Budapest hotel--Hotel Alice vs Intercontinental Hotel

I’d try to stay in between those locations, but the Alice is fairly far out unless you are interested in the immediate neighborhood.

For three nights it’s a tossup. If you booked the Alice it’s because you wanted to stay in a classic old turn of the century mansion, and it does appear to be great at that; and it faces Andrassy ut which is beautiful at that end. I walk past from time to time but never been in it. Good reviews though. So how far removed is it from the tourism? it’s about 200 meters to either the Bajza utca or the Hősök tere (Heroes’ Square) stop of the M1. The M1 will take you to the Opera House, Vorosmarty ter and to within in few minutes’ walk of the river. Along the way it crosses two major tram lines that connect the rest of the tourist attractions in Pest. If you wanted to walk the full length, maybe 40 minutes of walking but with the M1 right below your feet, and with a TravelCard you can hop on and off the M1 when ever you got tired. So, remote, but not bad at all.

The Intercontinental. If you said you were only spending 2 nights it is where I would suggest. With 2 nights about all one can see is the river front on both sides and maybe one other destination in town. With so little time at least the Intercontinental gives you the stunning views across the river. The downside is its in “tourist central” and the building while very nice has no local character. The M1 is about a 4 minute walk and the famous 2 Tram runs out front of the hotel and takes you from the Parliament to the Great Market Hall where another tram takes you around to the Jewish District or across to Buda.

Really comes down to ambiance. Stunning views from a very, very nice 1970’s 5-star commercial hotel or 19th century mansion with a garden and the Andrassy ut community at your doorstep. You cant go wrong.

To further confuse you, some more hotel ideas: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/hungary/rs-forum-favorite-hotels-and-their-cost

If you are still unsure, then for a compromise between the Alice and the Intercontinental look at these:

Eurostars Ambassador (4.7) https://www.eurostarshotels.co.uk/
UpHotel (4.7) https://uphotelbudapest.com/
Hotel Oktogon (4.8) https://hoteloktogon.hu/home

Do keep in mind, I live here, so I dont stay in hotels. The best i can do is suggest by location and reviews but (with a few exceptions) not by experience.

Thanks everyone for the thoughts and ideas.

Its hard to do wrong, if you stay in Pest.