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The Independent
7 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
The 10 best boutique hotels in Budapest in 2025, reviewed
With its thermal baths, ruin bars and complex history, Budapest is a city that sure's to stimulate the senses. If you're something of a classic traveller, we recommend you make a beeline for the Castle District. The former Royal Palace is now home to the Hungarian Natural Gallery, but this area is also home to many of the city's other landmarks – think Fishermen's Bastion and Matthias Church – and has seen significant development over the past few years. For foodies, there are ample coffee and cake houses to keep you sated, and for partygoers, the rooftop bars scene is on point. There's plenty to see and do, regardless of whether you're here for a long time or a good time. Although the capital of Hungary continues to grow in popularity, you don't have to succumb to the crowds with boutique hotel options aplenty to retreat to. Whether it's a baroque townhouse on Castle Hill or an urban downtown sanctuary, Budapest has a range of great boutique hotels to choose from. Best boutique hotels in Budapest 2025 At a glance 1. Aria Hotel At the Aria Hotel, music weaves itself into the concept, with themed rooms inspired by classical, jazz, modern, and opera. Piano keys curving along the floor lead you into the glass-covered lobby, where you can recline with complimentary wine and cheese served from 4-6 pm and listen to live music. Guests can enjoy a symphony in the bath or relax in the atmospherically lit, blues-themed underground spa, but don't miss the High Note SkyBar for a cocktail with a dramatic panorama over the city. Address: Hercegprímás u. 5, 1051 2. Hotel Moments Budapest This 99-room boutique hotel sits on the prestigious Andrássy Avenue just moments away from St Stephen's Basilica and the Hungarian State Opera. Like many Budapest boutique hotels, it occupies a former townhouse that has been revamped to mix up the building's original features, such as the stunning fresco-clad entryway, with modern design. The gourmet buffet breakfast is served with a mouth-watering choice of baked goods, seasonal produce, cold cuts and gluten- and lactose-free options and is one of the main highlights. Address: Andrássy út 8, 1061 3. Baltazár Boutique Hotel Baltazár is an 11-room, family-owned hotel tucked away in the Castle District's gastronomic quarter, with excellent restaurants just minutes away. Each room is individually designed, mixing a bohemian melting pot of art, vintage furniture and colourful fabrics. The main highlight, however, is the food and drink. Enjoy an apéritif on the cosy leather sofas in the bar – try the gin (there's an extensive collection) or one of the many Hungarian or Central European wines. Address: Országház u. 31, 1014 4. Hotel Rum The Hotel Rum is a compact hotel with 40 rooms spread across seven floors of a narrow townhouse. Each room varies in size and proportion, sporting an industrial chic aesthetic with rough stone walls in some rooms, along with metro tiles in the bathrooms and Edison lights. The common areas and the rooms feature art from local artists, giving the hotel a quirky, trendy edge. Breakfast is served at the rooftop restaurant, SOLID, on the 7th floor, with panoramic city views. Another curiosity is that the hotel also houses SALT, a Michelin-starred restaurant on the ground floor, focusing on modern dishes inspired by Hungarian flavours and ingredients. 5. Giselle Vintage Doubles hotel Giselle Vintage Doubles is ideal for the traveller looking for something with a cosy vintage touch. This boutique hotel with 20 rooms occupies a unique setting on the top floor of a grand residential building with a stunning glass-covered courtyard. There's an elevator to the top, but you may want to take the stairs, as the ornate Art Nouveau staircase is a visual feast. The rooms are quiet with vintage touches, and some have balconies overlooking the square. Although the hotel is located in a busy area downtown, the windows are excellent at keeping the noise out. Address: Ferenciek tere 2, 1053 6. Pest-Buda Design Hotel Pest-Buda overlooks a cobbled street just minutes away from Matthias Church and the Fisherman's Bastion on Castle Hill. The building dates back to 1696 and was the first hotel in Hungary. Although you can still spot historical details in this 11-room hotel, such as its perfectly preserved baroque roof, the decor is modern and hip, mixing rustic elements such as wooden beams with brass industrial chic lighting and retro leather furniture. Address: Fortuna u. 3, 1014 7. Brody House hotel You'll want to book months in advance to get one of the rooms at this bohemian bolthole. Brody House is a 19th-century townhouse in the heart of the Palace District. It was once an artist's collective, and much of the art on the walls came from the former artists in residence, who individually designed each room. Guests can immerse themselves in the local art scene simply by entering their room, but take time to walk up and down Brody Sandor utca – a vibrant street populated with private galleries and artists' collectives. The whole house, or sections of it, can also be booked for larger groups, and there's also a lively bar area serving food and craft cocktails. Address: Bródy Sándor u. 10, 1088 8. Hotel Gin Hotel Gin has 35 rooms spread across four floors on a quiet street around the corner from the remains of the old city wall of Pest. It's an elegant hotel with a chic modern design, muted tones, smart features like electronic do-not-disturb signs, and cleaning request buttons. Rooms are furnished with Smeg kettles and a coffee-pod machine. The en suite bathrooms are deconstructed, with the sink in the room and a partitioned module for the toilet and the shower in separate cubicles. 9. Hotel Clark Located on the Buda side of the city, with breathtaking views overlooking the iconic Chain Bridge and many other city landmarks, Hotel Clark Budapest is a modern, luxury boutique hotel with 79 rooms and suites spread across seven floors. Their Seventh Heaven Studios on the seventh floor come with a spacious private terrace. Hotel Clark also has a small wellness area with a Finnish dry sauna and a compact fitness room with Danube views. Crowning the 5-star boutique hotel is LEO Rooftop Bar, located on the 8th floor, offering spectacular views over the Chain Bridge, the Royal Castle, the Parliament and the Danube river. The other restaurant in this hotel, LEO Bistro, can be found on the ground floor, where breakfast is served and guests can enjoy the delicious offerings of the international-inspired bistro menu. 10. Monastery Boutique Hotel As the name may hint, this four-star boutique hotel occupies a part of a 300-year-old Baroque abbey, which was completely renovated in 2016. However, there is still a small, closed-off wing with a small community of Capuchin monks. There are 47 rooms spread out across two floors, with a range of rooms from standard to family size and a 45-square-metre suite. In keeping with the monastic theme, rooms are minimalist, with some of the original walls still showing. The hotel has two restaurants: UMO, which offers international dishes, and Moszkvatér Bistro, which serves Eastern European cuisine.
Times
17-05-2025
- Times
This spa in the Tuscan hills is perfect for a classy girls' trip
It has just gone 9pm. Silence envelops the Val d'Orcia in Tuscany and complete blackness, save for a shiny fingernail of moon, the quivering Milky Way and, on the horizon, the floodlit hexagonal 12th-century Tentennano Fortress. In my swimsuit and a hugely unflattering (mandatory) bath cap, I'm lolling up to my neck in steaming water. A cool night wind brushes my face, ruffles the branches of the vast larch tree above and sends wisps of steam skittering across the water surface, just visible in the light coming from the dining room of Hotel La Posta at the far end of the pool. I'd like to report that I'm wallowing thoughtfully, musing over how these 38C, mineral-rich waters began as raindrops that fell 18 years ago on the nearby dormant volcano Monte Amiata, at 1,736m the highest peak in southern Tuscany. But instead, I'm excitedly beckoning my friends as they appear wraithlike in the mist, from the doors leading directly from the indoor spa to the outdoor pools, to join me for La Posta's Friday (and Saturday) night ritual of bathing sotto le stelle — under the stars. We've been here less than 48 hours and already we've staked out 'our' spot, a submerged seat at the pool's far end, rechristened 'the gossip bench'. We sit there and natter for hours about everything from With Love, Meghan to Trump's tariffs and on to something that, as the owner of a degree in Italian, constantly pains me: the correct pronunciation of bruschetta (broo-sket-ta, please!). If there's a more classy spot for a girls' weekend I'd love to hear about it. About two hours' drive from Florence airport, but just 30 seconds' walk from the hamlet of Bagno Vignoni, La Posta has three geothermal pools: the scalding one for wallowing, and two at about 28C for (gentle) swimming. They sit in idyllic gardens with panoramic views over a valley that could be used for Tuscan bingo: undulating hills; silvery olive tree; feathery cypresses that unify the landscape while their deep, wide roots interlink to bind the underlying soil and prevent it from being washed away; and the occasional stone farmhouse. A former general store and post office (hence the name) La Posta was transformed into a hotel in the 1950s by the Marcucci family. In 2017 it was taken over by Michil Costa, the flamboyant and intellectual (he's written a book railing against mass tourism) owner of the deluxe, bijou-hotel chain Casa Costa, who enjoyed his childhood holidays there. In March, it reopened after extensive renovations to bring it up to five-star standard. The result is a 35-room hotel with every facility you'd expect, including a spa with Santa Maria Novella products, 24-hour room service, floors of Travertine marble and excellent service. Yet — with Costa a fervent opponent of bland hotel decor — La Posta's also brimming with a quirky charm that makes you feel far more as if you're staying in your eccentric, rich Italian grandmother's country house than some faceless franchise. Walls are decorated with a mishmash of old paintings and faded photographs; surfaces and glass cabinets are crammed with knick-knacks. The library has well-stocked bookcases, packs of cards and board games, including a Tuscan version of Monopoly in which Mayfair's equivalent is Loro Ciuffenna, a — surprise, surprise — charming hillside town. Bedrooms are decorated in rich, jewel tones; mine has shades of teal and scarlet with furniture a mix of stylish mid-century and antique. I'm especially taken with the old-fashioned dressing table in my otherwise high-tech bathroom, where I sit blow-drying my hair before every evening's pre-dinner rendezvous at the Bar Verde. There we enjoy some of the most imaginative cocktails I've ever encountered — think a naked and famous made from Picaflor mezcal, Santoni bitters and yellow chartreuse that manages to be smoky-sophisticated and refreshing. The soundtrack comes from the vast selection of records — from Bob Dylan to Meatloaf to Pavarotti — displayed in old suitcases, which we take turns spinning on the record player. • Read our full guide to Tuscany The stylish La Rocca restaurant has floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the valley. The chef Matteo Antoniello is a devotee of local produce (when I shamefully ask for a Coke at the poolside bar, I'm gently but fairly reproved: 'Tuscan only!'). There's tagliatelle with ragu made from the local Chianina beef (I also have it in a mouth-melting peposo Tuscan stew topped with chard). Starters consist of platters of tangy wild-boar salamis, while the cheese trolley has creamy, yet forceful, 24-month-old pecorinos and subtle blue cheeses made from buffalo milk. Ovviamente, wines come mainly from the neighbouring regions Montepulciano and Montalcino, birthplace of vino del momento brunello (mains from £24). Breakfast's a fabulous all-you-can-eat buffet of pastries, yoghurts, cold meats and fruit. The temptation afterwards is to head straight to the poolside's padded loungers and that extraordinary view. The waters feeding the pools don't contain hydrogen sulphur, so mercifully there's none of the usual, off-putting, eggy smell. Others around the pool are mainly well-heeled Italians, possibly the only nationality to pull off looking cool in a bathrobe and slippers. Some of them are day guests, having paid for £34 (£38 at weekends) to use the pools but not the indoor spa facilities, which include two saunas, a steam room and a Jacuzzi, where we sit chattering — well, OK, shrieking with laughter, until we're politely reprimanded by the charming staff. • 11 of the best things to do in Tuscany We decide that to justify the next blow-out meal, we need some excursions. The following morning, we head to Bagno Vignoni, an almost parodically picturesque medieval hamlet (population 30), constructed not around a square, but a 59m by 29m steaming-hot aquamarine pool. 'The public's no longer allowed to bathe here because it was becoming a human soup,' our guide, Roberto Guerrini, tells us. Are there ever exceptions? 'When Italy wins the World Cup.' But for millennia before, it was a hub for Etruscans, then Romans, then pilgrims who would halt their 1,200-mile Via Francigena journey between Canterbury and Rome for a much-needed soak. We follow a sliver of their route, to the nearby town of San Quirico, and continue up a steep strade bianche (white road) that peaks at Vignoni Alto, another toytown-perfect hamlet with views over the valley, straight from every A Place in the Sun fantasy. It's home to just two families. Do they get on? Roberto merely rolls his eyes. These tiny hill towns were built by city dwellers fleeing the collapsing Roman empire. Their us-against-the-world mentality, combined with the settlements' isolated locations and high surrounding walls made them key headquarters for the Italian resistance during the Nazi occupation. A plaque on Vignoni Alto's ancient walls pays moving tribute to seven locals killed 'by retreating Germans 'in a pointless massacre' on the eve of the liberation. 'Your lives were destroyed at the moment we thought peace had returned.' • 29 of the best hotels in Tuscany Neighbouring villages bear other reminders of this sad chapter. The following day, at the gates of Monticchiello, another perfectly preserved hamlet (litter is non-existent), our guide for the day Francesca Raspanti, shows us the spot where a group of partisans were lined up to be executed. At the last moment they were reprieved by the Italian wife of a German commander. 'One of those partisans,' Francesca concludes with a broad grin, 'was my grandfather.' We gain another real-life insight into our dreamy surroundings on a tour of the nearby organic pasta factory, Mulino Val d'Orcia, owned by the same family for three generations. There organic durum wheat from the orderly, surrounding fields is stone-ground and shaped into macaroni, fusilli, penne and cipressini — pasta in the shape of those ubiquitous cypress trees, an irresistible buy from the nearby farm shop. There, in its walled garden, pigeons coo and bunnies hop in the long grass as we enjoy a hearty plate of its pici (thick spaghetti) with tomato and wild garlic sauce topped with viscous, spicy olive oil (tour with lunch £42; These villages and many more can be easily reached from La Posta by either car, or (hearty) walking trails, or on ebikes that can be rented in Bagno Vignoni (£38 for eight hours; After a morning touring, back at the hotel it's straight into our swimming costumes and to the gossip bench, to soak our muscles and yak some more. If only the trio from The White Lotus had chosen La Posta instead of Thailand, they could have skipped all the bickering and headed straight to the final scenes of joyous, female bonding. This article contains affiliate links, which can earn us revenue Julia Llewellyn Smith was a guest of La Posta, which has B&B doubles from £255 ( Fly to Florence By Siobhan Grogan This small boutique hotel, surrounded by vineyards, has bags of rustic Italian charm. Hidden away in the tiny village of Moncioni, an hour's drive north of Siena, its ten elegant rooms are individually decorated and might include bare painted beams, ceiling frescoes or a contemporary four-poster bed. Outside there's a ten-metre pool where lunch is served each day, while the glass-walled Vin Divino, overlooking the valley below, offers a traditional Tuscan menu. There's a heated indoor pool, sauna and steam room plus bikes to borrow, while the chef can be booked for private Italian cookery lessons. Horse riding, wine tasting and the medieval hilltop town of Radda are all Seven nights' B&B from £673pp, including flights ( Tuscan bolt holes don't get much more idyllic than this nine-bedroom country house. Surrounded by its own private olive grove and lavender gardens, it is within walking distance of the village of Pozzo della Chiana and 45 minutes' drive from Siena. Rooms are named after precious jewels and have colour-corresponding throws, headboards and cushions, alongside white antique-style furniture. There's also a self-contained junior suite in a separate cottage with its own private garden, and the entire property can be rented as a whole. Truffle hunting, day trips and wine tasting can be arranged but there's an outdoor pool, tennis court, yoga gazebo and terrace with an outdoor fireplace if you'd rather stay B&B doubles from £166; two-night minimum stay ( Fly to Florence A seven-room hotel on a winery and olive oil farm, Dievole is an 18th-century manor house at the end of a winding driveway lined by cypress trees. There are knockout views in every direction of the estate's 1,480 acres of woodlands and vineyards, located in the medieval hamlet of Vagliagli, 12km north of Siena. Rooms come in calming shades of whites and duck-egg blues with white terracotta floors, polished brass fittings and exposed beams, and pool towels stashed in personalised Dievole jute bags. There are two pools, a restaurant, an on-site nature trail for biking and hiking, and a tasting room to sample Dievole's B&B doubles from £212 ( Fly to Florence
