LarryR2

I've booked Prague & Krakow and now I turn to Budapest. From what I'm reading on this and other sites, Budapest can be tricky. High prices, indifferent attitudes towards travellers etc.. Ah well, the flight's booked so onward I go.

We'd like a hotel with character, clean and in the city. Anyone know of anything for around $ 100 USD?

tedgale

what time of the year? Off season the prices are quite good.

For example. I was researching March prices last night and I see that the Meridien is offering rooms (in their fabulous Art Deco in the fanciest part of Pest) at an Internet rate of 119 euros -- close to your range.

By contrast, I stayed one night in 2004 at the humble but perfectly adequate Hotel Anna. It is charging 48 euros, with breakfast.....

tedgale

That should be Art Deco BUILDING...

Try also the Starlight Suiten -- an all suite hotel. Their internet rate is 99 euros but I have seen it for less on Expedia. Austrian chain. Brand new suites; location -- right behind the Gresham Palace 4 Seasons, which is at the start of the Chain Bridge.

gertie3751

We stayed at the Burg. If you look on Tripadvisor or put it into the search facility on this board you will find comments.

MaggieOB

We did your itinerary this past October. In Budapest I used Priceline for the first time. We got the Art Hotel on the Buda side but right on the Danube for $87 a night and it included a huge and very varied buffet breakfast. When we arrived there was no mention of Priceline. We did opt to pay extra (I forget exactly but I think 20 Euro a night) to get a room with a Danube view----we thought it was well worth it as we had stunning views of the Chain Bridge and of Parliament. We foudn the staff of the hotel to be excellent.

It was our first Priceline experience and I was pretty nervous---the idea of clicking yes and not knowing exactly what you're going to get was not fun. But I had done research on Bidding for Travel and so had at least some idea what I was likely to get. I was actually hoping for the Marriott but in the end I'm glad we got the Art. The breakfast alone would probably have cost an additional $15 US per person.

The other suggestion I have is to try the Marriott Executive Apartments. They're fairly close to the Marriott Hotel but offer much better rates. We had booked with them before we got the Priceline deal.

We liked Budapest, but of the three cities our number 1 was Prague (our second visit) and second was Krakow. You've got a great trip ahead of you. Have fun.

tedgale

Marriott Executive apartments is excellent but might break the budget.

If you go for it: Ask about top floor units, which have a splendid view over the Danube to the Castle and Buda hills

LarryR2

Thank you all for the responses.

Sorry for not mentioning time of year.
We'll be in Budapest 4/5 flying back to LAX 4/10. I saw one hotel who's March rate was 100Euro. April rate? 155 (hi season rate). A bit disheartening, but, I'll keep looking.

Thanks again for the info.

LarryR2

Folks,
I just posted a new subject: Krakow to Budapest - Advice Needed.

Since you guys know the turf, here's the post. Any advice is appreciated.

<paste>
Author: LarryR2
Date: 02/01/2006, 10:39 pm
To the learned Fodorites,

I'm booking my first trip to Europe and from my apt. in Los Angeles (where I'm writing this) I'm stuck in Krakow on April 5th our checkout date.

I've never done an overnight train so I figured this would be a good (first) experience. On the budapesthotels.com site I found "MAV" which I believe is the state run railways. I found the "Cracovia" train that goes to Budapest (12 hour ride). It leaves Krakow at 22:30 and has no train changes - which is a good thing as I hope to be sleeping through some of the ride. Plus I get the added benefit of saving a nights hotel rate. Our Krakow hotel will hold our bags til we leave that evening.

My dilemma: where do I buy the Krakow ticket? Do they have options 1st, 2nd class, our own sleeper? What's a couchette? etc. etc.. Does anyone know of an agency online that books this train? Or, whilst in Krakow (we'll be there 3 days) should I just take a trip to the station and book it there? I'm afraid if I wait to book a train 1 or 2 days before departure I may not get what I want.

Help!!

Kristi

I also bid on Priceline and got the Art 'Otel, can't remember the exact price but it was less than $100US, I think it was around $80 per night. It was a terrific hotel and well located for transport, a tram stop right outside the door and a metro station within walking distance.

LarryR2

I took your advice, bid $ 80 and the "Art 'Otel" accepted it. I'm relieved that it's over. Thank you Maggie and Kristi.

I've written the hotel asking 2 things: 1) if I extend my nights can I get the same rate and 2) can I get a Danube view for the price of $ 80. I hope they're feeling generous this time of year. I may extend the nights if I decide to fly instead of a 12 hour train.

The total bill for 4 nights (via Priceline) was $ 385.52. Priceline say's taxes included. Question: should I expect any hidden Surcharges?

Andrew

Larry, sounds like you got a great hotel in Budapest and a great deal with Priceline. I love Priceline and use it often, but just for your information, you seem to have gotten lucky by bidding blindly $80 merely based on someone's off-hand recommendation. It's usually a good idea to look at the going rates before you bid for specific dates.

You can't cancel your Priceline reservation once you book it, and changes are generally not allowed. Priceline does sometimes allow you to extend the dates, but you must contact Priceline.com, not the hotel, to see if they will allow this. The hotel will probably not consider giving you a view room until the day of checkin, and in that case it sounds like you might need to pay an upgrade fee, just depends what happens when you checkin.

Occasionally Priceline does not collect all the taxes when you book a hotel with them (happened to me only once, in Amsterdam), but otherwise, there are no hidden fees. Most likely, you will not owe anything else to the hotel, although as with every other hotel, all the incidentals are extra.

Andrew

Kristi

Although it's unlikely that you would have gotten the Art 'otel for much less, if you decide to use Priceline again, check out biddingfortravel.com before bidding, especially if you are going somewhere where Priceline is more prevalent like London. I'm sorry that I forgot to mention this website, I almost always do when recommending Priceline.

We loved the Art 'otel, the decor is very modern and interesting, the rooms comfortable and they include a very nice breakfast even with Priceline.

There should be no other fees, we even used the internet for free there.

If they won't allow you to extend your stay at that rate, you could always try bidding again for the 2nd set of dates, the downside to doing that, of course, is that you could get a different hotel. That happened to me in London once, not a huge deal but it was inconvenient.

LarryR2

Kristi & Andrew,
Thanks for your responses. No worries. I did use biddingfortravel first, to get a "feel" and idea of rates prior to bidding.

Looks like I need to bid for an extra day as both the hotel and priceline (whom I called twice and was rejected both times) can't (won't) give me a 5th night for the same rate.

I'll keep my fingers and toes crossed when I hit *that* button.

thanks again folks.