Review of The Ritz-Carlton, Budapest 5*

Great location? Check. Comfortable rooms? Check. Ritz Carlton service? Double check. Overall spectacular? Almost. The new Ritz Carlton Budapest replaced the Le Meridien, and while I imagine that extensive renovations were done, the hotel doesn’t “feel” new. Bathroom fittings and moldings for example seem to be inherited from the original establishment, so you lose the sense that you’re in a brand new place. We were in a corner room on the 7th floor, which afforded us lots of natural light (floor to ceiling windows on two sides of the room, with blackout curtains that did their job well at night), and great views of the St. Stephen’s Cathedral. The Danube and Buda are minutes away, walking, and bus / metro / tram stops are literally just outside the hotel. (You can even hear the metro rumbling underground every few minutes. It didn’t disturb on the 7th floor, but I can imagine it would be more noticeable lower down). What I liked: Beds were extremely comfortable; the room was spacious; bedside and in-desk electrical outlets for European, British and Western plugs. Towels / bathrobes were very plush, and the real bath mat (not a towel) added to the luxury of the room. Service overall was faultless – hotel transfer, check-in, concierge (trust whatever Krisztian recommends), doormen were all top class. I liked too that this Ritz is a little less formal than the traditional coat-and-tie for everything… the staff in the restaurant wear jeans, for instance. Minor fail: empty tubes of lotion were not replaced twice during our stay, and we had to call housekeeping for replacements (delivered within minutes). Major fails: our bathroom did not have an electrical outlet (some bathrooms don’t, apparently, in this 1 month old hotel). My razor quit halfway through shaving, and I had to go plug it in in the bedroom, wait a while for it to charge and then continue shaving – this is the first time I’ve seen a hotel bathroom without an electrical outlet. I still can’t believe it. Lighting in the bathroom is pretty dull as well. Good luck ladies with blow-drying your hair. :-P Breakfast staff were wonderful, and the breakfast offering while pretty decent, is nothing outstanding compared to similar hotels. Overall I really enjoyed my stay here, especially the interaction with the staff. The rates are very good for a five star hotel. While I can heartily recommend this hotel, there was just that je ne sais quoi that was lacking… and I think I’d probably look for alternatives if I’m ever again in Budapest.