The best hotels in Budapest
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Forget the “Little Paris” moniker that has haunted Budapest for decades. The majestic capital of Hungary, from the wooded and sedate hills of Buda with its old town and royal castle, to the buzzing ruin bars, grand palaces and shopping streets of downtown Pest across the broad Danube that divides the city, is so much more than just another pretty central European city. Here contemporary cool and old-school grandeur mix effortlessly, and all with a distinctly Hungarian flavour. To use another tired phrase, here there is something for everyone, whether you want to admire the most astonishing art nouveau and secessionist architecture in Europe, party all night at a grand 19th-century thermal bath, sip cocktails on a rooftop bar or eat dinner while cruising down the moonlit Danube. And with several exceptional stays opened in the last couple of years, you may just find yourself falling in love with the best hotels in Budapest.
What is the best part of Budapest to stay in?
While the Buda side of the Danube may be the smartest part of town for wealthy residents looking for peace and quiet, Pest is where the action is and is packed with historical buildings and great places to eat, drink, shop and stroll, and this selection of the best new openings and old classics for you to lay your head down to rest in concentrates on the central Pest districts, where reaching the central landmarks is easy.
Corinthia
Of all the hotels on this list, the Corinthia is the only one, bar the Kempinski, that began its existence as a hotel. The Grand Hotel Royal Budapest, as it was called, in its heyday of the early 20th century, hosted stars such as Josephine Baker, who performed in the hotel’s Orfeum cabaret. It has served more recently as the inspiration for Wes Anderson’s Oscar-winning The Grand Budapest Hotel. A vast establishment created from three adjacent 19th-century buildings with the original side streets between them transformed into lofty glassed atriums, the Corinthia is perhaps most famed for its beautifully restored Royal Spa. The spa was originally opened in 1888 and was saved from the ignominious fate of being converted into a multi-storey car park. Guests can swim or bask in saunas and hot tubs surrounded by columns and period tilework. Equally impressive is the huge cream and gilded ballroom, once the venue of Budapest’s first cinema. For gourmets, the hotel has two fine-dining restaurants.
Price: Standard doubles start from about £165.