Matild Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Budapest: The best of Marriott in the Hungarian capital

After a three-hour ride from London, we finally arrived at Budapest airport. While we were seated in the first row and disembarked quickly from the plane, we had to wait quite a long time for our luggage which took more than half an hour to arrive on the delivery belt.

As a reminder, here is the itinerary followed that day:

#TypeReview
1LoungeBritish Airways Concorde Room, London Heathrow T5
2FlightBritish Airways Club Europe, London Heathrow – Budapest Liszt, Airbus A319 (unreported)
3HotelMatild Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Budapest
4LoungePlaza Premium Lounge, Budapest Liszt Terminal 2B, non-Schengen
5FlightBritish Airways Club Europe, Budapest Liszt – London Heathrow, Airbus A320
Today’s itinerary

Booking

I made the reservation for this property a few weeks before our arrival in the Hungarian capital.

In Budapest, I already tried 2 properties already reported on TravelGuys: the New York Palace, which has since left Marriott to join NH, and the Marriott Budapest, in which I did not have a fantastic experience last time, since the upgrade had simply been forgotten by the hotel, not even recognizing my Ambassador status.

So I offered to my wife, who had liked the Marriott last time, to try this new Luxury Connection, freshly opened in the Hungarian capital, and which advantageously replaces the luxury offer abandoned by the New York Palace, at the time part of Autograph Collection. And for the same price!

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So I booked for a little less than 200 € a night in this Budapest property.

Arrival

We arrived at the hotel shortly after midnight, and were immediately taken care of by a porter who took care of our luggage, despite the relative emptiness of the lobby, and were directed to the reception. We can see that this is a five star hotel as a full service reception is available 24 hours a day.

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In fact, it is not a night auditor but a receptionist who will carry out our arrival process. He will proceed with the formalities in a very professional manner, congratulate me on my status and take my credit card authorization.

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He will give us an upgrade to a very nice suite.

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The different facilities of the hotel were presented to us, as well as the food options. The receptionist did escort usus to the elevators, and offered us to be accompanied to our suite, which we will declined.

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The luggage will follow, and the doorman will accompany us to our suite to drop off all of our belongings.

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Suite

Our suite was located on the third floor of the hotel. The renovation of the common areas is absolutely perfect, and, from the inside, it is difficult to believe that it is a historical building, so much the renovation is of quality.

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In the entrance of this suite, there was a large closet, which will allowed us to settle in for the two nights of our stay, a minibar, offered for Ambassador members, as well as a high quality espresso machine. A large mirror was also available to help you get ready before going out.

The entrance naturally leads to a lounge area, which has a small sofa and coffee table, a small dining table with a generous welcome amenity including a bottle of premium champagne, and a desk at one end of the room.

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The large mirror above this desk was actually embedding a television. Very ingenious!

A door separated the living room area from the bedroom area where a king size bed is located in the center. A large TV is available on the right and the two large windows offer a fairly clear view of downtown Budapest.

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Behind the bed is the access to the bathroom, and its decoration is extremely successful with a cameo of blue in mosaic very elegant, with a basin of toilet on the left, Japanese toilets on the right, and a very large shower where it will be possible to make its toilet to two, and in which is located a beautiful bathtub.

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. I love the decoration of this suite, very much to my taste, and which knew how to handle the history of the place, with materials at the same time very noble and very modern. Probably one of my favorite hotels of the last five years.

To finish, here is the virtual visit in video:

Hotel facilities

The hotel has all the facilities you would expect from a luxury hotel in the city center: a gym of course, but also a spa, both located in the basement of the hotel.

Gym

I did not use the fitness room during my stay unfortunately.

Spa

On the second night of our stay, after a day of exploring the city, we did use the spa facilities, located in the basement of the hotel.

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Its facilities are very good, and the property has two saunas, several hammams, but unfortunately no pool or jacuzzi.

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Catering

There are several eateries available in the hotel and we made good use of them.

Breakfast Service – Matild Café

For the two mornings of our stay, we did use the Matild Café which serves breakfast. It is also possible to have breakfast in the hotel’s fast food cafe, the Matild Cabaret located on the first floor, but the most complete option is in the cafe.

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The service is excellent, we were placed at a table, and the waiter came to order our hot and cold drinks.

The buffet, although limited in size due to the limited capacity of the hotel, was very diverse, with high quality items, including completely local items. We made a small selection, to start the day well.

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Rooftop bar – The Duchess

On the second night of our stay, we took advantage of the rooftop bar of the Duchess, despite the rather cool weather, to have a drink before our dinner.

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Don’t worry, it has a full roof and you will be warm in the middle of winter. But in the summer, I imagine the place is buzzing with local and non-hotel guests.

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Let’s hope that some tables will remain reserved for the hotel’s clientele, because it becomes very unpleasant when you are resident guests, and you can’t enjoy the hotel’s bars and restaurants.

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Our cocktails were excellent, as well as the snacks that were served. The service was also very good.

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Dinner – Spago by Wolfgang Puck

Still on our second night, we chose to dine at the hotel’s Italian restaurant, whose executive chef is the American Wolfgang Puck, known for his various concepts across the Atlantic. The menu is extremely attractive, and my wife and I enjoyed the meal. As with all of the hotel’s dining outlets, the service was excellent!

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The open kitchen was very pleasant, and the dishes prepared were absolutely magnificent. A great experience.

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Service

As I have mentioned in the whole review, the service in this hotel is absolutely excellent, far superior to what we have experienced in the Hungarian capital, during our previous stays. It is a real palace service that is offered to the customers of this hotel.

Departure

The morning of our departure, the formalities of departure were be extremely fast, and the invoice sent directly on my e-mail address.

Bottom line

An excellent stay, probably my favorite hotel of the last years, and certainly the best option in the city of Budapest. We will return with great pleasure.

Olivier Delestre-Levai
Olivier Delestre-Levai
Olivier has been into airline blogging since 2010. First a major contributor to the FlyerTalk forum, he created the FlyerPlan website in July 2012, and writes articles with a major echo among airline specialists. He now co-runs the TravelGuys blog with Bertrand, focusing on travel experience and loyalty programs.
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