Budapest

The great thing about Budapest is that it is one of the cheapest cities in Europe for hotels/apartments. A night at the Gresham House Four Seasons is about the same as a night in an average hotel in New York City.
There are plenty of wonderful places that are far less expensive than that. On my most recent trip, I stayed at the Residence Baron Hotel, close to my favorite neighborhood-Kalvin ter and Kiroly Mihaly utca, and a 10 minute walk across Erzsebet hid to Buda. Breakfast was included and a desktop with internet access is in each guest room, all for about $95 a night. I would definitely stay there again.

My favorite mid range hotel in Budapest is the K&K Opera. You should be able to get a room for about 90euro. It's not sweet or romantic or ..... But it's very clean, good breakfast, decent rooms and reliable service. One of the problems with Budapest is that there are just too many good hotels to choose from. Geee isn't that just terrible? My favorite part of town, and the part of town I recommend my friends to stay in is two blocks either side of a line drawn down the middle of Andrassy ut from the Oktogon and then extended to the Danube. I think it's a perfect location. But if you have particular interests or needs let me know and I can give some specific locations or hotels. My dislikes for hotel zones are District V (too touristy), Buda (too far away), Astoria Area (too dirty without reward). And then it depends on the time of year. Spring, summer and Early Fall you want to be where the outside cafes are located. Dead of winter you want to be where the events are. The zone along Andrassy ut that I suggested is detailed in a file called Hotel Zone.pdf that you can find here: http://budapestflat.shutterfly.com/fivedaysinbudapest And don't forget that RSteves book has a listing of a lot of good hotels.

Price could depend on the time of year. Hotel Pest near the Opera was very nice. We got a good price on the hotel website. James is very knowledgeable about Budapest.

Thank you John. I've stayed at the Hotel Pest a few times and have actually put my employees up there once. Not a bad hotel at all. The K&K is slightly behind the Opera House on one side of the great Andrassy ut (street) while the Hotel Pest is across the street behind the Dreschler Palace. Both excellent locations. I actually have property about 300 feet from the Hotel Pest. Love the area.