Well, arrondisements are French. Kerület's are Hungarian. But what you want to look for will be expressed as either a Roman numeral such as VII and VIII or "District VI" or by the postal code like 1063 where the 1 means Budapest and the 06 means District VI and the 3 being a further subdivision of District VI. You may also see from time to time the name of the District.
District V Belváros-Lipótváros
District VI Terézváros
District VII Erzsébetváros
District VIII Józsefváros
But I generally only see the names written out by tourists to demonstrate their .... well whatever.....
Good question about the party district. By lower, I just mean lower number addresses on the main roads that run from the inner loop (Múzeum krt / Károly krt) to the outer loop (Teréz krt / Erzsébet krt). Or to put it another way, that which is closest to the inner loop. A quick lesson on Budapest geography
Looking at that link I sent you the zone inside the half circle loop (Múzeum krt / Károly krt) closest to the river is District V. This area I call Disneyland. It is 110% sustained by tourism, and yet it has very little worth seeing other than the river front which tourism and all is stunning.
Between that inner loop and the next one out (Teréz krt / Erzsébet krt) you will find the parts of VI, VII and VIII that is most interesting to visitors. From Kiraly north is District VI, its where I stay because to me it’s the most interesting. It includes the opera and Andrassy ut and my favorite wine bar and restaurants. The historic old M1 metro line runs under Andrassy ut and connects some of the best of Budapest and if you don’t want to ride the metro, the walk up Andrassy ut is some of the best walking day or night. It will be all lit up for the holidays by mid November.
Below Kiraly utca is District VII. District VII was primarily Jewish prior to the WWII and the area served as the deportation ghetto. When you walk up a side street off Kiraly utca, when you reach the back of the building facing on to Kiraly utca, know that you are stepping across the boundary into the Ghetto where ten of thousands died of starvation, sickness and exposure. Those lovely old streets had bodies stacked like cordwood along their sidewalks.
District VII is also the “Party” town where you will find the Ruin Pubs. But I didn’t think that was the environment you were looking for so I limited my boundary to Holló utca; beyond that street the party district begins.
Moving further south, beyond Rákóczi út you reach District VIII. Until recently District VIII was sort of rough, but that has changed completely in the areas closest to the inner loop road and to about mid point between the inner and outer loop road. Again, this why I put the boundary where I did. This area has some stunning architecture of old palaces and interesting courtyards. It’s a bit far from the center of everything, but the 47/49 tram runs the inner loop and will connect you to the heart of Budapest.
Now, having said all of this, if you send me addresses of the lodgings you are considering I might be able to tell you about the street and the convenience of the location. More than happy to. Sometimes they don’t give you an address, but they do a name. In that case sometimes I can find the place by name.
