Hidden The Duchess sits like a jewellery box atop the grandly restored Matild Palace. By following the sign of the key, you access the roof via a small corridor, using what was Budapest's first lift to ascend. Once arrived, you almost feel like you're floating above Elizabeth Bridge, gazing at the Danube and the Buda side, while tasting impeccable cocktails at Budapest's latest luxury bar. In addition to the hotel, the Matild Palace houses a beautiful Art Nouveau café, cabaret and restaurant, whose gastronomic concept is guided by Spago by Wolfgang Puck, the star Austrian chef who also oversees The Duchess. Here, the interior is dominated by gold and green everywhere, and in the zigzag space richly decorated with artefacts, you sense you have entered a club whose privileged members form part of a secret society. From the spacious, panoramic rooftop, snow-white Elizabeth Bridge and the wonderful panorama behind it unfold before you by day, while in the evening you can bask in the lights of the city accompanied by the finest cocktails in town.
