We have found a reasonable B & B --Bellevue on the Buda side of Budapest. So much that I read elsewhere suggests staying on the Pest side because it is closer to so much of the activity and isn't so touristy. Any experiences to share?

That area is not that much touristy (compared to the cobblestone streets on top of the hill) but in a somewhat awkward location for daily explorations as you'd always have to get down and up half the hill to catch public transport to go anywhere (but the castle which is just uphill) or cross the river via the Chain Bridge.
The (small) city buses that go up the hill and which would be an alternative to walking are often crowded with tourists.
I'd like a location better which was either really close to subway /trams anywhere in the central districts or in walking distance to central Pest.
OTOH, Budapest and even central Budapest is not that small that you could find a location from where you can walk to all sights in 15 minutes.

As Cowboy suggests, the Pest side would, overall, be more convenient for most of your activities and especially for restaurants.

I stay at the Danube Guesthouse, very near the famous synagogue so central and convenient to all transportation. It's well reviewed and spotless. One of the owners is American, the other Hungarian. And the rates seem to be similar to the Bellevue. www.danubeguesthouse.com

Before we went, we saw descriptions of "sleepy Buda and bustling Pest" and that has some accuracy. Don't know why Buda seems touristy - it has the Castle and Gellert Hill and castle environs but Pest has Parliament, St Stephen's Cathedral (St. Istvan), Andrassy Utca, City Park, Jewish Quarter and the livelier areas like Deak Ter and Liszt Ter. Mme Perdu's location is very good. We stayed at K&K Hotel Opera, which is on a side street just a few yards from the Opera House and Andrassy Utca.

Bugger.

If not clear from context, the K&K is in Pest and within walking distance of Deak Ter, Liszt Ter, the river, the Jewish Quarter, St. Istvan's, City Park, and even (on a good day) Parliament and the Imre Nagy Memorial. And it had great breakfasts.

We spent a week in Budapest last summer and stayed in Pest. We found it very convenient to eating, sightseeing, musuems, transportation, shopping, etc. We rented an apartment for a week and got to really experience Budapest as a native.

We stayed in Pest, near Karolyi Kert park, a 5 min walk to the Astoria metro station. We liked it a lot as it was very residential and reminded me of staying int he 6th Arre. in Paris. If you are interested, I can share information about the bakeries, cafes and restuarants we dined in as well as tourist sites we visited.

We stayed at Bellevue in 2010 and really liked it. Budapest was quieter but still close nough to walk everywhere.

Should say Buda was quieter

We also stayed at Bellevue a few years ago and liked it. Our room had a small balcony that over looked the wooded area around St Mathias Church. The owners of Bellevue are very nice and have suggestions for restaurants, the baths, and various sights. The room tariff is super reasonable. We liked the quiet neighborhood and found using the transportation system easy and convenient-possible to walk to many sights.

we stayed at what was the hotel Pest - it's now been renovated and become the hotel Casati:

http://www.casatibudapesthotel.com/

the rates have gone up a bit [they seem to be around the €100 per night mark now] but the great position remains the same - in a very quiet location near the opera, but very convenient for the metro, the museums, the parliament, etc. etc. - we more or less walked everywhere.

i agree about staying on the Pest side, though the hilton is very well positioned on the Buda side and I think they have some great weekend offers on at the moment.

Thanks for the great info. We have zeroed in on a B & B on the Pest side called Butterfly Home based on early recs. We considered the K & K Hotel, but it seems so large. Considering Danube, but they don't serve breakfast. We do enjoy meeting others at the breakfast table. I think we have some great choices and again thank you. Jan

hi janoneil,

that B&B looks nice and in a good position.

as well as the museums [which we saw quite a lot of as they were nice and warm to go into to get out of the late December chill] we really liked Liszt's house and museum:

http://www.lisztmuseum.hu/en/

they have concerts there too, which sadly we missed.