You'll pay close to $900 just to fly to Budapest (coach, natch), but it will only cost you less than two dollars to spend the night there.
That is, of course--there's always a catch, isn't there?--you act quickly.
In honor of the first birthday of its Budapest property on October 1, easyHotel is offering rooms that night for just one euro. (One euro!) But with just 59 rooms, expect it all to go very, very quickly.
The hotel is located on the Pest side of the Danube River and is a short walk to Hero's Square. This being easyHotel, you'll pay extra for things like watching television, housekeeping services and Internet access, but at just one euro (one euro!) for the night, we think you can afford to the splurge. Heck, go crazy and order up some extra towels!
A while back we let you know that Amy Langfield from NewYorkology was taking a European vacation and she was concerned about her lodgings in Prague. Well, we know how that all worked out and now she's giving up the lowdown on her trip. Here she details her stay at the Intercontinental Hotel in Budapest. Consider this Part 1.
We were on the club floor and got a pretty good deal since we booked a package that got us a city tour package.
And yes, the cruise was cheesy, but it was worth it for the VIP entry to Parliament with our excellent guide Andrea, who was super smart and had a very dry sense of humor. She works for the Eurama Travel Agency in the InterContinental.
The hotel was perfectly fine, and I was exceptionally happy with the extra bed situation for my stepson. But really, the best thing about this place was the view. All pictures here are taken from inside our room -- at arrival, sunset, and the morning.
And above is the YouTube video I shot at dinner at the hotel's patio. It's not of the hotel, but rather the fireworks show we could see from the hotel. Killer view indeed.
Room rates at the Intercontinental start at $215 a night for a standard room. Rooms with a view are slightly more.
A reader, Seagem, emailed us with some help in choosing a hotel in Budapest and she gave us a list of things that she is looking to do while there as well as what her budget is.
I've spent hours trying to decide where today...I like the elegance of the modern hotels...like to walk in the old city, but want to spend time in thermal baths so was considering Danubius places....However, room reviews sound so-so...I can spend up to $200 per night, including all taxes...Food not important...I'm vegetarian and don't drink...Want comfortable, safe, elegance (don't need extravagance) to visit this city for the first time...I have 2.5 days..3 nights...thank you...
Well, our very own Tim L. spent some time in Budapest a few months ago and detailed the scene for us here. Back then, he recommended the art'otel budapest by park plaza, a hip hotel with a killer view of the Parliament Building and a restaurant serving "fine dishes" and a cafe/bar with an outdoor terrace. Rooms start at 198 Euros but during off-season, the rates can be cheaper.
You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.
From the stack of killer views we've shown you from hotels around Budapest, Hungary, you might be starting to think that every window looks out on some idyllic scene. Plenty do, but not this room at the Hotel Fiesta: Domina Inn on the Pest side of the river, in the middle of the shopping district.
The Fiesta might have a good location, but this view is perhaps typical of what many previous guests think about it. It's drab. This boring view in fact looks cleaner than many claim the rooms to be, and what you can't see from looking out your window is the overly complicated door-locking system that at least every second guest complains about.
We are suckers for a room with a killer view. We find that we are even more likely to forgive some minor hotel inconveniences if we can stare out the window at something pretty--yeah we are that shallow. Let's help out our fellow hotel mavens by uploading rooms with killer views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. We will feature our favorites in this space from time to time. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number of the hot view.
HotelChatter tipster Tom W has just had a stay in the Budapest Marriott Hotel on the banks of the Danube. The view across the river to the Royal Palace on the Castle Hill area of Pest is pretty impressive, but what's all that scaffolding in the front?
The Marriott website confirms that they are doing a major renovation which should be finished by the end of the year. It didn't worry Tom W too much:
We stayed in a renovated room on the Executive floor, and it is completely up to American standards. Service in the entire hotel is at a five-star level. Even though we stayed there on my Marriott points, we had access to the Executive lounge, plus an endless supply of free mineral water, fruit delivered to the room each afternoon, etc., etc. The only drawback was that as in many European hotels, the air conditioning is weak.
Christmas and the New Year is barefly over but we are already contemplating where to go next year. Perhaps the post-holiday-season isn't the best time to start planning the next time where we will eat far more than we need to, but keep in mind a stop in Hungary's capital, Budapest. Not only is there a chance of a white Christmas, and more than enough heavy wintry food to chow down on, but there are a lot of friendly people around.
Here's an example from last week: for the second year running, the nice folks at Le Meridien Budapest invited 25 local homeless people to a special Christmas lunch in their Le Bourbon Restaurant. A lovely gesture in itself, and even more impressive when you read the menu:
Terrine de sanglier aux pruneaux, gelée de prunes aux Cognac, Poitrine volaille fermicre façon, coq au vin , pâtes fraîches and chocolate Yule log with black chocolate sauce.
That sure beats what we served up over the holidays.
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by jennm
A reader, Seagem, emailed us with some help in choosing a hotel in 
