IHG’s Kimpton BEM Budapest hotel opens

Budapest has a surprisingly good high-end hotel scene with most of the big chains represented.

We recently reviewed the brand new Dorothea Hotel which is part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection. If you don’t fancy that, Marriott can also offer you high-end options at the W, The Ritz-Carlton and The Luxury Collection (Matilde Palace).

IHG has increased competition with the opening of Kimpton BEM Budapest.

The European hotels opened by IHG since it acquired the Kimpton brand have been mixed. Paris is fantastic (I had a bad stay just after it opened but when I returned it was fully on the ball), Amsterdam (in the ugly 1980s Crowne Plaza building) is so-so, Mallorca is awful. I’ve not seen the Barcelona one.

The four UK Kimpton hotels were all conversions and do not fully reflect the style of the brand. I do like Kimpton Fitzroy in London but the rooms are exceptionally small, even the suites. I enjoyed my stay at Kimpton Manchester but I know others are less keen. Rhys reviewed Kimpton Edinburgh here. We’ve never seen Glasgow.

Budapest sounds good. It is based in a converted 19th century mansion in Buda, so it is a totally new hotel, not a conversion.

I didn’t see the site when I was in Budapest recently but apparently it is along the banks of the Danube near the Castle District. The hotel has been designed by Marcel Wanders which means you can expect some interesting stuff – for a start:

Reception desks are shaped as upside-down eggs reflecting Wanders’ fondness of the shape 

There are 127 rooms and suites, with the suites apparently having ‘expansive balconies’. The top suite comes with an 82 sq m rooftop terrace.

You can find out more on the hotel website here.

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