Budapest
IC Budapest
Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes
Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked Deluxe river view paid night and two nights award. Given large executive suite overlooking the Danube and Buda.
How are the rooms?
Huge living room with long wall to wall window. An awesome view as this hotel has IMHO the best location in Pest. A good sized bedroom facing the Sofitel on the opposite side of the building. However a relatively tiny bathroom for such a large suite. At first I thought it was the guest bathroom and I was hunting around for the master bath. But no, you get the same bathroom as a normal room it seems, with a shower-bath. However with large sized Agraria bottles.
How is the exec. lounge?
Excellent. Eastern Europe has some of the best lounges! Great food each night and very extensive Hungarian drink selection. We had dinner there each night and the service was top notch too. However the only negative of my stay was that on the award nights I had to pay €70 for the club. As I had a family of four it was worth the price, but it's weird that I only got Club included on my paid night.
What was your welcome gift?
Wine, fruit and both still and sparkling water placed throughout the suite.
How was the mini-bar?
Pretty sparse. No spirits, just a few soft drinks, a Red Bull, 2 beers and a red and white wine.
What was good and what was bad?
Full breakfast appears to be included for RA's even on award stays! Maybe AMB too, I'm not sure. But when I checked in with the hostess on my award days she welcomed me in and said "Thank You for your loyalty".
I was given a single free drink coupon and when I used it at the bar, the bartender said "Thank you for your loyalty". I have to say the staff training here is excellent. Throughout the hotel I experienced a nearly Four Seasons level of service.
Bad
Having to pay for club on award nights is bad IMHO. However at least they let me keep the suite on the award nights and the mini-bar continued to be free.
Value for $ or Priority Club Points?
It was €128 for the paid night and 35K points per night for the award, so yes it was an excellent value.
Would you return?
Yes.
Last edited by FLYGVA; May 10, 2015 at 7:57 am
Reason: added name of property to post instead of post title only