Ritz-Carlton, Budapest
This would be my 2nd visit to this hotel. After playing in European Championships in Budapest in 2016 (lacrosse), I came here to chill for a few days. On that stay, I got an ABSURD upgrade to a suite that was like 1/2 a floor. I wasn't expecting a similar treatment this time.
The morning after the wedding, we helped the groom tidy up and get everything squared away at the house, and discussed his travel plans. Even though the bride and groom would be departing the following day for a mini-honeymoon (they would later have a proper one), they hadn't decided where they were going yet. I offered suggestions and said I would help with flight booking as necessary, then called a cab and took off for the hotel with my girlfriend. The weather was horrible, and the rain coupled with our exhaustion and hangover clinched that nothing approaching productive activities were in the cards.
While it was not the rainman suite, the hotel did upgrade us to a lovely junior suite with a nice view and club access. The balance of the day, was as expected, spent in the fetal position and included a room service order to burn a chunk of the F&B credit we received and another viewing of Eurotrip. I have nothing but great things to say about the RC Budapest. Their club is one of the better RC clubs and overall I would say it's towards the top of my list of favorite RC properties anywhere. It's usually quite a bit cheaper than the FS Budapest as well. Highly recommended.
AZ 479
BUD-FCO
Airbus A319-100
EI-IMX
Seat 1F (J)
Flight #36 of 2019
On to Italy! At the time of booking, months ago, I put in a bid on upgrades for this flight. I don't recall how much it was, perhaps 80euros/person? A day or two before the flight, Alitalia informed me that they had accepted the bid, and my gf and I were upgraded to J. At some point the day before, the groom told me that they were going to fly to Rome, then on to parts TBD in Italy. He booked two seats on the same flight my gf and I were on. I figured perhaps we'd hang out in Rome on the first night.
We got to the airport around 1.5 hours before the flight, breezed through security and went to the Platinum (Priority Pass) Lounge near our gate. It was spacious enough, had power ports and some dreary looking food options. There we found my buddy and his now wife. She did NOT look pleased to see us and seemed surprised. I could only assume that he didn't mention to her that he'd booked them on the same flight we were on.
Boarding was by bus. It was only a 1h16m minute flight, but a (terrible) meal was served. For a country known for their food, Alitalia really does not deliver with the catering.
After landing in Rome, we all assembled at the end of the jetway before heading for the exits. We were going to different hotels, so we agreed to stay in contact and perhaps meet up that evening for dinner. Overall, while Alitalia is not a great airline, it's nice to be able to book cheap fares and consistently score upgrades through the bidding process. I always bid at the lowest end of the spectrum, and I have only missed one upgrade on AZ in the last two years despite not having any SkyTeam status.
HT6 Hotel, Rome
This is my hidden gem hotel in Rome. It's not a "luxury" property, but they have great rooms, an unbeatable location and very reasonable prices. I don't like any of the "top" hotels in Rome like The Hassler or Hotel de Russie. I find them to be poor values for the $ and I don't like being RIGHT in the middle of snap snap tourist hell. The HT6 is located in the old Jewish ghetto and is right along the river, meaning you are a very short walk from Trastavere while also remaining close to Piazza Navona and an easy walk from all the major tourist sights, should you want to check them out. This was my 3rd or perhaps 4th stay at the HT6. I requested an upgrade to room 105, which they had agreed to on previous stays. On this visit,
#105 was occupied, but they were kind enough to give us a complimentary upgrade to room
#107 , which is the same layout. It's a duplex suite with a living room, full bathroom with tub on the ground floor, then the bedroom and a 1/2 bathroom upstairs. The hotel doesn't have a gym, but they offer an excellent breakfast in the AM (included in the rate), as well as cocktails in the evening in the lounge. Rates/night are almost ALWAYS under $300 a night and are often under $200 a night. This is absolutely my first choice hotel in Rome and I highly recommend it.
After getting to the hotel, we decided to wander around the streets for a few hours. My gf and I have been to Rome many times and have long since done all the tourist stuff, so it was pleasant just to walk. We stopped into Giolitti for gelato (excellent, highly recommended and my current favorite in Rome), then continued our meandering until dinner time. We popped back into the hotel to freshen up and check in with my buddy, to see if he and his wife still wanted to join us for dinner. Earlier, he had unilaterally told me he wanted to have dinner with us around 8:30pm. I asked if he wanted to meet around 8 and head to the restaurant. He said his wife was gravely ill and bedridden, as it was coming out of both ends. I think she probably just didn't want to see us. Understandable given it was her honeymoon, I just would have appreciated some transparency and not a thin, likely false story.
With no further need to wait for the others, we set off for Trastavere and one of (in my opinion) the two best pizzas in Rome. Da Ivo. Going into this trip, my ranking of Rome pizzas was 1. Dar Poeta, 2. Da Ivo, 3. Ai Marmi. Da Ivo and Ai Marmi make a Roman style pizza with a thin, crispy crust, while Dar Poeta is a hybrid style that certainly isn't Roman and isn't soupy enough to be Neopolitan, it's almost like smaller, personal sized NY style. It's very good. However, after this stop, I have had to elevate Da Ivo from
#2 to #1(B), as it's every bit as good as Dar Poeta. After finishing up dinner, we walked through Trastavere and thought about going for drinks. In the end we decided to to walk back, turn in and get ready to wake up early and make the train to Naples in the morning.