Hotel Bobbio and other Budapest, Hungary Hotel/Accommodation Reviews

Possibly the best hotel I have ever stayed at, made wonderful by the people who ran it. The location is excellent, and just perfect for me after a busy week of adventuring in the Balkans. It sits high above Budapest in the wealthy suburbs of the Buda Hills. The views from the rooms and gardens are amazing, as are they from the roads that loop around the hotel and neighbourhood. It's perfectly quiet at night, and while its location is a little out of town, the bus service is regular and reliable, and there is a great restaurant nearby.

The guys who ran the place, in particular Andrea, were fantastic hosts, and were happy to discuss at lengths everything about the city, including how to get in and out by bus, the best places to visit for taking night pictures, and even the politics of the country and their own views on it. I was distracted from my sightseeing on several mornings, and also again in the evenings, just to talk about everything. I didn't mind a bit, in fact I am much happier chatting with the locals than sightseeing any day, especially ones as nice as these.

Everyone seemed delighted to be in the hotel, and there seemed to be a number of repeat customers. The rooms were also spotlessly clean and well equipped, with free wi-fi and minibars, although you might want to get a room on the lower floors if you want to get a good wi-fi reception. Breakfast was included, and was great, especially if you could talk someone into making an omelette especially for you (not that hard).

Highly recommended.

Unique Qualities: Great staff. Great location. Free wi-fi.

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Theme: Hotel
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$40-80  » Currency Converter
Address: Bela kiraly u. 47, , Budapest, Budapest Fovaros 11
Directions: Take Bus 28 from Moskva Square to Bela kiraly. This is the last but one stop, but can be easy to miss if you don't know it. If you miss it, wait until the end of the route, wait for it to turn around, and take the get off at the next stop.
Website: http://www.bobbio.hu/

This is a high class hotel, with enormous, well equipped and very comfortable rooms. The location is great, and very central, just around the corner from St. Stephen's basilica on the Pest side, and very near to the river. Everything about the place is quality, and it attracts a high class of clientelle (I'm the exception to this rule). One guest pulled up in a Ferrari F430.

Down points included a shower that was nearly impossible to set to a temperature that wasn't either scalding or freezing, the view from the room wasn't inspiring, and a cheeky 30 euro breakfast fee in a city where you can eat out at the best restaurants for less. It's also your typical super expensive McHotel.

I had a great night's sleep, and it's a great hotel, but I preferred the Hotel Bobbio for less than half the price.

It's published rates start at over 300 euros a night, but a savvy traveller can get rooms for much cheaper than that by searching the internet. Try starting with www.hrs.de or www.hotel.de.

Unique Qualities: Free internet!

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Theme: Hotel
Comparison: more expensive than average
Prices: US$120-180  » Currency Converter
Address: Erzscbet TCR 7-8, , Budapest 1051
Website: http://www.kempinski-budapest.com/

A good value business hotel with decent rooms and a reasonable central location. It has a fantastic reception, with comfortable seating, free internet connection, and games for kids and adults alike, all suplemented by strangely soporific piped music. It is staffed by plentiful, professional and pleasant workers, who seem to only get stressed when they are deluged by some of the mass conventions of Russian businessmen that descend occasionally upon the hotel.

While the rooms are good value, the breakfast, at nearly 20 euros, is not. Neither is the Internet, which is operated by the German Telcom company I have grown to hate, and costs 16 euros per 24 hours, more than some monthly ASDL connections. It is, at least, a decent speed, unlike every other Telcom service I've experienced before.

The rooms are a reasonable size, and are clean, modern and kitted out with everything you'd expect of a decent hotel, including mini-bar, safe and a flat screen TV. The views from the west side of the building, of the Buda hills, are great, but on windy nights the squalls screech down from the hills and scream through the panels on the high sheer walls of the hotel. It's enough to keep the sleepless up all night.

Personally I think there are better hotels in Budapest, and only use it because of its location near to the office. But you won't go far wrong with it if you can't find anything more suitable.


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Theme: Hotel
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$40-80  » Currency Converter
Phone: 361-372-5401
Address: Accor Hotels,Budapest XII, Alkotas U .63-67, Budapest
Directions: On the Buda side. You can get there by Tram 61 from Moscow Square.
Website: http://www.accorhotels.com/accorhotels/fichehotel/gb/nov/0511/fiche_hotel.shtml

This hotel is great value for money, and would be perfect for long stays. For as little as 39 euros per night you get a large studio apartment all to yourself, equipped with kitchen, en suite bathroom and a large bedroom. It's a little bit scruffy around the edges, but it's very clean and comfortable. It also has free wireless Internet, but my apartment was too far away from the excellent and friendly front reception for me to pick it up. You can use the hotel's networked computers instead.

One of the down sides is if you take an apartment on the side where the busy road is, as this is noisy all the way through the night. Despite being a light sleeper I'm imune to traffic noise, so it suited me just fine. The other problem is that it's not as central as it makes out. Sure it is only a 5-10 minute walk from the Castle District, but the real center of Budapest is on the other side of the river, another 5-10 minute walk from the CD!

Still, transport is good in the city and so it's not really a problem if you are staying a while and have a weekly ticket.


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Theme: Hotel
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$40-80  » Currency Converter
Address: Hegyalja ut 23
Directions: Take Tram 61 to Hegyalja út and get out by the big unmissable Novotel Congress hotel.
Website: http://www.charleshotel.hu/