We will be visiting Budapest this coming April (very soon!) and I have made a reservation for two rooms (all rooms have a river view) at the Hotel Victoria. We are a family of four (2 teens, 2 adults). I am now seeing some decent rates at both the Art Hotel (however not with river view) and at KK Opera. Should I switch hotels? Or stay put? Thanks for any help, Susan

Susan, If you are staying more than 2-3 days, you may want to look into an apartment. Just make sure that the apartment is well located and in a central, busy area. There are many listings if you google "Budapest Apartments." Our experience was that the cost of apartments in Budapest was significantly less than comprable hotels. You should be able to find an apartment that was recently renovated, with an elevator and all amenities. Good luck.

That may be true, but for the same price I wouldn't expect to find an apartment half as nice in decor and overall looks as the Victoria. If you are happy with bare bones, dorm look, or early Salvation Army, fine, but don't expect anything beginning to approximate luxury at a bargain price when looking at apartments in Budapest. They are generally notoriously "dowdy".

I don't know the Art or KK Hotels, but we were delighted with the Victoria -- and the views are truly magnificent. It may be slightly out of the way, but that sure didn't bother us.

We are only staying for a couple of nights and we are not interested in an apartment for this trip. This time we want the comfort and extras that hotels have to offer. The Victoria sounded good to me - that is why I booked it, but just how far out of the way is it? As I said our trip is short and we don't want to be staying too far off the beaten path.

Patrick, I beg to differ with you. We stayed in a lovely apartment on Vaci Utca which was the equal of any 3 star hotel such as the Victoria.The cost was 55 Euro per night. Privately owned apartment with new and pleasant (not dorm style) furniture. Seek and you shall find.

I didn't think the walk from the Victoria was bad, really to get back over the the Vaci Utca or Deak Ter. We were only at the Victoria for a couple days though. We stayed at the Taverna during one part of the trip and Victoria when we got back to town.

The Victoria does has some knock out views, that's for sure. I did prefer the Taverna for convenience, and if I were staying for a long period, I'd probably pick it again, even though the Victoria is much nicer (and cheaper). I paid 72 euros per night at the Vic, but had a top floor balcony that overlooked the chain bridge in one direction and parliament the other.

The Victoria is a terrific hotel, with a pleasant, helpful staff and we didn't think the location was bad at all. Nothing like waking up in the morning and looking out your picture window at the beautiful Parliament buildings on the left and the Chain Bridge on the right. We would love to stay there again!

Another vote for the Victoria. We had a room on the 9th or top floor with a balcony. However, we went in September and it might be cooler in April. The rooms without a balcony are larger. And, once again, the views are marvelous. We liked the location very much. As you may know, there are 3 rooms on each floor. The top floor has two balcony rooms.