Brusselsbasedtraveller

EcotoneHR

Thank you for the review! I am planning to go there in January (if the Sofitel isn't open by then), so your comments and pictures are very helpful.

Goldorak

Lovely hotel and great review. I haven't been in BUD for a while and, like our Croatian friend EcotoneHR, I would consider this hotel if the Sofitel Chain Bridge is not reopen by that time.

Brusselsbasedtraveller

I passed by the Sofitel and nothing is going on there. Even the old furniture appears to be in the rooms.

EcotoneHR

Yup, that's what I was afraid of. Nemzeti it is, then!

JTCz

The Nemzeti, and the suite in question in particular, has been my home away from home back when the hotel as fairly new. I am happy to hear it continues not to disappoint, even if the suite is quite peculiarly appointed and furnished.

Anyway, to all those missing the Sofitel - do note that selected Mercures and Novotels in Budapest feature lounges, a rather unique thing in Europe. The Nemzeti does not, however it is still recommendable anyway.

Goldorak

So for the BUD regulars and experts, what is your Accor hotel of choice if you are Plat or Diamond ?

hotel_user

Nemzeti

pro : Nice hotel - good status recognition
con - Bad area ( but not that bad ) - no lounge - avoid some of the rooms in the front ( small / noise )

Mercure

Pro : good recognition - normally full of "tours" - simple small lounge - cant really "make a meal" - but you will be eating elsewhere anyway. Pay for breakfast as the lounge was not equipped
​​​​​​​
Con : small rooms - busy hotel

For my 2c worth the Mercure is best "value", but the Nemzeti is a better hotel.

EcotoneHR

I haven't been to the MGallery yet, but I think it's your best bet. Yes, the location is not the best, but it's not that bad either, you can still walk to the city centre, and it's next to several tram and metro lines, which is very convenient.

The Novotel round the corner from the MGallery has just reopened. The lobby and the restaurant are very grand, similar to the MGallery, but when I was there 3 years ago the rooms were very disappointing, as was the lounge - really poor. Plus the room was very cold in the winter. They have a sauna and a hot tub in the basement, but they seem to be closed at the moment.

Mercure City Center has a lounge, but at the moment it closes at 5 PM (!) and the offer is quite poor. The location is perfect, however, people have been complaining about the noise from the construction site next to the hotel.

For the past three years I've been going to the Mercure Korona. The location is very good, close to the city centre, but the service has deteriorated since the pandemic began. The last two times I was there they didn't even have slippers (in any room category), there was no welcome amenity, the pool was closed, as well as the lounge, which was replaced by the "snack time" (several canapes and fried nibbles) at the restaurant. Unfortunately, it's not the same and it's sad because the lounge used to be very good!
I don't know whether they have reopened the lounge since I was last there, but no one seems to mention it in the reviews on Google and TripAdvisor, so I guess they haven't.

The rooms are small at both Mercures and neither is on the list of the hotels offering free breakfast to Diamond members. I would personally go for the MGallery, but choose a suite with a courtyard view.

VikingOnTheRoad

We are staying there end of November. How is the sleeping couch? In terms of size and softness etc?

​​​​​​Also about price quality. I booked for 430 euros for 2 nights and 5 people. (including breakfast). None of the other hotels in Bud beat that price imo. (we have suite and classic room)

Brusselsbasedtraveller

The sleeping couch is meant for one person and is quite ok. The hotel is definitely value for money. In the past I always used to stay at the Corinthia Grand Royal a bit further down the road (at Erszebet K�rut) but the hotel is getting dated and the service is not what it used to be. That's why I opted for this one instead.

EcotoneHR

- Name of the hotel: Hotel Nemzeti Budapest - MGallery

- What is your ALL status? Diamond

- Were you (or for multi-stayers were you generally) happy with the hotel/stay? Yes

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive? Booked a Junior Suite, received same (I think the higher category suite was occupied)

- How are the rooms? Junior Suite is quite large, 30 sqm apparently, but it seems larger. Bedroom and living room, although there is no door between them. Bathroom with a walk-in shower only, good water pressure, bathroom amenities by Codage Paris (not very exciting). Comfortable bed, good pillows. Lots of storage space. Umbrella, iron and ironing board in the cupboard. I specifically asked for a courtyard view because I'm a light sleeper and the room was perfectly quiet, no noise whatsoever.

- What was good and what was bad?

Good:
- impressive, beautiful, grand building, inside and outside
- nice, polite staff, very nice pre-arrival communication
- you can adjust the heat in the room yourself, which made me very happy as the rooms in Budapest can be cold in the winter

Bad:
- not necessarily bad, but I thought breakfast was quite underwhelming for an MGallery. Nice presentation, but not much choice. Still, it was good enough and it served its purpose

- Did you get club lounge access? How was the lounge? No lounge, unfortunately

- What about welcome drinks, welcome amenities or any other special perks? Everything was waiting in the room: a welcome drink voucher valid for the usual stuff (I had some homemade mulled wine), a handwritten welcome note, a postcard and a badge with the hotel motif, 3 macarons, 2 small dark chocolate bars. Two free bottles of water: still and sparkling, replenished on the second day. Free soft drinks in the minibar and free breakfast (it was a weekend stay)

- Value for $ or Vouchers? Would you return? Very good value for money, I thought - 97 EUR per day for a Junior Suite. I will definitely return.