in the bar that contains three Breitling clocks. And as smoking, presumably, is still on the up-and-up at the St. Regis Istanbul, there is a hand-crafted humidor, built in the Bentley woodshop.

As is becoming increasingly apparent, luxury cars today are not just about the cars, but about the “experiences” associated with them.

Still, let’s say that you drive your Bentley Continental GT to Istanbul. Do you really want to sleep in one, too? If so, well, there’s always the car.