A family-run boutique hotel and restaurant in the forests of Şile, outside Istanbul
5.02 reviewsA boutique hotel and chef's restaurant set in a 21-decare garden among the Şile forests, hosting weddings from intimate receptions to 800 guests.
Casa Lavanda stands in the forests around Ulupelit, in the district of Şile, 45 minutes from Istanbul. The Şen family bought the land in 1991 and built a house of local limestone with a timber roof and shutters, which has grown into a boutique hotel with a chef's restaurant. The grounds cover 21 decares of rare trees and plants and look over a pond, and the owners run the place as a family business with a team of around 70.
Weddings can be arranged in several parts of the garden, each with its own character, from a small reception to a celebration for up to 800 guests, with exclusive use available. Menus are designed for each event by the hotel's chef and draw on its organic, biodynamic vegetable garden. Guests can stay in rooms named after trees and furnished with pieces made by local craftspeople, so a celebration can continue into the following day. The grounds also hold an outdoor pool, a Darphin spa with a sauna, and a helipad, and guests can borrow bicycles or follow guided walks in the forest. In 2024 the hotel was named International Wedding Venue in the Weddings and Honeymoons awards.
Casa Lavanda
Images courtesy of Casa Lavanda
The Şen family bought the land at Ulupelit in 1991 and began building in 1993, first a four-room house in local limestone with timber roof and shutters. It grew into a boutique hotel and restaurant, today run by sons Emre and Ekin with a team of about 70.
The grounds of rare trees and plants, with a view over a pond, allow weddings in different settings and themes, from a small reception to a banquet for 800. The hotel was named International Wedding Venue in the 2024 Weddings and Honeymoons awards.
Chef Emre Şen's kitchen draws on the hotel's own organic and biodynamic vegetable garden, which grows more than 350 kinds of vegetables, and menus are designed for each event. The garden also supplies the restaurant with fruit, herbs and edible flowers.
Ceremonies and receptions can be placed in different areas of the 21-decare garden, among trees and plants and beside a pond.
Event menus are created by the hotel's chef from produce grown on site.
Guests can stay on site and extend the celebration into the next day. Rooms are named after trees and designed with local artisans.
A spa offering massages and facials with Darphin products, plus a wood-panelled sauna.
An outdoor pool, bicycles to borrow, guided forest walks and yoga mats in the gardens.
The hotel has its own helipad for guests arriving by air.
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Share a few details about your wedding at Casa Lavanda and your enquiry will be passed on to them. A reply cannot be promised, and no time can be given for it.
Ulupelit Mahallesi, Seçilmiş Sokak No. 2, Şile, Istanbul, Turkey
It's a boutique hotel with a spa, meeting rooms, and an excellent restaurant near Istanbul. The facilities and service are amazing, as are the majority of dishes. The staff is extremely helpful and makes sure that you feel comfortable. The spa services and massages are also awesome. There is a small outdoor pool and many green areas. A store sells interesting local items that are nice but also quite expensive.
The hotel hosts weddings from small receptions to celebrations of up to 800 guests.
The hotel is 45 minutes from Istanbul, in the forests around Şile.
Yes, exclusive use is available.
Yes. Menus for each event are designed by the hotel's chef, using produce from its organic garden.
Yes, there is a helipad on site.
Yes. The hotel has a Darphin spa offering massages and facials.
Ask for a place, a name, a trade or the whole wedding. Every answer comes from checked records.
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