A palace that channels Budapest's passion for opulent art
Find this grandiose Budapest hotel, a heady blend of Italian Renaissance, Baroque, Gothic, and Art Nouveau accents, poised on the Danube River's east side, with Murano chandeliers and bronze sculptures galore.
While its marble façade, embellished with carvings and a clock tower, hint at an allegiance to a bygone era, its 185 rooms, dramatic visions in plum and gold, are decidedly up to the moment. A massive courtyard lobby is crowned with a glass pyramid roof.
And though the star attraction here remains the glamourous New York Café (writer Ferenc Molnár once flung the establishment's keys into the Danube, hoping the restaurant would never shut), where the soaring ceilings and sparkling chandeliers bring in thousands of daily visitors, hotel guests can retreat to the atmospheric spa or the Poet Bar, a century-old cocktail den that once attracted writers and journalists.
