Hotels
Hotels in Budapest: eight places to stay on the Pest side and the Buda side
Steam lifts off the outdoor pool at the Széchenyi baths, the air is below freezing, and two older men are playing chess with the water up to their chests. Budapest is a city best seen from a bathrobe. These are the hotels we think give you the best version of it, grouped by district and riverbank.
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Budapest is two cities with a river between them. Pest, on the east bank of the Danube, is flat, dense and alive, with the Parliament, the Basilica, the grand boulevards and most of the restaurants and bars. Buda, on the west bank, is steep and quiet, with Castle Hill, the Fisherman's Bastion and the view back across to Pest. Most visitors stay on the Pest side, and for most that is right. But for a romantic weekend, or if you have been before, the Buda side is a choice you will not regret.
We have chosen eight hotels across both banks and three distinct areas: the centre of Pest around the Basilica and Váci utca, the boulevard Andrássy út and the old Jewish Quarter with its ruin bars, and the Buda side at the Chain Bridge and up on Castle Hill. The hotels were chosen before the links, and we say when one is not for you.
Short answer: where to stay in Budapest
Stay in Belváros, the centre of Pest around the Basilica and Váci utca, if this is your first visit and you want to walk to most things. Choose the Andrássy út area or the Jewish Quarter if evenings and restaurants matter most. The Buda side suits quiet, views and couples who already know the city.
Best for romance: Hotel Clark Budapest
Best for families: Hotel Moments Budapest
Best for first-timers: Aria Hotel Budapest
Best for value: Pest-Buda Hotel
Best for design: Mystery Hotel Budapest
How to choose a hotel in Budapest
Pest for the life, Buda for the view: Nearly everything you want to do in the evening is on the Pest side. Buda gives you silence and the panorama, but you cross a bridge every time you eat. Decide what you want after eight o'clock.
The district number tells you a lot: Budapest is divided into numbered districts. V is the centre of Pest, VI and VII surround Andrássy út and the Jewish Quarter, I is Castle Hill on the Buda side. All four are safe choices for a hotel.
Ask whether the spa is a real one: Budapest is the city of baths, and many hotels advertise a spa that is in practice a sauna and a small pool. If you want the proper thermal experience, go to Széchenyi, Gellért or Rudas and choose your hotel on other grounds.
Ruin bars carry: The Jewish Quarter in District VII is the party district. Its hotels are good, but the streets stay loud late into the night at weekends. Ask for a courtyard room or stay a couple of blocks away.
River views cost more, and are worth it once: Rooms facing the Danube with the Parliament or the castle in the frame are pricier. For a special occasion, take one. Otherwise you get the same view from the bridges for nothing.
Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace
The art nouveau facade of Gresham Palace, the Chain Bridge just outside.
Belváros and the Basilica: the centre of Pest
Belváros means inner city and is District V, the area between the Danube, the Parliament and the long pedestrian street Váci utca. St Stephen's Basilica stands in the middle, ringed by squares with cafés and most of the city's grand hotels. From here you walk to the Chain Bridge in five minutes and to the Jewish Quarter in ten.
Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace: the art nouveau palace at the Chain Bridge
Gresham Palace stands on Széchenyi tér, where the Chain Bridge meets the Pest bank, and has one of the most photographed facades in the city. Inside, the art nouveau detail survives in glass mosaics, wrought iron and the long, bright arcade running through the building, and the river-facing rooms have Castle Hill filling the window.
This is the hotel for a big occasion, and the one most people picture when they think of luxury in Budapest. The service is faultless and everything in Belváros is on foot. The price is the highest in the city, and the hotel is large with a busy lobby. If you want something small and personal, keep reading.
Book your stay: Check availability and prices at Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace
Aria Hotel Budapest
The roof bar at Aria, the Basilica's dome as nearest neighbour.
Aria Hotel Budapest: music and a roof bar beside the Basilica
The hotel is on Hercegprímás utca, wall to wall with the Basilica, and the first thing you notice is the music: the hotel is built around four genres, with a wing for each, and a lobby with a piano that is played in the afternoons. The roof bar at the top brings the Basilica's dome so close you could count the stones.
Aria is our pick for a first visit. The location is central without being loud, the rooms are spacious and well equipped, and the breakfast and the afternoon spread in the lobby draw a lot of praise. The theme runs through every detail, which makes it a poor fit for anyone who wants sober, quiet public spaces.
Book your stay: Check availability and prices at Aria Hotel Budapest
Matild Palace
The ground-floor café at Matild Palace, reopened in its old splendour.
Matild Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel: the palace at Elisabeth Bridge
Matild Palace sits on Ferenciek tere, at the Pest end of Elisabeth Bridge and the start of Váci utca, in a thoroughly restored palace whose ground-floor café has reopened in its old splendour. Rooms are done in deep colours with brass and marble, and the upper ones look across the river to Gellért Hill.
You stay here to have the pedestrian street and the river promenade outside the door, and for a mood that is more glamorous than Gresham Palace. It is a good fit for couples and anyone who likes a city hotel with a pulse. Ferenciek tere is a traffic hub, so ask for a high floor or a courtyard room if you are a light sleeper.
Book your stay: Check availability and prices at Matild Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel
Anantara New York Palace Budapest
The New York Café on the ground floor, where guests walk past the queue.
Andrássy út and the Jewish Quarter: boulevard and ruin bars
Andrássy út is Budapest's parade boulevard, running from the centre out to Heroes' Square, lined with the Opera, embassies and trees the whole way. South of it lies the old Jewish Quarter in District VII, with the Great Synagogue, the ruin bars and most of the city's newer restaurants. This is the area for anyone who is out in the evenings.
Anantara New York Palace Budapest: the café everyone wants to see
The hotel stands on Erzsébet körút, the great ring road, and on its ground floor is the New York Café, whose marble columns, gilding and frescoes have made it one of the most visited addresses in the city. As a guest you walk past the queue and in to breakfast in a room most people only glimpse from the door.
The rest of the hotel is just as lavish, with a spa in the basement and rooms in classic style with plenty of gold and heavy curtains. It is made for anyone who wants grandeur and is happy to stay slightly outside the busiest centre. The ring-road location is practical, with trams at the door, but not pretty, and it is a fifteen-minute walk to the Basilica.
Book your stay: Check availability and prices at Anantara New York Palace Budapest
Hotel Moments Budapest
The atrium at Moments, breakfast in light from above.
Hotel Moments Budapest: the atrium on Andrássy út
Moments sits directly on Andrássy út, between the Opera and the centre, in a renovated town palace built around a covered atrium with galleries on several floors. Rooms are light and simple, several are big enough for families, and breakfast is served in the atrium under daylight from above.
This is our family pick: plenty of space, quiet inward-facing rooms, and a location with the Opera three minutes away, the Basilica ten, and Heroes' Square a few stops on the old metro that runs beneath the boulevard. It is not a luxury hotel and the bar is small, so if you want facilities beyond the basics, look at the Anantara or the Mystery.
Book your stay: Check availability and prices at Hotel Moments Budapest
Mystery Hotel Budapest
The rooftop pool at Mystery, above the old Masonic lodge.
Mystery Hotel Budapest: the Masonic lodge with a pool on the roof
The hotel is on Podmaniczky utca, a couple of blocks north of Andrássy út, in a building that was once the Freemasons' lodge in Budapest. The interiors play on it: dark colours, symbols, concealed doors and a restaurant in the old lodge hall. On the roof is a small pool with a view across the rooftops.
Mystery is our design pick, for anyone who thinks a hotel can have a story and a sense of humour. Rooms are well equipped and quiet, and the price sits below the big palace hotels in Belváros. The street has no life of its own and the centre is a fifteen-minute walk. If you like things light and straightforward, this is not for you.
Book your stay: Check availability and prices at Mystery Hotel Budapest
Hotel Clark Budapest
The Chain Bridge and the Parliament from a river-facing room at Hotel Clark.
The Buda side: the Chain Bridge and Castle Hill
On the west bank of the Danube the city climbs steeply to Castle Hill, with the Royal Palace, Matthias Church and the Fisherman's Bastion on top. Down by the bridge is Clark Ádám tér, where the funicular sets off. Buda is quiet in the evening, the view back across to Pest is the best in the city, and you cross the Chain Bridge on foot in five minutes.
Hotel Clark Budapest: the Chain Bridge in the bedroom window
Hotel Clark stands on Clark Ádám tér, right at the Buda end of the Chain Bridge and beside the funicular up to the castle. The building is modern and narrow, and it was designed for the view: river-facing rooms have the bridge and the Parliament in the window, and from the roof bar at the top you watch the whole Pest bank light up after dark.
It gets our vote as the romantic pick, for the view and for the calm, grown-up mood. Rooms are not large but well thought out, and you cross the bridge to Belváros in five minutes. It is less suited to families, and to anyone who wants restaurants and bars outside the door, because the Pest side has those.
Book your stay: Check availability and prices at Hotel Clark Budapest
Pest-Buda Hotel
Fortuna utca on Castle Hill, quiet once the day visitors have gone.
Pest-Buda Hotel: the small house on Castle Hill
Up on Castle Hill, on Fortuna utca a couple of minutes from Matthias Church, is a small hotel in an old house with a bistro on the ground floor serving Hungarian food. The rooms are few, furnished in wood, pale fabrics and old photographs, and the street outside falls silent once the day visitors have taken the funicular down.
You stay here to have Castle Hill to yourself in the morning and evening, before and after the groups. It takes our value pick, because you get one of the best addresses in the city at a rate well below the palace hotels. The drawback is distance: you walk or take the bus down to the bridge, and the choice of restaurants on the hill is limited in the evening.
Book your stay: Check availability and prices at Pest-Buda Hotel
When to book
Advent and New Year fill the city: The Christmas markets at the Basilica and on Vörösmarty tér draw people from across Europe from late November, and New Year's Eve is the most expensive night of the year. Book several months ahead for a specific hotel then.
Formula 1 and Sziget are the weekends to avoid or plan around: The Hungarian Grand Prix in July and the Sziget festival in August fill hotels across the city and push prices up. Check the dates before booking a summer trip.
Spring and autumn are the best months: April, May, September and October bring pleasant weather and fewer groups than summer. Budapest remains cheaper than Vienna and Prague, but the small hotels in this guide should be booked a couple of months out.
Frequently asked questions about hotels in Budapest
Where should I stay in Budapest?
Belváros, District V on the Pest side, is the safest choice on a first visit: central, safe and with everything within walking distance. Andrássy út and the Jewish Quarter suit nightlife, the Buda side suits quiet and views.
Should I stay on the Pest side or the Buda side?
Pest for most people, because the restaurants, bars and most of the sights are there. Buda for couples and for anyone who has been before and wants silence and the view.
Are hotels in Budapest cheap?
Budapest is cheaper than most western European capitals, including at the luxury end. A five-star hotel here often costs the same as a four-star in Vienna.
How many nights do I need in Budapest?
Three nights cover Castle Hill, the Parliament, a thermal bath and an evening in the Jewish Quarter. With four you can add a day trip to Szentendre or a long afternoon at the Széchenyi baths.
How do I get from the airport to my hotel?
The 100E airport bus runs direct to the centre of Pest in around forty-five minutes. A fixed-fare taxi from the airport takes half an hour outside rush hour and is the easiest option with luggage.