moo

Will be in Budapest mid September and would like to book massage for spouse and me. What have you booked and how did you book it? I believe there is a private spa located there too but we're looking for the authentic Szechenyi massage.

okszi

Hi,
There is NO such thing as authentic Szechenyi Massage. Each Hungarian who pays his social security (anyway its obligatory, whether you want it or not) and having arthritis or alike problems can visit the specialist doctor and receive a voucher for 15 Spa visits twice a year. Having this voucher/prescription you pay only 25-40% of the regular Spa tickets. The Massage is inclusive in this prescription and you have it for FREE!
Neither me (I visit those Spas regularly since 2004), nor my 77 years old mother do use this massage voucher. It's worthless, seems like you are on a conveyor. 20-25 minutes the max. People who tell you the opposite, probably have never ever experienced what a real, professional massage should be. A real massage is at LEAST 45-50 minutes, normally an hour. Yesterday, my mother finished her 3 weeks rehabilitation course at the Lukacs Thermal Spa hospital (non-accessible for tourists, only for patients) and she said that the quality of the massage was day and night in comparison with the one you have just paying as a regular visitor to the Spa. Just imagine that the Lukacs Spa is the most popular among locals (some people go there for 10-40 years!!!), so the masseurs have their clients for dozens of years and still the massage at the hospital is much better.
Also the quality of the massage depends VERY much on how tired is the masseur/masseuse or their tips expectancy observations. A friend of mine, a professional masseur (with 25 years of experience, opposite the new masseur's a year or so) worked for 10 years at a very good Spa hotel in Budapest. NOTHING personal, just his observations. The American hotel guests, were the least tips "providing". A dollar the max and in most of the cases nothing at all. They considered since it is inclusive in their hotel stay package, so be it. By the way, he is from the few who haven't left Hungary for good in the last 5 years. Speaks no foreign languages and feels uncomfortable when abroad. otherwise everybody who is a bit more adventures and professional left long time ago, causing severe shortages in tourism industry (and else a well!)

I've started my guiding business back in 94 and can tell you that from a quality tourist destination in the last 10 years or so we have turned into an ABSOLUTE, MASS TOURISM budget destination. Back in the 90's, the Europeans used to nickname the Balearic islands of Spain as the "Bathroom of Germany". Now people joke that instead of taking a hot shower back home in London or Norway, its cheaper to fly for the weekend to Budapest to take a Spa instead
My son works in London and already has met quite a few people who live off unemployment and still can afford visiting Budapest on a regular basis.
The Szhechenyi Spa unfortunately is the best example of that:
90% of the visitors are tourists, especially young crowds from Scandinavia or the UK. So its something extremely Disneylandish nowadays, to say the least. Now they even have parties, for the young crowds, called "Sparty", sometimes ending in a kind of debauchery caused by stag party goers (another thing we are damn popular for nowadays...)
If you still prefer to go for it:
The regular massage is 19 Euro (20 minutes). Combination ticket is 37 Euros.
The normal 50 minutes massage with a combination ticket starts from 66 Euro a piece. Ticket for 2 persons is 121 Euro.
You can book it here
http://szechenyispabaths.com/harmony...zechenyi-bath/
Hope it helped clarifying the Budapest massage question

jan47ete

Thanks. I will be in Budapest in Oct so appreciate the information.

thursdaysd

Sorry to hear about the tourist influx. I first went to Budapest in 2004, and it was barely discovered then. The last time was 2014 and it was so much more crowded!

jan - there are alternatives to Szechenyi, starting with Gellert, although okszi may know some that are not on the tourist circuit.

StCirq

We were singularly unimpressed with Szechenyi last year - thought it was a fairly shabby experience and WAY overcrowded. We didn't opt for a massage, so can't comment on that.

okszi

Hi,
I would probably recommend the Rudas Spa.
http://en.rudasfurdo.hu/
They have a wellness and a sauna section as well, which is open till 10:00PM.
http://en.rudasfurdo.hu/prices
I heard (though not experienced personally) that the quality of the massage is whole lot better than at the Szechenyi Spa.
Also they have an ENORMOUS advantage over the other Spas, their open door Jacuzzi on top of the Spa. You will have amazing experience of soaking in hot (though not medicinal) water and enjoying the views of downtown Budapest! How about that?
The only set back is that they have (its a centuries long tradition) separate man's and woman's day. The only coed days are Saturday and Sunday.
Best time to go there late in the afternoon, so you'll be enjoying both day and nighttime views as well.

thursdaysd

Thanks okszi - that sounds lovely. Still hope to get to Budapest and if so will check it out. Since I travel solo separate days aren't a big deal.