Hajdu Lovasudvar Hortobágy — Hotel in Balmazújvárosi járás

I stayed here for only one night 21 August 2019 but the experience was truly odd so am writing a review. This is the only time I ever had a bizarre accomodation experience in a year of travelling.

The house is beautiful and full of Hungarian collectables. It’s the sort of place where usually I feel at ease, only here the behaviour of the hosts was really strange. It is a husband and wife team who speak a few languages. Only a little English which is my only language. Judit welcomed me & invited me to sit in the dining room. She invited me to participate in the horse & buggy tour her husband runs through the national park. I met Albert when he returned & he told me about the tour as well & brought out a guestbook where guests had written comments about it. He then snapped at something I’d said - I mentioned that I’d like to see water buffalo because I’d read they are in the park. He said they are not native and became kind of rude, saying something like “I can’t help you, this is what I offer, you don’t want to go for the tour”. I tried to pacify him saying that I’d like to go if he wanted to take me. He was like, “it’s too late and you are just one person”, indicating I wasn’t worth the time. His manner was very whiny. He went out, came back & said his wife had told him to take me on the tour so we would go. And I was like, “I can see you don’t want to take me, it’s actually just something your wife offered when I got here”. “You wanted to see water buffalo, I can’t help you there. Goodnight”. His wife offered some tea later & tried to make polite conversation to make up for her husband’s rudeness, but it seemed kind of forced.

Later I came back to the dining room because the wifi wasn’t working upstairs. Albert came in & said “you can’t sit here, this is a family room”. I explained about the wifi & that I didn’t know it was a family room as it was where I’d been directed by Judit. He almost dragged me out and showed me a dining room for guests which I hadn’t known about. I asked whether I could leave my luggage for a few hours the next day and was told I could. He said his wife would make a breakfast in the morning for guests. But the manner was really rude and antagonistic so I felt uncomfortable & thought I’d skip the breakfast.

In the morning, he was there straightaway when I came downstairs & said “there are lockers at the National Park, I suggest that you leave your bag there. They can take you on a tour to see the water buffalo. Goodbye”. The effect was like kicking me out. Odd. Maybe they instantly disliked me for some reason? But Albert’s manner in particular seemed deliberately unpleasant, sort of performance-like. I stayed at other guesthouses Hungary where the hosts didn’t speak much English & had straightforward and...

We were met by Albert who speaks very good English and treated us to palinka and great conversation - he loves literature and owns some beautiful horses, one of which had just foaled when we arrived. Unfortunately we didn't have time to go riding as we were there mainly for the birding. Albert's wife, Judith, speaks French and German and provides a generous and lovely breakfast with a lot of local, traditional produce. Our en-suite room was just off the shared kitchen and dining area, although while we were there we were the only guests. There is a lovely courtyard garden along the side of the house and barn. The birds and wildlife of the area were amazing - although not the best season for them we had great views of cranes. Other stars included bluethroats, white-tailed eagles, saker falcon, penduline tit, pygmy cormorant, golden oriole, black stork. The puszta itself is beautiful, with wonderful wildflowers. All-in-all it was a very memorable stay, with hosts who became friends and exceptionally beautiful and unspoilt...

It is a pleasant and cool little place. With your room, you get a huge and comfortable bed, cool decorations, a bathroom and access to the downstairs kitchen/dining room.

Immediately I was able to get settled and the lady and gentleman were both really polite and fun to talk to, recommending me some of the more worthy places to visit during the winter months.

The place from the outside was different to what some people may expect but it was a cute traditional place and the owners of the place had plenty of cats roaming around which I found to be so cool as I am a huge cat fan but others may think differently.

I will 100% be returning in the summer to finish off what I couldn't and to take advantage of all they have to offer during the warmer summer months.

Just be prepared to bring your own food or buy from the locals. Maybe even try out one of the restaurants nearby (don't forget the famous Hortobágyi...