Gerlóczy Boutique Hotel — Hotel in Budapest

I always do my very best to avoid the hotel chains and the soulsucking sameness and blandness they offer. Instead I do my damnedest to unearth a hotel which offers not only charm and uniqueness, but a reflection of the history of the city I'm visiting. I'm pretty happy with my track record in this regard, but this time I really hit the jackpot. and within a couple of days Gerloczy Rooms de Lux became my favourite hotel anywhere, ever.

The wonderful Belle Epoque interior with its 5 meter ceilings, the tastefully colour coded floors, the fabulous circular staircase, the generously sized rooms, all tastefully decorated - I really don't know how the visual impression could have been improved upon.

In terms of location the hotel is perfectly situated. The area is quiet, a block of two away from any main roads, but yet smack in the middle of the inner city. A great many sights are within easy walking distance and for those not afraid of an hour's brisk walk there's very little that's out of reach. Not that you actually need to use your legs a lot, since Budapest's public transport system is both excellent and cheap.

The hotel restaurant is worth a chapter of its own, as it really is of a very high standard indeed. I spent 12 nights in the hotel and elected to have dinner here for 10 of those evenings, despite there being no shortage of good restaurants in the immediate vicinity.

The menu has a definite French slant, but of course you will also find a proper and very tasty goulash. Duck, lamb, chicken, beef and vegetarian options all make an appearance. I believe I tried all but a couple of the standard main courses and a good few of the daily offers and every one was well composed and cooked to perfection.

Once the main course has been polished off there's a number of very tasty desserts to choose from, as well as a very nice selection of sweet pastries. If you're not here for dinner they also do very tasty breakfasts and lighter meals for breakfast or lunch. As for the prices, I found them very reasonable indeed for the quality on offer.

During my stay the staff were all unfailingly polite, friendly and helpful and housekeeping was likewise flawless. As has been mentioned elsewhere the contents of the minibar (water, soda, beer and sparkling wine) is included in the price of the room and will be restocked daily at no extra cost. A very nice touch I thought and something I've never encountered anywhere else.

I realise this probably sounds like a paid ad by now, so in an attempt to balance things out at least partly I'll mention a few negatives:

I found the bed to be rather too hard, but solved this by asking for an extra duvet in addition to the two already provided and then slept on top of two of them and used the third as intended. Problem solved. Still, a softer mattress would have been the optimal solution.

For those intending to stay for more than a small handful of days, the room could have been better appointed in terms of storage. My room had a large and very nice wardrobe, but I would have liked an additional chest of drawers for socks, underwear and whatnot.

The room also lacked tea and coffee-making facilities, which also might be a problem only for people staying for a while. Or people like me, for whom a large mug of tea is the only acceptable start to the day.

And that's that as far as negatives are concerned.

All in all I think my stay at Gerloczy must rank as one of the best and most relaxing holidays I have every had. I loved the hotel, I loved the room and I loved the restaurant - and the very first thing I did on returning home was to book another ten days in the autumn of this year. That's probably the strongest...

I stayed here for three nights in early may of last year. Cost was roughly 400 euros for one room for single occupancy. They have different colour themes for different floors, my room was unfortunately on the red floor , which truly gave the appearance of a vampire's lair. The look is supposed to be of old royalty, but very impractical design and furniture is made up of cheap material specially the table and the cupboard. They could fall apart any moment,literally. The most impractical part is the bath tub, which does not have any shower curtain, so the water most definitely falls outside, and the door is see through, so if you are traveling with someone, then forget privacy. The worst part is the air-conditioning. You are not in control of the air conditioning of the room! You could set it at 17C,but the temperature would still be whatever the hotel staff decides. They can cook you at 32C if they chose too. And that's what happened on the first night. I woke up several times in the night, completely wet with sweat. In the morning I told the receptionist while going out, that the temperature doesn't seem to be going down despite me turning down the temperature. And if I could get a thinner blanket or a bedsheet instead of the thick duvet. The pixie haired receptionist, was completely empathy-less, she said they do not have extra bedsheets ( seriously!) And I should just take the duvet out myself and just use the cover . In the evening she confirmed there was something wrong with air conditioning and that they would fix it. It was suffocating in the room, not even a little bit of air. They fixed it middle of the night: close to 11-12 . Then next day again same issue. I was literally crying to the receptionist( who seemed to have been changed, very conveniently, so that I have to keep explaining issues to new person every new day) to please fix the conditioning, I could hear the AC being turned on and off through the night but it didn't get fixed till I finally fell asleep with exhaustion. I was very happy to leave this place the next day. The only good thing was that the receptionist on third day was better ( unlike the emotionless one for the first day) and stored my luggage till it was time for my flight. The reception area is very small. Actually it's nill meter square to be accurate. I wish I had not gone with the overhyped reviews and instead booked the other "boutique" hotel,where I actually landed first due to a confusion in name. The reception itself was 100x better and most certainly they don't cook there guests with defunct cooling system. Very expensive for the service and quality. I wish I could have reviewed this earlier on...

Would recommend this hotel and attached cafe if you plan on visiting Budapest. |Staff are genuinely friendly, accommodating of requests, and extremely keen to ensure everything is perfect. They were also able to provide useful help and advice on what to do or how to get around.|Tip for the over 65s - all transport by tram, metro and bus is free, is fast, and runs very regularly.|The hotel is not very big (maybe only 20 rooms) and is probably better described as a restaurant with rooms, as there is only a small lobby, lift and guest rooms. The architecture is interesting and the spiral staircase to the fourth floor is delightful.|Our room was ideal for what we wanted - i.e. somewhere to wash and sleep, and was clean and comfortable. Ours was in the attic space and had period features, including original wooden beams. The large double bed was on a two step raised plinth. You need to watch your head getting in and out of bed, and it may not be suitable for someone with mobility problems. Bathroom has well proportioned with French-style fittings, a tin sink and walk-in shower. The water pressure was not high, but was always hot and have a good soaking.|The breakfast was chosen from an extensive menu of hot and cold food and drinks and everything was freshly prepared after ordering. The portion sizes were very large and we usually shared plates, especially the hot choices. Quality was excellent and service was friendly, helpful and efficient.|There were tables inside and out, though the weather was warm so we ate outdoors and watched the world go by. There are narrow roads on both sides, but seems to be for the occasional electric vehicle and was to all intents and purpose an semi-pedestrianised space, so was quiet and peaceful.|The restaurant is a hidden gem and also serves lunch and dinner menus. We ate there a couple of evenings and the food and wide choice was always wonderful.|The cost of meals and drinks was surprisingly reasonable and was excellent...