The open-air dancefloors, bars and dining terraces of the Reina nightclub in Istanbul have for more than a decade played host to scenes of undiluted glitz.

Open since 2002, the venue on the banks of the Bosphorus has earned a reputation as the place to be seen among Turkey’s young, secular elite who recline on its white banquettes and are served ice buckets of drinks by aproned waiters.

It attracts footballers from the top Turkish sides and stars from the country’s popular soap operas, as well as tourists and businesspeople from around the world. Daniel Craig, Kylie Minogue, Naomi Watts and Jon Bon Jovi are among the celebrities named as having been guests at the club, according to GC Prive, a London wealth management company that recommends the venue to its clients.

The New Year’s Eve terrorist attack on the waterside club was not entirely unexpected. The club’s owner, Istanbul businessman Mehmet Koçarslan, told the Hurriyet newspaper that the US had passed on intelligence over the risk of an attack and security had been stepped up including from the sea.

The club is regularly praised in travel guides as the city’s best. In 2011 the Guardian described it as “where Istanbul’s investment bankers dance the night away on the banks of the Bosphorus – the super-flash avoid the traffic of the coastal road and arrive at the club by boat. Its two floors are large enough to include Istanbul’s priciest – and, some say, best – restaurant.”

According to the World’s Best Bars website, it is “packed with Turkish celebs, models, millionaires and media players” and “the restaurants run the gamut from Italian to sushi to more traditional local fare”.

It is positioned close to the Boğaziçi bridge, which last summer was renamed 15 July Martyrs Bridge after the civilians who died in last year’s failed coup, including some who perished on the bridge.

Tourists report that it is not always easy to gain entrance to the club, even if you are ready to pay the regular £18 entrance fee at weekends, as door staff can be selective.