Al Habtoor Palace, Budapest

We expected to be wowed as we had heard this property was a former Ritz Carleton that had been purchased and renovated by a Dubai billionaire. Our room (832) was large enough and the bed was very comfortable. The bathroom was of adequate size, but the shower was small even by European standards. There was considerable street noise at night particularly on Friday night there seemed to be street party below. I used ear plugs each night to sleep. Also - there is not evening turn down/clean up service as you’d expect in a 5 star property. The routine room service was not 5 star either. The exercise room next to our room was quite nice and well equipped. I had four issues with the hotel 1. The bar area was small and a large portion was roped off for three nights, despite no one using the area. Therefore, there really were very limited places to sit or even move about. We had to wait to get a seat at the bar. 2. The breakfast buffet was okay, but really not to the quality I’d expect from a 5 star hotel. 3. The food quality at the one dinner (group buffet) as well as our lunches in the hotel were not very good. 4. The hotel front staff, with the exception of Aaron at the concierge desk, were unfriendly, arrogant and not particularly helpful.

Levi the concierge at the Al Habtoor was excellent. His knowledge of the restaurants, clubs, and sights is very comprehensive and his recommendations were EXCELLENT! Very polite, and professional.

It was my first visit to Budapest but I think it could not be better without this hotel being my choice. Its an ultra refined service , rooms and food . Staff are very helpful, polite & friendly . Being owned by an Emirati also was great to have a bidet in the toilet , having Halal food & having a group of watchable TV channels. The real brilliance is the location . Its a prime location. Honestly you can go anywhere from here within a wlaking distance. You're just located in the middle of a shopping area which is an extra advantage for business travellers who have a tight schedule.... Definitely , if youre visiting BUdapest thats the best place you can stay in.

The rooms are not cleaned. Everything is dirty and dusty. You can’t see the street through the windows because of the dirt. I attached a photo of the window and the table in the room. The tables are not cleared at breakfast. The tables are always dirty. The sofas are too. The table is only cleared after a request from the waiter. The breakfast menu is very limited. Today I took some ham from the shared dish, and a live cockroach jumped out of it. I showed this to the waiter; she took the plate away, and the manager didn’t come over to apologize. The dish with ham wasn’t removed from the common table either. And during the day, there were leftover pieces of bread from breakfast in our room — as far as we understood, this was an apology for the cockroach in the food. I strongly recommend not booking a room here.

Spent one night. A beautiful hotel that radiates style and grace. Breakfast did not lack anything. Room and hotel were spotless. Highly recommend.