Hilton Budapest (Castle District)

I decided to start my vacation in Central Europe from the magnificent city of Budapest before taking the train up to Bratislava in Slovakia before taking the Hydrofoil to my end destination of Vienna (see Hilton Vienna Review). With a location like this and the opportunity to earn HHonours points the decision to stay at the Hilton Budapest was easy, given the terrible location of the other Hilton in Budapest.

Price Paid: €143 a night for a Twin Hilton Guest Room via an Advance Purchase Breakfast Rate.

I stayed at this hotel for 3 nights in Budapest. This is by far the best-located hotel in Budapest, and probably one of the best locations I have ever stayed in. The hotel is located in the heart of the beautiful Castle District. It is walking distance from everything in Buda. The Buda side of the city is definitely the best place to stay. It quiet, quaint and has a small village feel. The restaurants in the area are also fantastic and within a minutes walk. As the castle district can get very busy during the day, it is fantastic to be able to walk out the front door of the hotel and have the whole place to yourself at night. The views are amazing at night! The hotel is located on a cobbled stone street and perfectly built into the surrounding area. It is built into the UNESCO world heritage site and next to the beautiful Matthias church and fisherman's bastion.

Location:

Couldn't possibly be better!

Check-in:
Check-in was fast and efficient with a designated HHonors desk. As a Hilton HHonors Gold Member I received an upgrade to an executive room with lounge access.


Concierge:
The concierge was fantastic, they had a great list of restaurants within walking distance.

Design:
The hotel is fantastic but definitely a little dated, but this was no surprise given the photos and reviews I saw beforehand. The lobby is old, the bar is very 70s and the bathrooms are plain. This was no surprise to me and didn't deter me as I still had a great experience and the hotels service and location and made up for this. The location could override any possible flaw.

Rooms:
The rooms are large and well equipped but the bathrooms are a letdown. The beds are very comfortable and the views are amazing. The Peter Thomas Roth amenities are also another plus.

The Executive Lounge:
The executive lounge is dated but the views are better than anywhere else in the world. This is definitely one of Hilton's best lounges. There is a great selection of local wines and unlimited free soft drinks. The daily food presentations were also very good, especially at happy hour. There is plenty of seating and it is a relaxing area in the hotel. The concierge on the executive floor are also very helpful. But I wouldn't recommend having breakfast in the lounge as the selection was very small.

Breakfast:
The hotel had a fantastic buffet breakfast in the ICON restaurant. As with the rest of the hotel the views are spectacular. The service was good and the selection was large with great coffee.

This is a fantastic hotel in Budapest and with a renovation this could easily be one of the best hotels in Central Europe!

Total Hilton HHonors Points Earned: 17,458

Hilton Vienna

I spent the night at the Hilton Vienna after a reward night at the now defunct Radisson Blu Palais Hotel. I love Hilton hotels mainly due to the amazing Hilton HHonours program, a program that cannot be beaten. The other reason I decided to move from the wonderful Radisson was that I got an amazing deal.

It was only €179 a night for an Advance Purchase Breakfast + Dinner Rate in a Hilton Guest Room, but I also knew I would get an upgrade to an Executive Room with Lounge Access.

So for €179 I got an Executive Room valued at €248 (the price for just the room at the time of booking) and Full Buffet Breakfast €20 + €20 and Dinner €35 + €35. That is €200 worth of extras for €179. With a deal as good as that I had to stay at the Hilton at least 1 night.







The Hilton is situated in a fantastic location in the heart of Vienna directly in front of the beautiful Stadtpark.

From the hotel it is only a short walk to the historical center. In terms of transportation this hotel could not be beaten. The hotel is located directly above a metro stop from where you can get anywhere in Vienna and it is directly above the terminal for the fantastic City Airport Train CAT. The distance from the CAT was a major draw-card when choosing a hotel in Vienna. This meant I could drop me bags off within minutes of leaving my room, check-in for my flight and head back to the hotel for a wonderful buffet breakfast and then jump on the quick airport train and be at the airport in about 15 minutes without having to carry my check-in luggage and wait in line for my boarding pass, all I had to do was walk straight to my boarding gate. That was the best airport experience of my life!



Location:
Fantastic in terms of transportation but not a good in terms of walking distance from sights.



Hotel Design/Feel and Ambiance:
The hotel is rather generic and plain which was a let down given the antiquity of the the city of Vienna. As soon as you enter the hotel it is like being in a little America, apart from the items on the menu there is nothing to remind you of where you are in the world. You could be inside any Hilton hotel in the world. There is absolutely nothing Austrian or Viennese at all. This really takes away from the experience of being in the beautiful city of Vienna. As for the same price I was able to stay at the Radisson Blu Palais that was a former place built in 1872. Although not as refined and comfortable as the Hilton I truly felt that I was in Vienna every second of my stay.
Having said that the hotel lobby is very nice with a fantastic restaurant and bar.



Check-In:

Check-in was pleasant but the staff weren't very competent or knowledgeable. I purchased a Hilton Advance Purchase Breakfast and Dinner Rate to which the check-in staff had no knowledge of this type of rate. I have purchased this rate at nearly every Hilton I stay at and never have any difficulty but the staff had know idea and I had to bring it to their attention after I had checked in and I had to wait for about 10 minutes for them to phone other staff members before being told what would be offered. On the plus side as a Hilton HHonors Gold Member my status was thoroughly recognized. I was given a Executive Room with Lounge Access and all the normal benefits plus a fantastic welcome food presentation in my room.

Room:

I stayed in a Executive City View Room. The rooms were a reasonable size and very functional with many power outlets in wise locations. The room also had a large desk and fast free Wi-Fi as a Gold member. The beds were also very comfortable and the view was very nice. But the furniture was a little cheap looking and plain.
The bathroom was also one of the smallest I have ever seen at a Hilton hotel, especially for an executive room. There was only a combined bath and shower. But the bathroom was very clean and the Peter Thomas Roth Amenities were great.

The Executive Lounge:
The executive lounge was fantastic. There was a great selection of food and the evening drinks were great. The lounge was a great size with very helpful staff. The view and ambiance were also special. The coffee was also very good. The only letdown was that the computers in the lounge were unusable as they were soo slow and old.

Food

Buffet Breakfast:
The buffet breakfast at S'PARKS was to a very high standard there was absolutely nothing to fault. The setting was nice, the food and selection were good. The juice was fresh, the coffee was good and came quickly and there were plenty of staff on hand to clear plates.

Buffet Dinner:
As per my Breakfast Dinner Rate I chose the buffet over the la-carte menu. The buffet was good but nothing special. But the desserts were very good. The setting and ambiance were also very nice.



Although this was another Generic Hilton hotel, I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at this hotel and would definitely return given my first choice is now gone. The location was fantastic, the lounge was great and the food and recognition of my status was very good as well. And given my inclusion of Breakfast and Dinner in my rate it would be hard to go past this hotel.

Hilton HHonours Points Earned: 2,816