Hungary Hotels Rundown: The New York Palace in Budapest
HotelChatter Contributing Editor Tim Leffel recently completed a sojourn to Hungary the other week and has dutifully reported back to us on the hotel scene in Budapest. This week we'll be running all of his stories so if you have any questions about Hungary accommodations, hit us on the tipline, or just comment below, and we will do our best to get you some sort of answer.
Why go to Hungary and stay in a hotel called New York Palace? Well, the name here is not some aspiration to match the Big Apple. The building was originally built by the New York Insurance Company and the New York Café on the bottom floor was a happening meeting place in Budapest's heyday at the end of the 1800s.
After the building sat abandoned for 10 years, new owners Boscolo Hotels bought it and turned it into a recently opened hotel. Of the total 180 rooms, 100 are open now and 80 will be finished in '08.
Depending on your view of Renaissance Baroque style, the restored café is either breathtaking or a visual overload, with all the gaudy glory of the gilded age shining again. It meanders into several sections on different floors, with a cigar bar, a formal restaurant, and the main room for coffee and Hungarian pastries.
The bright lobby occupies a space that used to be a courtyard, with glass now overhead. Architects effectively matched the historic style of the rest of the structure, a building constructed when banks and insurance companies tried hard to show off their wealth with marble and lots of ornamentation.
The spa here gets away from the historic feel, going instead for an "ice cave" look: think curvy white plaster and blue lights in the treatment rooms, lap pool, and gym. Rooms range from standards with designer fabric and Italian marble baths to an over-the-top Royal Suite that mixes Murano chandeliers with wall-mounted big-screen HDTVs.
With rates running from around $250 to $3,000, the Italian owners have priced it for those with plenty of Prada and Armani in their wardrobe.
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