Boraros ter / District IX

ibis Styles Budapest City

★★★★★

The ibis Styles Budapest City is a sensible budget hotel for travellers who want a private room, a good breakfast and an easy commute to the sights, at a price well below the hotels of the Inner City. It belongs to Accor's ibis Styles brand, whose hotels are individually designed with a cheerful, colourful look, and it stands on Soroksári út, close to Boráros tér in District IX, near the Pest bank of the Danube, with views from some rooms towards Gellért Hill. The hotel has 130 air-conditioned rooms. Most are Design rooms of about sixteen square metres, with a double or two single beds, which are compact but well thought out, and there are Family rooms of about thirty-two square metres with a double bed and a single bed for up to three guests, which is good value for families travelling with one child. Rooms face either the garden side or the river side. The Lobby Bar serves draught beer, wine and spirits, and a buffet breakfast with Hungarian specialities is served every morning, until later at weekends. Wi-Fi is free, the hotel is entirely non-smoking, and there is a car park with a daily fee, which is useful if you arrive by car. There is no restaurant for dinner, but the surrounding streets of Ferencváros have plenty of places to eat, and the neighbourhood around Ráday utca, a pedestrian street of restaurants and bars, is a short walk away. The cultural centre of the district, with the National Theatre, the Palace of Arts concert hall and the Ludwig Museum of contemporary art, is within ten minutes on foot. The trade-offs are the busy road outside and the distance from the main sights, which means using public transport for most sightseeing, but for budget travellers who want hotel comfort rather than a hostel, it is one of the most practical choices in the city.

Location logic: Boráros tér, about a hundred metres from the hotel, is a tram hub. Tram 2 runs north along the Pest embankment, one of the most scenic tram rides in Europe, to the Great Market Hall, the Inner City, the Chain Bridge and the Parliament; trams 4 and 6 run along the Grand Boulevard to Blaha Lujza tér, Oktogon, Nyugati station and Margaret Bridge, or across Petőfi Bridge to Buda. The Great Market Hall is about a kilometre away and can be reached on foot along the river. The HÉV suburban line to Csepel also starts at Boráros tér.

Choosing the room: ask for a river-side room for the view towards Gellért Hill, and a higher floor for quiet. Families of three should book a Family room, which is twice the size of a Design room. Check whether breakfast is included in your rate; it often is with this brand, but rates vary.

How it compares: Wombat's is cheaper and more social but is a hostel; the Mercure and the Novotel cost more but are closer to the main sights. The ibis Styles is the budget hotel pick for travellers who want a private room, breakfast and quick trams to everything.