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- Ritz-Carlton Budapest
- InterContinental Budapest
- Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace Budapest
- Marriott Budapest
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Kempinski Hotel Corvinus Budapest is not the best luxury hotel in Budapest; the Four Seasons is. But this Kempinski is a well-located hotel that sits right next to the Ritz-Carlton in the center of Budapest. It offers good value and generous rooms but will never win prizes in a beauty competition.
Location
Kempinski Hotel Corvinus Budapest is situated in an unattractive modern building overlooking Erzsébet Square, a lush urban park with ample seating, a playground, a skate park, and the iconic Budapest Eye. This Ferris wheel, one of the largest in Europe at 65 meters, provides sweeping panoramic views of the city from its peak.
On the opposite side of the hotel is Fashion Street, lined with high-end boutiques, including a large Philipp Plein store. The hotel’s main restaurant opens onto this lively pedestrian street, which connects to a network of shopping avenues featuring popular brands like H&M, Claire’s, McDonald’s, and KFC, as well as numerous vendors of chimney cakes, which are a traditional Hungarian treat with a sweet, waffle-like aroma that fills the air. With their hollow, chimney-like shape, these cakes are topped with ice cream for a delicious and unique snack.
A short stroll from Fashion Street leads to the scenic Danube River, with views of the hills, home to Buda Castle and the Citadel. The historic Chain Bridge that crosses the Danube, Europe’s second-longest river, and leads directly to the iconic Buda Castle is around a 5-minute walk away.
The neighboring Ritz-Carlton is far more elegant than the Kempinski Budapest, but the Kempinski shines in the Budapest restaurant scene as it houses the city’s outlet of the Nobu restaurant chain. Other notable hotels, including the Four Seasons, Marriott, InterContinental, and the Matild Palace (A Luxury Collection Hotel), are all within a five- to ten-minute walk away.
Style & Character
The first thing you notice about the Kempinski Hotel Corvinus Budapest is its modern and frankly soulless exterior. It looks to have been built in the 1990s and lacks any historical significance or beauty that other hotels in the city enjoy. The building is purely functional.
It has a small driveway that leads off the main road, which frames Erzsébet Square. This driveway gives taxis a place to park out of the main traffic and is shaded from the rain and wind by an overhanging wedge of this gigantic building. Huge revolving doors provide the entrance to the building. In the center of these doors is a faded plastic flower arrangement that vibrates as the door goes around.
For me, these flowers represent the difference between this hotel and some of the more loved hotels in Budapest. Your welcome here is an aging plastic flower arrangement leading to a vast corporate-style atrium lobby. This starkly contrasts with the intimate lobby of the Ritz-Carlton next door, which is decorated with beautiful fresh flower arrangements and carefully positioned underneath ultra-stylish, sparkling light fittings.
Of course, this hotel is perfectly functional, the staff are pleasant, and the modern windows of the building are large and let in plenty of light, but this hotel feels like a conference hotel that attracts guests for its value rather than an ultra-luxurious getaway.
The grand multi-level foyer at this Kempinski has a marble tiled floor, is around three storeys in height, and has rounded balconies above which stare down at the reception desk. Two enormous cylindrical pillars hold the ceiling up, and the roof is clad in a honey-colored lighting unit that continues into a wall covering that hugs the majestic circular staircase that rises up from the lobby. This and other areas of the hotel have a curved theme as the hotel is designed in a curved shape, which adds drama and architectural interest of the building.
Service & Facilities
Kempinski The Spa features fitness equipment, massage therapies, beauty treatments, and saunas. There’s also a small pool at this Kempinski with rooftop views.
There’s also an underground parking garage, which includes a station for charging electric cars, and the business and event services are excellent.
Rooms
Guest rooms at this Kempinski feel reasonably modern and offer creamy furnishings and carpet with brown furniture for the cupboards and desk units. Rooms contain a flat-screen smart LED TV and a Nespresso machine. The bathroom feels fairly generic but is spacious and well kept with a single sink set to a black marble work surface, fluffy bathrobes, a bath, and a spacious shower.
Food & Drink
This large Kempinski offers numerous restaurants: ÉS Bisztró, Nobu Budapest, Blue Fox The Bar, The Living Room, and ÉS Deli. All are stylishly decked out. Nobu offers fusion-inspired dishes. The other restaurants offer updated Hungarian-Viennese offerings, specialty coffee, a relaxed “Kaffeehaus” experience, and a creative cocktail buzz.
Conclusion
Kempinski Hotel Corvinus Budapest is an ugly duckling from the outside, but inside, the lobby is grand, and the rooms are generous in size. The hotel is of good quality but lacks anything to make it feel special. It is a good value and functional base from which to explore the magnificent city of Budapest
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