The Four Seasons Gresham Palace, Budapest
My photos won’t do it justice, but man, this is one
gorgeous hotel, inside and out.
Built in 1906 and originally an office building for an insurance company, this place has seen a lot of history. It was used as a red army barracks during WWII, and fell into total disrepair in the communist years that followed. After a long restoration, it reopened as the FS in 2004.
So many beautiful touches, large and small:
They had a Christmas market set up in the lobby:
Though unlike the Christmas markets that I’m used to, this one was selling furs, perfumes and high-end wines. No hot mulled wine, no sausage, no thank you
The room, a Danube River View Room, was also fantastic.
Big bathroom:
A delicious welcome gift:
But where the room really shines -- as its name suggests -- is the incredible view of the Danube River, Chain Bridge and Buda Castle.
Day or night, I never got tired of looking out that window:
We were pretty tired at this point, but I’d made reservations at Borkonyha Winekitchen before the trip and we’d been looking forward to it, so we trudged over for dinner. I’m so glad we did, as it turned out to be one of the best meals of our trip.
Everything we had at this place was delicious, and it’s such a cozy setting. In the end (while we had some great meals), it’s still the one restaurant that we visited in Budapest that I’d say is truly a must-try.
The next morning, we ordered breakfast to our room:
Every breakfast dish we tried during our stay was very well done, though the Hungarian scrambled eggs stood out:
After breakfast, we bundled up and set out for our first full day in Budapest...
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