The indulgent spirit of Hungarian hospitality is rightfully legendary – many hotels here offer world-class accommodations and services with genuinely caring professionalism, often offered for remarkably friendly prices. In this installment of our monthly “Checking In” series, we look around at the latest developments in Budapest’s hotel scene for the freshest news, special promotions, and unbelievable bargains of May 2018.
Kempinski Hotel Corvinus remodels 27 deluxe rooms and 10 suites
As part of an ongoing 8.5-million-euro renovation project, the city-centre Kempinski Hotel Corvinus Budapest completed a thorough remodel of 27 deluxe rooms and ten suites on the upper stories of this five-star property in late April. Noted British designer Alex Kravetz dreamed up the fresh look of the Kempinski’s Premium Grand Deluxe Rooms and Premium Junior Suites with a sophisticated colour palette of gold, platinum and grey, complemented by dark-brown wood features; these upscale accommodations are all illuminated by ample natural light (except when new black-out shades are in use). Furthermore, four Executive Suites now present a sleek contemporary aesthetic with sweeping views over Erzsébet tér, while two of the Corvinus Collection Suites – often occupied by global business titans and celebrities – feature a similarly modern design along with additional functionality and luxury. For more details, view the Kempinski Hotel Corvinus Budapest website.
Radisson Blu Béke Hotel unveils renovations to lobby, café, conference rooms, and more
Following months of reconstruction, Budapest’s historic Radisson Blu Béke Hotel reopened its community areas in April to welcome overnight guests and public visitors to its modernised lobby, conference rooms, and eatery. This 105-year-old hotel features a new bright and airy lounge and reception area that increases accessibility and eases the check-in process for Radisson Rewards members. Meanwhile, diners can now enter the Zsolnay Café directly from the Grand Boulevard for bistro-style meals – including ‘brinner’, aka breakfast served all day long – along with a tasteful selection of cake slices, including lactose- and sugar-free varieties. On the ground floor, the hotel’s new Experience Centre hosts meetings and conferences with 450 square metres of event space and contemporary audio-visual equipment, where functions are enhanced with ‘Brain Food’ specialties; upstairs, recent renovations upgraded a total of 95 rooms and 14 suites. To learn more about the hotel’s new look, visit the Radisson Blu Béke website.
InterContinental Budapest’s Corso restaurant launches ‘Live on the Terrace’ Friday-night event series
With springtime heating up Budapest’s night scene, the InterContinental Budapest’s Corso restaurant launched the ‘Live on the Terrace’ Friday-night event series in May to combine tasteful cuisine with live music and sweeping views. Located directly on the Danube Promenade, Corso features some of the city’s most panoramic open-air tables for diners to enjoy picture-perfect dishes. These delicacies will be enhanced every Friday evening this month beginning at 8pm with a cool concert and tasteful activities. Join an intoxicating master class on Tanqueray gin cocktails on May 11th or a tasting session of exquisite wines from Hungary’s Tokaj region on May 18th, while on May 25th, the terrace will rumble with rumba while guests delight in rum concoctions. Meanwhile, an excellent assortment of seasonal asparagus-based meals are available at Corso throughout May – click here to learn all about them, or for more details about the ‘Live on the Terrace’ series, click here.
Brody House design hotel earns high praise in The Guardian
In mid-April, The Guardian published a travel piece lauding ‘10 of the best design hotels in the world’ and, along with creatively unique lodgings in New York, Rio, Tasmania and beyond, Budapest’s own Brody House made the list. The article praises this laid-back design hotel occupying a 19th-century townhouse on Bródy Sandor utca by the Hungarian National Museum, highlighting the “walls covered in antique music scores and handwritten letters” and “Australian sculptor Bo Droga’s intestines-like pipe installation and a ‘chairndelier’ hanging light made from a wooden chair”. The article also refers to the Brody Studios, the hotel-affiliated hangout on Budapest’s Vörösmarty utca. Click here to read The Guardian article, or check out the BrodyLand website to learn more about Brody House and Brody Studios – or to read We Love Budapest’s ‘Guest Experience’ article describing a night’s stay at Brody House, click here.
Condé Nast Traveler once again highlights the Aria Hotel Budapest’s High Note Skybar
In 2016, Condé Nast Traveler published its collection of ‘The 10 Best Rooftop Bars in the World’, which included the Aria Hotel Budapest’s High Note Skybar. This year in April, Condé Nast posted an updated version of the same article featuring High Note Skybar at the top of the list, once again lauding the upscale hangout for its “sublime views of the skyline and a front-row ticket to St. Stephen’s Basilica” and how it “combines the best of historic and modern Budapest”. Condé Nast notes that since 2016, the High Note menu and cocktail selection is now provided under the management of Gerbeaud House (the venerable Budapest gastronomy empire that includes Onyx, Hungary’s first restaurant to earn two Michelin stars earlier this year); the article recommends the Merry Poppies “sweet-meets-savory blend of poppy seed infused whiskey, teriyaki, and citrus”. To read the entire Condé Nast Traveler list, click here.
