Your Key To Historic Budapest

Budapest is becoming trendier than ever. If you haven’t been here yet, then pack your bags as the city has all you are looking for: historical and modernd buildings, heritage and contemporary, fresh cultural, gastronomical and nightlife scenes. In Budapest every visitor can feel like a local – every restaurant, bar has its own characteristic. With its constantly renewing lively scene, the capital is a city where it’s worth returning to.

As most Hungarians I love Lecso too. It is a traditional local vegetable stew and however it is not a typical breakfast dish (actually not at all) I love it so much that if I could, I would eat it every day. Luckily at a small breakfast place near the hotel, called A la Maison, they offer it all day long.  

The Central Market Hall is a place I would not miss if I was a tourist. It is best to go in the morning hours when it is lively and busy. A really colourful market that still serves as it’s original function and on the first floor you can find really good, heavy traditional local street food that is perfect for lunch.  

Do not miss visiting one of the bath houses while in Budapest. Most people visit Gellert or Szechenyi Bath House hence these can be pretty crowded. Still, I would highly recommend for everyone to visit Szechenyi with it’s amazing and huge outdoor hot water pools especially in the Winter when it is freezing cold. That is the best time of the year to try it. However if you want to go to a really nice old one which is kept in a good shape then go to Veli Bej, this little gem, an old Turkish bath house which is not a well known one, not even among locals so it is never really crowded.  

Rudas Bath is another one which is worth a visit. This bath house is the perfect combination of super old, old and new as it has a 500 year old, a 100 year old and a brand new part. This last one includes a big jacuzzi on top of the building overlooking the Danube River. Imagine that it is the middle of winter, 3am in the morning, it’s snowing and you are sitting in the hot water of the jacuzzi after partying. The city is still sleeping around you so it is perfectly quiet.  (The bath is opened for night bathing from 10pm until 4am on Fridays and Saturdays).  

My choice for dinner would be our very own Kollázs Brasserie & Bar. Not because it is our hotel’s restaurant but because I have tried it many many times and the food was always superb. And I know the staff and they are absolutely amazing so it is the perfect combination.  It is vibrant and inspiring, yet casual and affordable, Kollázs is a contemporary brasserie in a landmark Budapest location, overlooking the Chain Bridge and the Danube River. The Hungarian word for “collage,” Kollázs highlights creative combinations in all aspects of the dining experience. 

As Budapest emerges as a modern metropolis, Kollázs perfectly captures the dynamic spirit of the city: historic yet contemporary, timeless yet fresh, glamorous yet relaxed. KOLLÁZS promises to become one of Budapest’s most popular dining destinations – welcoming with understated, informal elegance. 

There is no better way of finishing the day than doing a little private boat ride. These Venetian style wooden power boats of Dunarama company will give you the perfect experience. Beauty, relaxation, sightseeing, excitement and craziness at the same time. And all this in one hour. They also operate in the wintertime with a covered and heated boat. 

If you are still not tired we are happy to get you into Brody Studios, a private members arts club that provides creative and inspiring spaces that can be dressed up or down as required. Over 3 floors you will find 2 bars, 3 ateliers, recording studio, screening room and games (poker and pool) room.aHa And all 

Published February 2018

Meet the Author
Peter Buday

I began my hospitality career when I was a child, as my family was operating a little campsite at Lake Balaton, a beautiful countryside area in Hungary.

Later I attended a high school which was a school for hospitality and from here I went on to study Hospitality Management at the Western Hungarian University where I got my Diploma in 2008.

I did a 1,5 year long internship in Seattle, USA and after returning home in 2003 I started working at the Hilton WestEnd in Budapest.

From here I transferred to the Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace Budapest as a Front Desk Agent in May 2004, just in time to join opening team of the Hotel. After a year and a half I was promoted into the position of Assistant Front Desk Manager, from where in 2006 I transferred into the position I really desired. I became part of the concierge team.

Finally, things accelerated in 2015 when I was promoted to become the leader of the Concierge Team first as the Assistant Chief Concierge and since mid 2016 as the Chief Concierge.

I joined Les Clefs d’Or in 2008 and have been a member since.

Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace Budapest

An art nouveau landmark on Szechenyi Square, Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace Budapest gracefully combines vintage architecture and design with modern services and amenities. Of the Hotel’s 179 generously proportioned luxury guest rooms, including 19 suites with vaulted ceilings and private step-out balconies, many offer views of intimate interior courtyards, the Old City or the sparkling Danube.

Budapest, with 1,000 years of history behind it, is one of Europe’s oldest cities. And since the fall of the Iron Curtain, the city’s rich opera, theatre, art and winemaking scenes are once again booming. Four Seasons very much became part of the city’s resurgence when it acquired the Art Nouveau landmark Gresham Palace in 1998. Derelict after years of neglect, Four Seasons hired the best talent in Hungary to restore the building to its original splendor.

Overseeing the huge projects was the passionate, visionary designer Miklós Szentkirályi . He and his team of wrought-iron specialists, silversmiths, stained-glass makers, ceramists, mosaicists and other craftspeople set out to authentically restore The Gresham Palace based on extensive research of how the Palace was initially built.

In 2004, after a five-year $110-million restoration, the Hotel was unveiled. Some of the Hotel’s outstanding features are a two million-piece mosaic tile floor, a grand, sweeping staircase, stained-glass floors, and a wrought iron elevator that have each been lovingly restored or replicated when preservation wasn’t possible. In the process of reconstruction, the Hotel was also completely modernized, adding amenities like an indoor lap pool, spa, fitness facilities and all the latest internet and entertainment equipment.

The result of these artisans’s hard work and dedication is Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace Budapest, a historical landmark that combines the luxurious comforts of the 21st century with the elegance of the past – and it is, to many, the best hotel in Hungary.

Széchenyi István tér 5-6., 1051 Budapest, Hungary

www.fourseasons.com/budapest

+36 (1) 268-6000

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