I will be visiting Budapest this summer and am looking for recommendations for centrally located gay/gay friendly hotels, guest houses, b&b's. Also, any tips on "must see/do" would be appreciated.

I can't recommend any "gay" hotels because we stayed a mainstream hotel on the Pest side. Typical European hotel room - two twin beds, so two men in one room was not an issue. If we were to return, we would seriously consider staying at one of the chain hotels (Marriott, Intercontinental) that are well-located and face the river and the Buda hill.

As far as "must see" things, the most obvious thing would be to visit the Buda side of the river (if you are not already staying on that side) and explore its central tourist area overlooking the river. Lots of photo opps. There are, of course, other sights to see, but I'm not sure I would put them on the "must see" list.

Having arrived in Budapest after a great stay in Prague, we were a bit disappointed. We were glad we saw Budapest, but we have no burning desire to return. Perhaps other posters can relay some of the things that they particularly enjoyed about BUD.

(edited for typos)

[This message has been edited by Flexible Flyer (edited 03-24-2002).]

[This message has been edited by Flexible Flyer (edited 03-24-2002).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Flexible Flyer:
Having arrived in Budapest after a great stay in Prague, we were a bit disappointed. We were glad we saw Budapest, but we have no burning desire to return. Perhaps other posters can relay some of the things that they particularly enjoyed about BUD.</font>

We arrived last year at BUD from Krakow and were also a bit disappointed. Nice to have been there, but on our second day we decided to leave a day early and high tailed it to Prague.

d

I have had the pleasure of three trips to BUD in the last year.. yes it isn't prague or krakow - but then it is still very interesting, historic, monument and castle filled, cheap and lively city !!

The first time I went was with a friend - we stayed in a twin room at the Hotel Astoria - a classic example of faded 'mitteleuropa' glory.. and very handy for the 'Action Bar' (email me for details - too graphic for this board)

Things to do include a trip to the old turkish baths - i recommend the Kiraly baths on a friday afternoon. There are often regular concerts at the opera house (at very low ticket prices), there is a wine tasting extravaganza on castle hill, the ride up the hill and stroll around are worth it.. oh yes i did see angela rippon do this on BBC World last week...

I think there is a link to a gay directory from www.lonelyplanet.com (http://www.lonelyplanet.com) (sunder subWWWay section).

Enjoy

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by GK:
...we stayed in a twin room at the Hotel Astoria - a classic example of faded 'mitteleuropa' glory.. and very handy for the 'Action Bar' (email me for details - too graphic for this board)
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Ah, yes. The Astoria - that was the hotel we used and I could not remember its name. I agree entirely with your one-line assessment of it. I do recall a bar nearby, but I'm not sure if it was the Action Bar; I suspect not. It was too small, crowded and smokey for us to enjoy, and certainly did not appear to deserve its name. But if it was the Action Bar, you saw a part of it that was hidden from me http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/wink.gif

Wow, small world. We also stayed at the Astoria!

d

Thanks all. Looks like I'll have to check out the Hotel Astoria and I eagerly await details on the Action Bar!

Hmmm.small world as I think I stumbled across the "Action Bar" near the Hotel Mercure (booked through AirMiles in the UK). No checkin problems and very friendly staff. Only downside was the sort of black wood 1980's decor.

Budapest was nice. The Buda (or is it the Pest) side was quite nice. Ate at Gundel (very pricey restaurant), which did require jacket and tie. Lovely tasting menu from when they first opened. Funny thing about the restaurant was that they always had meat during the communist era. Strange as they are near the Zoo!

Oh, and DO make sure you buy a proper ticket for the Metro. Otherwise little men with arm bands come up to you and try to extract a large fine from the unsuspecting tourist. The ticket machines only sell tickets for about one stop. You need to seek out the ticket booth for longer journeys (correct me if I am wrong, but we had a heck of a time figuring out how to buy tickets!).

Metro ? In Budapest ? The taxis only cost about tuppence !

The Action Bar is the place in a basement, with a beig yellow 'A' sign on the wall outside. They give you a card when you go in, on which your drinks tab is marked up, then you pay on the way out.. video lounge and back room directions are .. go in door, bear right, then left past the bar, along the corridor, round to right and presto. funny how i remember this so well.

Can we have glow in the dark flyertalk badges please ?

I spent 4 nights in BUD last fall. I have to agree it was fun, but will probably be my only trip. The gay scene was pretty mellow when we ventured out, but it was mid-week.

Our hotel was fab. We stayed at Le Meridien Budapest. The service was great and the accomodations top notch. I especially loved the heated bathroom floor in the morning.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by LHR Tim:

Oh, and DO make sure you buy a proper ticket for the Metro. Otherwise little men with arm bands come up to you and try to extract a large fine from the unsuspecting tourist. The ticket machines only sell tickets for about one stop. You need to seek out the ticket booth for longer journeys (correct me if I am wrong, but we had a heck of a time figuring out how to buy tickets!).

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This is so true. We had the same problem.

We stayed at the Kempinski Hotel Corvinus Budapest. Was a great hotel and great location. However the hotel is very modern.

The new Four Seasons is supposed to open this year and it be in a restored old building that is on the river.

The opera house was beautiful. We saw the ballet, Swan Lake. Great seats they were very very cheep. Many sights on both sides to see. Many great resturants too.

We did visit a historic bath house. Was interesting. Many different pools in different temps, from very hot to ice cold.

I used to travel to Budapest often a few years back in a previous job.. here's the ones I've stayed at...

Marriott - my favorite.. located right on the river with a great view of Castle Hill. The Executive lounge is the best.

InterContinental - Didn't like this as much although I stayed there twice. The first time I got a two room suite for a fantastic bargain, but hated it the second time. Got a room with no view.

Kempinski - my second favorite... felt like I was in the lap of luxury here. They didn't wake me up when my late luggage arrived. I woke up and called for it.. they wanted to let me sleep

Hotel Grand Hungaria - It's a bit far out but close to the Keleti train station which was my destination (I was actually doing work in Miskolc).

Since I'm half Hungarian, the city holds special appeal to me. I absolutely loved it.