The Best Hotels in Budapest
"W Budapest is an exploration of duality. Housed in the Drechsler Palace, a building designed by architects Ödön Lechner and Gyula Pártos and previously home to the headquarters of the Hungarian State Ballet Academy, this is a hotel that firmly modernize the W brand while drawing deep influence from Hungary's past. A chessboard theme runs through the interior design, a homage to the city's national pastime: black-and-white tiles decorate every bathroom and elevator, and the two most splendid suites—the all-black Extreme Wow suite and all-white Wow suite—call back to both sides of the board, as well as the dueling black and white swans from Swan Lake. The Extreme Wow suite also houses a sculptural chessboard designed by artist Ronan Mckenzie, so you can practice your game while exploring the shops of glamorous Andrássy Avenue. Downstairs, the Away Spa is a veritable hall of mirrors inspired by Houdini's great illusions, and even a contortionist's sore muscles would be soothed by the clever massages. In the evening, enjoy refined Asian dishes at Nightingale by Beefbar, and then head down to Society25 for a nightcap. A speakeasy-style basement bar accessed through a bathroom mirror, it serves up a selection of intriguing cocktails, each inspired by the city's history: the Brew Bop is a coffee martini inspired by Budapest's 19th-century café culture, and the fun, frothy Strawberry Plié harks back to the era when trainee dancers rather than travelers roamed these halls."
