Pullman Budapest
Apr 18, 2026 | 11:16 am
#1
Original Poster
FlyerTalk Evangelist and Ambassador: The British Airways Club
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Somewhere between 0 and 13,000 metres high
Programs: AF/KL Life Plat, BA GGL+GfL, ALL Diam, Hilton Diam, Marriott Gold, blablablah, etc
Posts: 33,214
Pullman Budapest
I recently completed a short stay at the Pullman Budapest, and since I don't believe that there is a thread dedicated to it, I thought that I would start one.
With the closure (still not clear to me if it is permanent or temporary?) of the Sofitel, the Pullman bills itself as the only Accor "5 star" property in Budapest and also in my view is probably the best located of current ones.
There is a lot to like about this hotel and also a number of things that I found a little disappointing.
1) The hotel:
For anyone with a long enough memory, the Pullman Budapest is in fact the Hard Rock Hotel. It is on the Pest side of the City and in my view very well located. It is a couple of minutes walk from the Opera and Andrassy utca (the posh shopping street in Budapest), about 10 minutes walk from what I would argue are the "coolest" parts of the city just the other side of Andrassy and towards the historical Jewish quarter, Walking in the opposite direction, you are about 15 minutes walk from Deak Ferenc ter where the express airport bus (100E) arrives with Vaci street (the main pedestrian street) just behind, about 20 minutes walk from Parliament and the Duna (Danube) or about 25 minutes from the main central market (there are a couple of smaller markets nearer). Let's put it that way, whether you are after eating out, walking around, culture, shopping, or business, chances are it will be very close.
The hotel itself is effectively made of two buildings joined together by bridges. You will know if you are in the first or second building as your room number will start by "1" or "2" but it all is entirely joined and otherwise you might never realise it is two buildings id you do not look outside when you walk.is a little lacking in public areas. There is a lobby with reception which is sort of pretty, bar and restaurant next to it, and seemingly some meeting rooms too. There is apparently a parking underground and a fitness centre but no pool or spa, which I find a little sad given Budapest's great tradition in that area.
The restaurant is billed as "Italian American" which is probably about the last possible thing I would have wanted as a foreigner visiting one of the capitals with the richest culinary traditions in Europe. I'm not saying that every 5* in Budapest needs a Gundel or a contemporary Hungarian restaurant but well, almost every other one I have stayed at offers either classic or modern local inspiration food outlets and I would argue that there is a reason for it. Incidentally, the room service food was not too bad, but it just wasn't what I wanted to eat.
The restaurant also serves the daily breakfast with once again very few local options (a bit of szalami, Debrecen sausages, and a "Hungarian scrambled egg" or "Hungarian omelette" which seems to be always available despite not being on the menu, as well as some small very Hungarian things like bee pollen and paprika cream, but for instance, who decided that it was a good idea to offer US style pancakes in the country that does the most wonderful palacsinta in the world?
FInally, the hotel was built with a rooftop bar which I was looking forward to using but this has been permanently closed.
The room:
I had booked a "premium room" and interestingly, reception contacted me pro-actively to say that unfortunately they had not been able to offer an upgrade because the hotel was fully booked (true) which I found positive (not that lack of upgrade of course but bothering to message me). I checked and saw that better rooms were available after the first night so I asked if it would be possible to change after a day and that was answered positively. By the time I arrived though, a junior suite had become available and was offered. This was a one or two category upgrade depending on how you count (in theory, the elite room is in between premium room and junior suite, but in practice, the elite rooms tend to be more expensive than the junior suites on the website!).
The corner room was certainly large and felt nicely decorated and well maintained. It is a large single space with a bed area, a couple of sitting chairs and a full dining table with chairs. Separately, there is a large and mostly empty bathroom area with sinks, shower enclosure and toilet enclosure.
The room was very spacious but to me, didn't really make the right choices when it came to using the space. For instance, it is impressive to have a full dining table but I would personally have preferred a proper sofa. Conversely, whilst I don't use one, some people might have liked a desk.
As for the bathroom area, it was very large but very sparse. My personal pet peeve is why not put a bathtub whilst there would have been ample space for one.
The other thing I didn't like at all about the room is that the windows cannot be opened at all (they are locked) and also, mine, on the fifth floor of the second building was encased in some sort of metal work which I personally disliked. You can see what I mean on the second photo I posted (and it was the same on every window in the room). I won't say it felt like a prison because it would be absurd but certainly, I would have preferred normal windows than windows covered by that heavy metal work even though I imagine it is meant to prevent the heat from building up in the summer.
Service:
As mentioned, my first contact with reception was impressive. I appreciated being pro-actively warned about the lack of upgrade and also the reactiveness when I asked if it would be possible to change. Check in was also very good and finally getting the upgrade from the start was positive.
Beyond that, however, I would say that service was a little hit or miss.
One thing that really annoyed me is that whilst the room was clean when I arrived, I felt the cleaning team were too insistent in trying to convince me not to get it cleaned thereafter. There is one of those signs well in evidence on the bed that if you want to save the planet or whatever, just hang the sign to say you don't want the room cleaned and you'll get an extra 100 reward points per night. I'm sure some people are happy to do that and that's great, but for me, having my room tidied up daily is part of the luxurious pampering feel of being in an excellent hotel so I ignored it. So far, so good, they offer, I ignore.
However, literally every morning, the cleaners would try and catch me to ask if I "needed" my room cleaned today. Well, yes I do since I chose not to hang the little sign, but they asked again and when I said "yes please", frankly, they looked really disappointed and I found that quite annoying.
Conversely, the hotel offers a (limited) turndown service (tidy bed, check water, empty rubbish, leave a little "basic" chocolate - but for instance not replace coffee pods or towels). Nice, but I got that 2 nights out of the five I stayed for no obvious reason.
On the other hand, the hotel offers large bottle of still and sparkling filtered waters (I enjoyed the sparkling) and replenished them pro-actively., There is also a coffee machine which uses pods but is very good (much nicer coffee than Nespresso).
Welcome amenity was a lengthy handwritten (and not very readable) note saying that since my profile said I like Champagne (I do), they hoped I would enjoy the Cava (Frenchly bite my lip but ok, intention was nice anyway) and a plate with three little chocolates in some cool decor though annoyingly, I had one of the first night thinking I would make them last and they took the plate away when they did the room (punishment for asking the cleaning?
)
Verdict:
As I said, there is plenty to like about this hotel, not least its great location, generally nice staff, and good treatment of elite customers as well as a modern feel. At the same time, in some ways, I was a little underwhelmed and I would say that to me, this felt more like a very strong 4* than a 5^ hotel, especially considering the competition of many excellent 5* hotels in Budapest.
To me, a 5* hotel would have put a bathtub in the room given the available space, a 5* wouldn't try to pressure guests into not having their room cleaned and would do turndown consistently, a 5* would have enabled you to open windows and not trapped you behind some weird metal structure that obstructs the views.
I was also a bit underwhelmed by the facilities. Breakfast was ok but not great and somewhat repetitive, I missed a pool or at least a sauna/hammam/spa area, and in my personal opinion, the wrong choice was made in terms of the restaurant theme and even taking their choice for granted, I would at least have liked a couple of Hungarian options on the room service menu (seriously, I doubt any other major hotel in the city doesn't at least offer a gulyas soup on their room service menu and at least one Hungarian dessert?!)
I do think that this is the best Accor has to offer in the city at the moment, and I would return if wanting to use Accor, but if I'm honest, given that the hotel was priced similarly to at least some other 5* properties in the city (not all as some do get very expensive), I would argue that if one doesn't care about booking Accor there are probably better options available for that intended level of luxury.
Welcome amenity
Junior suite
Junior suite
Bathroom area
Shower
Coffee machine
With the closure (still not clear to me if it is permanent or temporary?) of the Sofitel, the Pullman bills itself as the only Accor "5 star" property in Budapest and also in my view is probably the best located of current ones.
There is a lot to like about this hotel and also a number of things that I found a little disappointing.
1) The hotel:
For anyone with a long enough memory, the Pullman Budapest is in fact the Hard Rock Hotel. It is on the Pest side of the City and in my view very well located. It is a couple of minutes walk from the Opera and Andrassy utca (the posh shopping street in Budapest), about 10 minutes walk from what I would argue are the "coolest" parts of the city just the other side of Andrassy and towards the historical Jewish quarter, Walking in the opposite direction, you are about 15 minutes walk from Deak Ferenc ter where the express airport bus (100E) arrives with Vaci street (the main pedestrian street) just behind, about 20 minutes walk from Parliament and the Duna (Danube) or about 25 minutes from the main central market (there are a couple of smaller markets nearer). Let's put it that way, whether you are after eating out, walking around, culture, shopping, or business, chances are it will be very close.
The hotel itself is effectively made of two buildings joined together by bridges. You will know if you are in the first or second building as your room number will start by "1" or "2" but it all is entirely joined and otherwise you might never realise it is two buildings id you do not look outside when you walk.is a little lacking in public areas. There is a lobby with reception which is sort of pretty, bar and restaurant next to it, and seemingly some meeting rooms too. There is apparently a parking underground and a fitness centre but no pool or spa, which I find a little sad given Budapest's great tradition in that area.
The restaurant is billed as "Italian American" which is probably about the last possible thing I would have wanted as a foreigner visiting one of the capitals with the richest culinary traditions in Europe. I'm not saying that every 5* in Budapest needs a Gundel or a contemporary Hungarian restaurant but well, almost every other one I have stayed at offers either classic or modern local inspiration food outlets and I would argue that there is a reason for it. Incidentally, the room service food was not too bad, but it just wasn't what I wanted to eat.
The restaurant also serves the daily breakfast with once again very few local options (a bit of szalami, Debrecen sausages, and a "Hungarian scrambled egg" or "Hungarian omelette" which seems to be always available despite not being on the menu, as well as some small very Hungarian things like bee pollen and paprika cream, but for instance, who decided that it was a good idea to offer US style pancakes in the country that does the most wonderful palacsinta in the world?
FInally, the hotel was built with a rooftop bar which I was looking forward to using but this has been permanently closed.
The room:
I had booked a "premium room" and interestingly, reception contacted me pro-actively to say that unfortunately they had not been able to offer an upgrade because the hotel was fully booked (true) which I found positive (not that lack of upgrade of course but bothering to message me). I checked and saw that better rooms were available after the first night so I asked if it would be possible to change after a day and that was answered positively. By the time I arrived though, a junior suite had become available and was offered. This was a one or two category upgrade depending on how you count (in theory, the elite room is in between premium room and junior suite, but in practice, the elite rooms tend to be more expensive than the junior suites on the website!).
The corner room was certainly large and felt nicely decorated and well maintained. It is a large single space with a bed area, a couple of sitting chairs and a full dining table with chairs. Separately, there is a large and mostly empty bathroom area with sinks, shower enclosure and toilet enclosure.
The room was very spacious but to me, didn't really make the right choices when it came to using the space. For instance, it is impressive to have a full dining table but I would personally have preferred a proper sofa. Conversely, whilst I don't use one, some people might have liked a desk.
As for the bathroom area, it was very large but very sparse. My personal pet peeve is why not put a bathtub whilst there would have been ample space for one.
The other thing I didn't like at all about the room is that the windows cannot be opened at all (they are locked) and also, mine, on the fifth floor of the second building was encased in some sort of metal work which I personally disliked. You can see what I mean on the second photo I posted (and it was the same on every window in the room). I won't say it felt like a prison because it would be absurd but certainly, I would have preferred normal windows than windows covered by that heavy metal work even though I imagine it is meant to prevent the heat from building up in the summer.
Service:
As mentioned, my first contact with reception was impressive. I appreciated being pro-actively warned about the lack of upgrade and also the reactiveness when I asked if it would be possible to change. Check in was also very good and finally getting the upgrade from the start was positive.
Beyond that, however, I would say that service was a little hit or miss.
One thing that really annoyed me is that whilst the room was clean when I arrived, I felt the cleaning team were too insistent in trying to convince me not to get it cleaned thereafter. There is one of those signs well in evidence on the bed that if you want to save the planet or whatever, just hang the sign to say you don't want the room cleaned and you'll get an extra 100 reward points per night. I'm sure some people are happy to do that and that's great, but for me, having my room tidied up daily is part of the luxurious pampering feel of being in an excellent hotel so I ignored it. So far, so good, they offer, I ignore.
However, literally every morning, the cleaners would try and catch me to ask if I "needed" my room cleaned today. Well, yes I do since I chose not to hang the little sign, but they asked again and when I said "yes please", frankly, they looked really disappointed and I found that quite annoying.
Conversely, the hotel offers a (limited) turndown service (tidy bed, check water, empty rubbish, leave a little "basic" chocolate - but for instance not replace coffee pods or towels). Nice, but I got that 2 nights out of the five I stayed for no obvious reason.
On the other hand, the hotel offers large bottle of still and sparkling filtered waters (I enjoyed the sparkling) and replenished them pro-actively., There is also a coffee machine which uses pods but is very good (much nicer coffee than Nespresso).
Welcome amenity was a lengthy handwritten (and not very readable) note saying that since my profile said I like Champagne (I do), they hoped I would enjoy the Cava (Frenchly bite my lip but ok, intention was nice anyway) and a plate with three little chocolates in some cool decor though annoyingly, I had one of the first night thinking I would make them last and they took the plate away when they did the room (punishment for asking the cleaning?
) Verdict:
As I said, there is plenty to like about this hotel, not least its great location, generally nice staff, and good treatment of elite customers as well as a modern feel. At the same time, in some ways, I was a little underwhelmed and I would say that to me, this felt more like a very strong 4* than a 5^ hotel, especially considering the competition of many excellent 5* hotels in Budapest.
To me, a 5* hotel would have put a bathtub in the room given the available space, a 5* wouldn't try to pressure guests into not having their room cleaned and would do turndown consistently, a 5* would have enabled you to open windows and not trapped you behind some weird metal structure that obstructs the views.
I was also a bit underwhelmed by the facilities. Breakfast was ok but not great and somewhat repetitive, I missed a pool or at least a sauna/hammam/spa area, and in my personal opinion, the wrong choice was made in terms of the restaurant theme and even taking their choice for granted, I would at least have liked a couple of Hungarian options on the room service menu (seriously, I doubt any other major hotel in the city doesn't at least offer a gulyas soup on their room service menu and at least one Hungarian dessert?!)
I do think that this is the best Accor has to offer in the city at the moment, and I would return if wanting to use Accor, but if I'm honest, given that the hotel was priced similarly to at least some other 5* properties in the city (not all as some do get very expensive), I would argue that if one doesn't care about booking Accor there are probably better options available for that intended level of luxury.
Welcome amenity
Junior suite
Junior suite
Bathroom area
Shower
Coffee machine
Last edited by orbitmic; Apr 18, 2026 at 12:39 pm
Apr 28, 2026 | 5:06 am
#2
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: France
Programs: FB Plat for Life, UAMP, BAEC, Accor ALL Platinum, Marriott silver, Hilton, Meli silver.
Posts: 3,623
FWIW, Pullman Budapest is not offered in Accor App when searching Budapest hotels: only Ibis, Tribe etc.
You need to enter Pullman Budapest in the search field....
You need to enter Pullman Budapest in the search field....
Last edited by carnarvon; Apr 28, 2026 at 5:15 am
Apr 28, 2026 | 6:12 am
#3
Join Date: Jul 2024
Programs: FB Plat, LH SEN, IHG Diamond Amb, Accor Plat, Marriot Gold.
Posts: 1,311
Last edited by thrower; Apr 28, 2026 at 6:21 am