Review: Sofitel Budapest Chain Bridge [closed for renovations from 4 Dec 2020]
Jan 13, 2015, 1:42 am
Sofitel Budapest Chain Bridge
Szechenyi Istvan ter 2 Budapest, HU 1051
Review: Sofitel Budapest Chain Bridge (0 Photo)
Sofitel Budapest Chain Bridge
Sofitel Budapest Chain Bridge
Check-in
We arrived at Sofitel Budapest around 11:30am and we were sent from front desk to Club lounge for the check-in. Welcome was warm and coffee or sparkling wine was offered as a welcome drink. Checking in took longer than normally, around 20 minutes since the hotel wasn't willing to give us an upgrade at first although they weren’t fully booked.
They claimed that we had booked Superior Room and they have upgraded us to Luxury Room Club Sofitel. I showed our booking confirmation and a copy of paid credit card bill that indicated we had booked and paid Luxury Room Club Sofitel. A lounge attendant then made two phone calls and after that decided to give us a double upgrade to Prestige Suite.
A guest relation officer took us to a personalized tour to see three different rooms and let us to choose the one we liked the most. The options were Prestige Suite with king bed on 2nd floor, Prestige Suite with two single beds on 6th floor and Luxury Room Club Sofitel with queen bed on 8th floor where the lounge is located.
We chose to stay on the 6th floor since the lounge attendant also had a solution to the bed problem. She said that housekeeping could fix the two single beds and make them into a one king bed by changing mattresses. Now, this exceeded our expectations. However, the need of insisting status member benefits, battle for upgrade and to prove booking details really wasn’t the best start.
Room
The room was spacious (49 sqm or 520 sqf) but slightly dated. It had separated bedroom and living room including king bed, decent desk, Nespresso machine, couch, armchair, two large flat-screen TVs, Bose home cinema system, plus great views on the Danube river.
Free Wi-Fi was fast enough to browse FlyerTalk and other important websites.
Bathroom was very tiny: two adults hardly managed to be there at the same time. It only had one sink and bathtub, no walk-in shower.
Good amount of Hermes amenities and two bottles of water were replaced daily. Turndown service was done in one night of three, and opening the bed was basically the only thing a housekeeper did. No turndown chocolate, for example. Curtains weren’t closed either.
Lounge
Lounge was cozy and peaceful, almost empty every time we visited there. It had amazing views on the river Danube, Chain Bridge and Buda Castle Hill but food and drink offerings should be improved.
Drink choices only included local white, red and rose wine, French sparkling wine, Hungarian beer (from tap and upon request), still and sparkling water, three different juices, soft drinks, selection of teas and coffees and hot chocolate. Sparkling wine was served throughout the day while other alcohol products were available from 5pm to 8pm only.
In the morning, continental breakfast was served with cold items only. Between the breakfast and snack time, they served small cakes and fruits. Snack hours included decent salad buffet, soup, cold cuts, cheeses, sandwiches, and petit fours for sweets. Unfortunately, the selection was almost identical every single day. We were expecting to see some hot options, too. Staff was talking all the time about champagne when they were referring the sparkling wine. It gave a little unprofessional image.
Recognition of Le Club Gold status
Pretty poor. Drink vouchers weren’t given before I asked for them next day. The vouchers also seemed a little bit useless since they only allowed us to choose between white wine, red wine and beer, all local, and these exactly same wines and beer were on offer in the lounge. We didn’t receive either welcome gift or welcome letter. Instead, we were given some more local drinks: my partner had birthday and two small bottles of Hungarian sparkling wine were sent to our room with birthday wishes after I reminded the staff. I had mentioned the birthday already when booking the room and a reservation agent confirmed the hotel surprises my partner with a gift. Newspapers were never delivered to our room.
Breakfast
We opted to have full buffet breakfast since the continental breakfast in the lounge looked so sad. Breakfast in the Terasse restaurant was delicious and good quality with free-flowing sparkling wine during weekend. It’s a must try when staying here. Restaurant staff remembered us in the second morning and didn’t ask our room number anymore (the hotel has almost 400 rooms but felt quite empty).
Value for money
Sofitel Budapest had decent lounge, sauna and swimming pool that are missing in many other Sofitels in Europe. Staff was mostly friendly and helpful with a proactive attitude. I paid around 600 euros for a three-night stay and found it a decent value for the money. This was our second stay at this hotel and we would love to stay here again.
Lobby was impressive, here seen from the 6th floor.
View of Prestige Suite bedroom from the bed.
Comfortable but slightly dated Prestige Suite bedroom with two single beds.
Prestige Suite bedroom after fixing the two single beds into a king bed.
Simple Prestige Suite living room.
Prestige Suite living room.
Tiny bathroom.
View from our suite through a dirty window.
Empty Club lounge.
Club lounge with a view of Chain Bridge.
Club lounge.
Evening snacks offerings in Club lounge.
Evening snacks offerings in Club lounge.
Sweets in Club lounge in the evening.
Afternoon cakes in Club lounge.
Spa had large swimming pool, two dry saunas, relaxation area and gym.
Spa and all public areas had Duck Island amenities instead of L'Occitane products that are often seen in Sofitels. Unfortunately.
Jan 13, 2015, 2:07 am
it was such a wonderful property and i guess that Accor's attention went away to other Sofitel, far away from Eastern Europe...
well, at least they have l'Occitane instead of Roger Gallet as amenities
btw, recognition seems pretty poor in this country, my latest experience in Budapest was aweful
Jan 13, 2015, 6:45 am
They claimed that we had booked Superior Room and they have upgraded us to Luxury Room Club Sofitel. I showed our booking confirmation and a copy of paid credit card bill that indicated we had booked and paid Luxury Room Club Sofitel.
49sqm is not exactly impressive for a so called Prestige suite
Jan 13, 2015, 7:11 am
Jan 13, 2015, 7:18 am
).
Jan 13, 2015, 9:45 am
To stay on topic : this hotel in Budapest is a nice one and the location in town is perfect.
Jan 13, 2015, 1:26 pm
Jan 14, 2015, 11:14 am
Apr 26, 2015, 7:28 am
I just completed a stay there. It was my 2nd stay in this hotel, but the 1st one was 11 years ago so...
The atrium :
I was very satisfied of everything. I arrived late at the hotel (close to midnight). I did OLCI the day before and when I arrived and gave my name, the agent told me immediately that I was expected and gave me an envelope containing :
- my keys for my junior suite (so this was a kind of triple level upgrade knowing that I had booked the lowest category room)
- welcome letter
- premium wifi codes (speed OK)
- drink voucher to be used at the "Paris-Budapest bar & restaurant on the ground floor"
He also confirmed me that I had club lounge access on the top floor.
The room was nice, although I confirm what was said by previous posters : the furniture looks a bit outdated now. But it is still very acceptable. Very comfy Sofitel MyBed.
There was a plate of fruits and a plate with chocolates.
The 2nd day, the fruit plate was refurbished and an additional plate of cakes was placed. Nice touch.
Hermès (eau d'orange verte) products in bathroom. Bathroom with both bath tub and separate shower.
Curiously, there was no turndown service the 2nd day (only (minor) criticism I have for this stay).
The lounge is on the top floor, is quite nice with a splendid view on the Danube river, and Buda hills. The lounge was like heaven because the hotel was very busy. Breakfast is until 10 am. Free evening snacks (nice selection) and cocktails (sparkling wine, average red and white Hungarian wines) is from 5 to 8 pm. I have included pictures of the lounge and food offering in the Sofitel lounge thread, here.
Staff was excellent everywhere. The responsible person for guest experience called me during the stay to enquire if everything was OK.
The drink voucher is to be used at the « Paris-Budapest » bar/restaurant on the ground floor and allows soft drinks, beer or red/white Hungarian white.
I was granted a late check-out at 4pm without problem. I checked-out from the lounge.
Definitely a very nice Accor hotel in Budapest, with a perfect location in town (chain bridge), providing nicely and spontaneously all platinum benefits. Add to this : one of the very rare Accor hotels in Europe having a club lounge, and that makes a difference.
Last edited by starflyergold; Apr 26, 2015 at 8:00 am
Apr 28, 2015, 6:01 am
Sep 1, 2015, 12:57 am
Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
I booked a superior room (second lowest category) and received suite (four category higher). I didn’t even have to beg for it.
How are the rooms?
I’m not sure what type of suite we had. We were told that it’s a prestige suite but I’m not really sure about that since there are bigger corner suites in this hotel. However, our suite on the 5th floor was really nice. It consisted of separate bedroom and living room. Bathroom was cramped and it had only bathtub without walk-in shower. The suite also had sofa set, large writing desk, two big flat-screen TVs, Bose audio system in both rooms, and Nespresso machine with good amount of coffee capsules. Good sleep was guaranteed by soft-like-a-cloud My Bed. The lovely bath amenities were from Hermes’ collection. Four bottles of still water were waiting for us in the room. On the second day we had to call to housekeeping to replace the water. Despite the comfort, the suite started show wear and tear. The view from two huge bay windows was amazing: Chain Bridge, Buda hill and close park.
What was good?
- Flawless Platinum recognition. Decent upgrade and other Platinum benefits were provided without need to say or remind anything.
- The hotel has both nice executive lounge and spa with big swimming pool and two saunas. A rather rare sight in Europe.
- The atrium of this hotel and views from windows amazes me every single time.
What was bad?
- No turndown service at all. We were apologized when mentioned this during check out.
- No newspaper provided although it’s a benefit for Platinum and Gold members in Sofitel. Not a big deal, however, since we found newspapers at the lounge and at breakfast.
- No more sparkling wine at breakfast (they used to serve it during weekends)
- Free wifi was very fast but it stopped working on the last evening and wasn’t fixed until the next morning.
Did you get club lounge access? How was the lounge?
We were escorted to the lounge on the 8th floor to check in. The lounge itself was very nice as other flyer talkers and I have reported earlier. However, food remains the same. Only cakes were different. The lounge was extremely busy this time, some food ran out and customers had to remind the staff about it. When I asked some more chocolate pralines I was told they don’t have anymore. Soon after that one of the lounge ladies brought her own Lindt chocolate bar to me. I tried to decline but she insisted me to take it. But how can’t they have food enough…
What about welcome drinks, welcome amenities or any other special perks?
We arrived at 11:30AM and were told that our room was ready already. Checking in was fast, took max 5 minutes, and we didn’t need to show any ID. Two vouchers for welcome drinks were handed over. We were also offered two glasses of sparkling wine while waiting the check in to be done. The vouchers were usable for juice, soft drinks, local beer or local house wines, just as before. Fruit platter and few goodies with welcome note signed by a front office manager were waiting for us in the room. Fruits and sweets were replaced next day. Late check out was first granted until 2PM but on the day of departure we were told that we can keep the room until 4PM if we wished. We were also able to stay at the lounge as long as we wanted after checking out.
Value for €? Would you return?
Really good value for money. Booked a rate without breakfast and paid about 125 euros per night. Since we had the lounge access, we got free breakfast and were able to choose to have it either in the lounge or downstairs in the restaurant. I could any time go back to Budapest just because of this hotel. It’s one of my favorite Accor properties in Europe.
Apr 5, 2016, 8:50 pm
Rooms are a little small. The carpet is old and tired and the armchair was so dirty I didn't want to sit in it. River view is appealing and the windows are well soundproofed (which is important, because the hotel fronts on a very busy street).
Service was hit or miss. I would say half the staff is wonderful, and the other half hates their job/can't be bothered. So, for example, the hostess at breakfast could not have been more charming or accommodating, but once seated, I found it virtually impossible to get a coffee, and dirty plates just sat on the table uncleared. Got a massage in the spa and that was a waste of $83.
Location is smack in the middle of the tourist district. That's good and bad. Lots of restaurants nearby, but it also felt a little like staying in Times Square.
Budapest is a wonderful city. I will definitely return, but will probably try another property next time.