Goldorak

Thanks for the review wkndtraveler. My last (good) stay there was 4 years ago and it was already in need of renovation, so I can imagine how it is now. It's a shame that you have been put in such a situation where some staff will think you are a very annoying customer while you are just asking for something decent. At least the lounge has done a great job. The fundamentals of this hotel are very strong, so let's wait for the renovation now.

hotel_user

This was very similar to our experiences at the hotel in March this year.

However we got a refund of some points as a service recovery, but no room change.

The McGallary was far nicer to stay in ( if you get the upgrade room ), but the location is not so nice.

The Lounge Staff were the best in the hotel, ( along with the door man who recommended some lovey places to eat that were not on the "hotel list" )

I was told that the Sofitel is due for a renovation but there are some problems, and that the GM has recently changed. I can not confirm this as the GM was never available during our three day stay.

to sum up :: Lounge staff nice, offering poor quality food and drinks, hotel poor value, but location good. The best bang per $ we had though was at the Mercure a few yards away in the middle of a shopping street.

TomMM

I visited BUD 2 years ago. I thought about staying at this property but the pictures of the room on Accor's website convinced me not too.

hotel_user

We stayed at this hotel in March 2019. I have attached a lot of photos that we took of the hotel so that you can get some sort of feel for it as well as my extremely disappointed comments and notes.



This was our second hotel stay in Budapest, but it was the worst in terms of expectation vs reality.



Check-in was smooth, if a little confusing, as we had to ask to check in in the lounge. We were then taken to the lounge on the eighth floor, offered drinks and given maps of the city by a very attentive member of staff, where the formalities were completed in quiet and relaxing surroundings. Drinks vouchers given and told that anything on the bar menu was available up to 4000 HUF. This is a good system, as it allows a large selection of drinks and cocktails to be made available.

By this time our bags had been taken to our room on the same floor, but with a “City View”. I am not sure about if we had been upgraded, but as we did not pay the welcoming e mail invitation cost to have a “Bridge View”, we were “happy” at this. The room however was small, and had some maintenance/cleaning issues in the bathroom. Also the door handle was broken on the outside.

The hotel seemed busy but not full, but we could not change rooms.



The evening food selection in the lounge was very poor, and the “Champagne” is just a reasonable French sparkling wine. I asked about this as the downstairs bar served Champagne (welcome drink voucher exchanged) and was told it was a translation error as Hungarian does not have a word for Champagne just sparkling wine ….. umm …. Worst excuse ever …..



The bar was almost empty each night, and had no vibe or atmosphere on returning to the hotel from our external evening meals.



The pool was cold when I tried it, at about 20 deg. And the surrounding tiles were very slippery. It was not what was expected in a 5-star hotel.



The bed was very uncomfortable, well used and needed urgent replacement. Having complained was told that all the beds were similar. Definitely not up to brand standard when you wake at 4am needing a chiropractor! The second night they placed a duvet under the sheets, and it made it bearable (just), but the ridges and furrows returned on the last night. The customer service staff had never even tried a bed to see how uncomfortable they were.



One afternoon, we were in the lounge for a time ( much better view than our small room and the availability of tea), and some other guests ( I presume ) came in and sat down next to us ( in an otherwise large empty room ) and stated video conferencing candidates for a job. There were empty meeting rooms available in the hotel. This seemed totally unacceptable. We left.

Breakfast in the lounge consisted of a few packets of cereal. It was not a good option. Our rate included breakfast, so I do not know if you could eat at the normal hotel breakfast if you have lounge access or not. I would not recommend the lounge breakfast.

Evening snacks in the lounge were also a poor offering with a selection of sandwiches and cakes (dry). On asking I was told that the chef was trying a new menu selection.

The main breakfast was good if you arrived early. There was a large selection, and a cooked to order station for eggs (long wait if you wanted eggs at 8am onwards) that could have done with a good clean! However, you could circumvent this by asking for your eggs from the kitchen when you ordered the coffee. Expensive if you had to pay on the day, and not included in your room.

To sum up. We found the lounge staff to be personable, helpful and friendly. The door men were knowledgeable and approachable. The customer service and GM were not (Never found the GM in three days despite asking). Our complaints about the bed were addressed with some Accor points.

The hotel is in a good location and has some good staff, but the franchise holder needs to spend money on the hotel, and to do this urgently. This is not Sofitel standards and reflects badly on Accor. If this was our first Sofitel stay we would not stay in that brand again. The hotel is busy and making money, but I doubt that they get repeat custom (apart from the tour groups and river cruise customers).


Small room with a broken bed

Welcome




Lounge

Room view

Egg Station Clean!!


Wait for your freshly cooked eggs

Lounge (evening)


Needed a good clean




Lounge



Breakfast after 8am




Service Recovery









Nice wine in lounge





Outside area




















Lounge



Lounge Breakfast

EcotoneHR

I have just received the following email from the hotel:

We are thrilled to announce that our highly anticipated full Hotel renovation is beginning in 2021. The Renovation is expected to last 24 months, and during this time, starting from the 4th of December 2020 the complete range of Hotel services will be suspended.

Currently we are holding an unused deposit from you – As in the next period we are unable to offer our services in return, we are going to fully refund it back.

If we may assist you booking in one of our local 4 star sister properties at Accor, please do not hesitate to contact us, we will be please to assist.

Let us thank you for your trust and understanding.

We can’t wait to reopen and welcome you back to Sofitel Budapest Chain Bridge.

hotel_user

This is good news. It was definitely overdue.

gioannis13

Any new about opening day ? or year ?

EcotoneHR

So, I was in Budapest last weekend and I happened to walk past the Sofitel. This is what it looks like at the moment. I think it's safe to say it won't reopen any time soon.







And here's a picture of what it should look like when it's rebuilt. I bet it will be rebranded as a SO/ Budapest (the rooftop bar and restaurant remind me of the one in Vienna) and the prices will be insane.

Brusselsbasedtraveller

I was in Budapest two weeks ago and this is what the building looks like now. I am not too impressed with the cladding of the structure. The renders seem a lot nicer than the final result. To be continued...

est-gratuite

It looks very similar to what they're doing to the ex intercontinental hotel in Prague (to be re-opened as a Fairmont) which is also a 1960s era cube shaped concrete monstrosity.

Instead of a total demotion and rebuilding (which would be much better) they're just gutting the inside, and removing all the outside decor and windows and replacing it with a new facade.

In the end might just turn out to be lipstick on a pig.

flyertalker00143

If it's an old building it's most probably a listed building so you cannot simply demolish a piece of history.

I have visited several Accor and Apple renovated buildings during works and if it's done correctly by the right architect, it won't be just a simple makeover but a deep renovation, the results could be astonishing.

est-gratuite

Might be true, but I'm surprised any ugly huge grey concrete buildings at all from the communist era are worth putting under a "listed" status claiming they are a piece of architectural history worth preserving.

Goldorak

Here is an article dated 02/2023. Still a very long way to go before reopening.
https://welovebudapest.com/en/articl...ge-full-revamp

sdm1985

Wow that last image is stunning! Not sure B’pest is a So/ destination, it doesn’t work in Vienna at all. I found it so flat and boring.

Goldorak

What makes you say this (source) ? Just curious.