One of the newer five-star properties in Budapest—and, with 414 rooms, the biggest—the Royal is back to its 1896 origins when it opened as a luxury hotel for the Magyar Millennium. Josephine Baker stayed here in 1928; her guestbook entry is displayed in a case the near the entrance. The expansive atrium lobby is full of Italian marble and wrought-iron ornamentation, and the hotel's luxurious Royal Spa—in part a dazzling reconstruction of a spa designed and built in the late 1880s that operated here until 1944—opened in July 2006 replete with a swimming pool, saunas, steam room, Jacuzzis, massage salons, treatment facilities, and tropical showers. (The spa is free to guests, 10,000 HUF a day for others.) Guest rooms are stylish with dark woods and jewel-tone upholstery; bathrooms are all-Italian, from marble floors to gleaming fixtures. Some rooms look inward onto the lobby. Brasserie Royal's Sunday "V.I.K." (Very Important Kids) brunch is very popular.
Reviewed by ashagena from Port Huron, Michigan on 9/4/08
I was at this hotel less than 2 yrs. ago and it was fantastic. The rooms, dining room and spa are 5 star. I am returning to Budapest in less than 3 weeks and will be staying there again.
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