Top Budapest hotels: the best places to stay for every budget (2025)

Whenever any A-lister comes to Budapest, the Gresham is often their hotel du choix. It’s not just the location overlooking the Chain Bridge, the staff discretion and quality of service. It’s not the panoramic spa, inventive cocktails at Múzsa or in-room dining from a kitchen that also supplies the excellent KOLLÁZS Brasserie. It’s not even the afternoon teas served on Herend china. It’s the fact that the Gresham is unique, an exquisite hotel conversion of a former office and apartment complex created during Budapest’s Golden Age 125 years ago, a contemporary transformation that honoured its Art Nouveau heritage right down to the multi-tiled mosaics and peacock motifs forming the stunning lobby. Luxury, a Hollywood celeb can get in any city. One-of-a-kind takes seeking out. 

Neighbourhood: Belváros-Lipótváros

Address: Széchenyi István tér 5-6, 1051 Budapest
Price: From around Ft 260,000 (€650), advance purchase up to 20% off
Closest transport: Tram 2 to Eötvös tér or Széchenyi István tér

You may walk into one of Budapest’s many five-star hotels and struggle to remember it later that same day. You’ll never forget the Aria. A courtyard area created from a vast piano keyboard greets you upon your memorable entrance – perhaps, actually, a pianist as well – and introduces the musical theme that extends to the room types, the range of tunes you may select once ensconced and the live performances from London’s Royal Opera House screened in the in-house cinema. You needn’t be a guest to experience the Aria first-hand, its basement Harmony Spa and rooftop High Note Sky Bar at eye level with the clock atop the Basilica. Sunset here, the last rays winking over the skyline of Buda, really does last a lifetime.

Neighbourhood: Lipótváros

Address: Hercegprímás utca 5, 1051 Budapest
Price: From around Ft 144,000 (€360) per night
Closest transport: M1/M2/M3 Deák Ferenc tér

The first of the new-wave of five-star hotels in Budapest, between the gaudy glitz of the Communist era and the contemporary creations of the early 2000s, the Kempinski has remained at this elevated level thanks to several factors. Its location on what is now today Fashion Street, three minutes from the Danube, will always play in its favour, but it’s also the pioneering design of architect József Finta, and regularly changing collection of original art on display that have kept the Kempinski ahead of the game. Throw in a luxury spa, a quality restaurant and cocktail bar, and you can see why Formula 1 drivers return here every summer like swifts.

Neighbourhood: Belváros

Address: Erzsébet tér 7-8, 1051 Budapest
Price: From around Ft 80,000 (€200) per night
Closest transport: M1/M2/M3 Deák Ferenc tér

The most venerable lodging in Budapest opened as the Hotel Royal for Hungary’s 1896 millennial celebrations, welcomed the Lumière Brothers shortly afterwards and housed the city’s earliest cinemas. Not only rebuilt but significantly expanded under the Maltese Corinthia group, the hotel added a luxury spa and stylish atrium brasserie but retained its fin-de-siècle elegance. Though on the fringes of the city centre, well away from the river, the Corinthia overlooks the frequent 4/6 tram, near the yellow M1 metro line for Heroes’ Square and the Széchenyi Baths.

Neighbourhood: Erzsébetváros

Address: Erzsébet körút 43-49, 1073 Budapest 
Price: From around Ft 95,000 (€240) per night, advance Ft 80,000 (€200)
Closest transport: M1 Oktogon or tram 4/6 to Király utca

What the Marriott lacks in architectural style – it was built in 1969 as the InterContinental and still resembles something out of Thunderbirds – it makes up for in location, location, location. There’s a reason Liz Taylor chose to hold her 40th birthday party here, and that’s the jaw-dropping views from what is now the Liz & Chain rooftop bar, the ballroom terrace and many of the rooms. You’re right over the Danube, the bridges and Buda landmarks putting on their nightly light show purely for your entertainment. Its DNB restaurant offers possibly the best Sunday brunch in town, no idle boast.

Neighbourhood: Belváros

Address: Apáczai Csere János utca 4, 1052 Budapest
Price: From around Ft 145,000 (€365) per night
Closest transport: M1 Vörösmarty tér/tram 2 to Vigadó tér

In direct competition with its neighbour, the InterContinental has a better spa than the Marriott, contains the city’s largest naturally lit ballroom and takes in pretty much the same Danube views as the five-star next door – yet still has to offer that something extra. This could be why it serves Lebanese cuisine at its panoramic ARZ restaurant and not standard Hungaro-international, and why cocktails in the Corso Bar are served in Rubik’s Cubes and not glasses. The InterConti, as it is known, is also a notch above in terms of comfortable beds and in-room work spaces.

Neighbourhood: Belváros

Address: Apáczai Csere János utca 12-14, 1052 Budapest
Price: From around Ft 132,000 (€330) per night
Closest transport: M1 Vörösmarty tér/tram 2 to Eötvös tér

Part of the exclusive Autograph Collection, the Dorothea reclines over three historic buildings from separate eras, by the showcase square of Vörösmarty tér. Each of the 216 rooms and suites has been curated by Milanese designer Piero Lissoni, and feature sleek four-poster beds, dark hardwood furnishings, and sumptuous bathrooms with freestanding baths and terrazzo vanity sinks. Huge windows complete the picture. It’s a place full of surprises, not least the glass-roofed, plant-filled Pavilon restaurant serving Hungarian dishes. There’s a spa too, with a small heated pool, and you could only be more central if you moved your bed to focal square Vörösmarty tér a few steps away.

Neighbourhood: Belváros

Address: Dorottya utca 2, 1051 Budapest
Price: From around Ft 110,000 (€280) per night
Closest transport: M1 Vörösmarty tér

Don’t worry, those queues snaking round the block are not guests trying to check in, they’re for the legendary café around which this hotel was created in the early 2000s. Now run by the Thai Anantara group, the New York still basks in the reflected glory of Budapest’s most illustrious coffeehouse, but that doesn’t mean to say that its 185 suites and guestrooms aren’t nice place to stay in themselves, they most certainly are. You can also take advantage of the spa, massage treatments and heated pool – and, of course, skip the queue for the coffeehouse.

Neighbourhood: Erzsébetváros

Address: Erzsébet körút 9-11, 1073 Budapest
Price: From around Ft 105,000 (€265) per night
Closest transport: M2 or tram 4/6 Blaha Lujza tér 

Relax amid Habsburg grandeur in the capable hands of expert masseurs at this bucolic hideaway on Margaret Island. Secluded by greenery and the Danube alongside, guests in the 164 classically furnished rooms access the plentiful pools of sister hotel, the Ensana Thermal Margaret Island, through an underground corridor. Physiotherapy, electrotherapy, mud packs and a salt cave, many kinds of treatments are offered. An on-site restaurant, bar and brasserie mean you needn’t leave the hotel at all, though it’d be a shame not to wander around the island, Budapest’s most revered green getaway.

Neighbourhood: Margitsziget

Address: Zielinski Szilárd sétány, 1007 Budapest
Price: From around Ft 70,000 (€180) per night, advance Ft 65,000 (€165)
Closest transport: Bus 26 to Szállodák (Hotels) 

This family-owned boutique in the Castle District has 11 stylish and relatively affordable rooms decked out in exquisite vintage furniture. Staying amid these cobbled streets means more than proximity to the main sights of Matthias Church and Buda Castle – after dark, you pretty much have the place to yourself, with few cars but for the odd passing taxi. Baltazár also houses a Michelin-recommended restaurant serving grilled dishes for carnivore and vegetarian alike. 

Neighbourhood: Castle District

Address: Országház utca 31, 1014 Budapest
Price: From around Ft 110,000 (€280)
Closest transport: Bus 16 to Kapisztrán tér 

Close to the banks of Danube, a short walk from Parliament, the Áurea Ana Palace occupies a historic building that was partly built in 1847, partly in 1895, when the Austrian legation was housed here to keep a wary eye on their Habsburg neighbours. Five-star comfort now involves room service, a spa and small pool, an ostentatious bar and a restaurant spread out beneath lofty ceilings and portraits of Habsburg empress Sisi. All creates a particular kind of mood, helped along by the tasteful guestrooms and communal spaces.

Neighbourhood: Lipótváros

Address: 15 Akadémia utca 15-17, 1054 Budapest
Price: From around 72,000 (€180) per night, advance booking Ft 64,000 (€160)
Closest transport: M2/tram 2 to Kossuth Lajos tér

Hotel Moments occupies a palatial building on the showcase boulevard of Andrássy út near the Opera House. The 99 rooms in this four-star are clustered around an elegant wrought-iron courtyard, providing a sense of space and light. A 24-hour concierge service should appeal to some, they don’t skimp on breakfast, and flowers and champagne can be brought to your room. A small gym and sauna have been squeezed in downstairs, and that’s the dome of the Basilica in full view from the upper floors.

Neighbourhood: Terézváros

Address: Andrássy út 8, 1061 Budapest
Price: From around Ft 105,000 (€260) per night
Closest transport: M1 Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út

The history of the Mystery Hotel is almost as obscure as the bewildering design features of this unusual lodging. A former freemasons’ hall, it hosted many a bizarre ceremony, inspiring Budapest’s most outré interior designer, Zoltán Varró, to use this legacy as fuel for his vivid imagination. Nothing seems real, from the Secret Garden Spa to the Sky Garden Rooftop Terrace. The Mona Lisa also gets a look-in. The location is a bit meh, but allows you to use the red trolleybuses that patrol this part of town. Showcase boulevard Andrássy út is one stop or ten minutes’ walk away.

Neighbourhood: Terézváros

Address: Podmaniczky utca 45, 1064 Budapest
Price: From around Ft 60,000 (€150) per night, advance booking Ft 54,000 (€135)
Closest transport: M3/tram 4/6 to Nyugati pu, trolleybus 72/76 to Ferdinánd híd (Izabella utca)

Boutique hotels, trendy cafés and cool stores are now regularly popping up around Budapest’s Palace Quarter, where noblemen once had their pieds à terre close to Parliament which then convened at the National Museum nearby. The Palazzo Zichy has been here for some time, initially finding it hard to attract high-paying guests to what was a sketchy area until recently. Once inside, you find modern, stylish comfort, and a modest on-site spa. Outside, you step into cosmopolitan bustle, close to Budapest’s main tram route, with the city centre walkable.

Neighbourhood: Palace Quarter

Address: Lőrinc pap tér 2, 1088 Budapest 
Price: From around Ft 48,000 (€120) per night, advance booking Ft 32,000 (€80)
Closest transport: M4 or tram 4/6 to Rákóczi tér

Not every Budapest hostel is a party hangout. The laid-back Shantee House sits in residential Buda, near the trendy cafés and galleries of Bartók Béla út. There’s a communal kitchen, and if you prefer sleeping in the great outdoors, you can camp in the garden or slumber in a hammock (lockers are available). And if you’d prefer not to share a dorm but still want to save money, you can book your own bedroom, either en-suite or with shared facilities. Prices are still as cheap as the many less attractive shared lodgings in Pest, and you’re spared the noisy revelry.

Neighbourhood: Újbuda

Address: Takács Menyhért u.33, 1113 Budapest
Price: Dorm bed from around Ft 6,000 (€15), private single Ft 16,000 (€40), private double/yurt Ft 46,000 (€115) per night
Closest transport: M4 Újbuda-központ or tram 19, 47 or 49 to Karolina út

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