Hotel Tokatliyan was built by Armenian Migirdiç Tokatliyan in 1897. The hotel was in competition with Pera Palace for the passengers of the Orient Express which would transport Europe's elite to Istanbul.
Leon Trotsky was one of the famous visitors to the hotel. As a result of their exile, Trotsky and his wife Natalya Sedova arrived in the city in February 1929. After their time in the embassy, they moved to the Tokatliyan Hotel down the street. Later, the family continued their exile on the island of Büyükada.
