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.
If you want a killer view room in Budapest, you won't be hurting for choices. The best vistas are from hotels facing the Danube River on one side or the other. Most of the big chain hotels are on the Pest side, facing Buda Castle and the palace. Others are on the Buda side, with views of the impressive Parliament building instead. In either case, of course, you'll have to request (and often pay a premium for) a room facing the right direction.
While the Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace is the top choice in town and has the most beautiful hotel building on the river, its relatively low-rise structure only allows a few river-facing rooms. If you want a real panorama, book at the InterContinental, Sofitel, or Marriott, all within a couple of blocks of each other on the same riverfront as the Four Seasons. The Marriott, currently undergoing renovation, has a slight edge because rooms have a step-out balcony.
On the other side of the river, the god-awful ugly Hilton Budapest spoils everyone else's view of Buda Castle with its modern addition, but in does offer great vistas and a convenient location near good restaurants and the Hungarian Wine Club. The best view, however, might belong to the hipper art'otel Budapest, smack dab across the river from the Parliament Building, which is especially dramatic when lit up at night (shown here). That's the view pictured here. Regular rates at art'otel Budapest start at 198 euros, but check for package deals and surf around for specials. Outside of the busy summer season, killer views go on sale at all of these hotels.
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.
The Corinthia Grand Hotel Royal is a re-imagining of the original Hotel Royal that opened on this Budapest site in 1986.
The Corinthia Group brought it back to life in 2006, returning the basement thermal bath and spa to its original design, restoring the impressive exterior, and re-imagining many public spaces as they appeared in the golden age, before the interior was gutted after a fire in 1956.
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.
Like most big cities, Budapest can be loud, crowded, and polluted when you're in the center of it all. An island in the middle of the Danube River is this city's equivalent of Central Park: a green oasis where trees far outnumber cars.
Most of Margitsziget Island is filled with green space and recreational facilities, but there are two sister hotels that allow you to relax and spend the night there.
Danubius Grand Hotel Margitsziget is the more aesthetically pleasing choice, built in 1873 and containing a restaurant that spills out onto a terrace blending into the park. All the baths and spa facilities are at the Danubius Thermal Spa Hotel next door though, where we took this killer view shot from room 720.
Guests have free reign of the various baths, saunas, steam rooms, and outdoor pool and terrace. The spa here is not your typical seaweed wrap and new age music place though: this is spa therapy in the traditional sense, with treatments and mineral baths prescribed to deal with specific conditions. A full medical facility on site does a brisk business.
Which brings us to the main downfall of this hotel complex: the average age of the guests staying in the two hotels is probably 65. Part of this is due to the thermal spa, but the hotel also caters to group tours hitting Europe and most of those seem to consist of gangs of retirees.
We liked being able to get up and walk for miles in the morning on paths along the river, but we're still cranky about paying the usual Budapest hotel WiFi rates: $17.50 for a grand total of 2.5 hours.
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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by Tim L.
