Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘Last Call for Istanbul’ follows Serin and Mehmet on their romantic escapade in New York City. The couple meet each other at the airport, where Serin loses her bag, and Mehmet helps her retrieve it. For this, they travel to different locations in the city and land at a hotel called Marshall City Hotel, where they have to wait one night to get her bag back. As the night unfolds, new information about Serin and Mehmet comes to light, giving a realistic touch to their story. Because numerous real-life locations have been employed in the movie, the viewers might wonder if Marshall City Hotel is one of them. SPOILERS AHEAD
Marshall City Hotel is a Fictional But Important Location in the Movie
When Serin tracks down the owner of the bag that she has, she and Mehmet end up in Chinatown, where they are told that the man works at the Marshall City Hotel, and that’s where they will have to go to meet him and get Serin’s bag back. When the couple reaches the hotel, they are told that that place has been around for so long that it has seen guests like John Lennon and Marilyn Monroe. It’s in disrepair now, so it might not seem like it was a big deal back then, but the receptionist claims that it used to be a popular haunt for celebrities back in the day.
In real life, there is no such hotel named Marshall City Hotel in NYC where celebs like Monroe or Lennon stayed. Instead, St. Regis New York holds the title of being the place that has hosted some of the most famous people in the world. There are several other hotels in New York that have been regular haunts of popular celebs, but Marshall City Hotel doesn’t fall under that list. It appears to be a fictional location that was created to serve the purpose of the story in ‘Last Call for Istanbul.’
While the movie was filmed on location in New York City, it is possible that the interiors of the hotel were filmed on set in Istanbul, which is where a significant part of the film was shot and where the characters are originally based. The movie must have employed the exteriors of New York City to make it look like the hotel is in NYC.
The movie focuses on Serin and Mehmet’s first visit to New York, and to make it feel more romantic, it makes sense that the storytellers would want the characters to stay in a place with a romantic history, even if it is made up. The hotel is not important just because this is where Serin will get her stuff back but also because this is where she and Mehmet spend a romantic night together, which eventually becomes a turning point in their relationship.
Read More: Last Call for Istanbul Ending, Explained: Do Mehmet and Serin Get Back Together?
