Hi there,
Since our trip to Budapest was for vacations and not as digital nomads, we forgot about Airbnb and opted for booking.com only.
In our price range we had two options: Ibis Hotel and Christina Residence.
Since they had free cancellation, we booked both to ask if breakfast had vegan options. They both answered yes.
We decided to stay at the Christina Residence (308 euros for 5 nights) because it had the best reviews and it seemed that the room and breakfast were better.
The hotel is in a residential building and the last two floors are those that correspond to the hotel.
The building was very old, and the elevator was over 50 years old. Since it didn’t work well, there were signs everywhere to indicate what to do if the elevator was going very slow or stopped halfway.
We arrived around 2pm and the receptionist in the afternoon took great care of us. He made us some tea and explained all the things of interest that we could visit in the city.
The breakfast area and hallways didn’t look too bad.
The room at first glance was not bad either, but it clearly did not correspond to a 4-star hotel, much less with the photos on the internet.
Seemed fairly clean, considering all the horrible experiences we’ve had in the past.
The mattress was grossly old and worn. I’m not exaggerating.
In the bathroom they had tried to do a cheap renovation to give it a change of look, but the qualities were terrible and the finishes and details left much to be desired. The cleanliness in the bathroom was not good and, for example, the bottom of the toilet was dark.
The daily cleaning was just to make the bed because the rest of the room was left the same. In fact, they didn’t bother to replace the dirty coffee cups. They didn’t even put amenities, when in any normal hotel they leave amenities daily, especially when they see that the containers are empty.
Even though breakfast was starting at 7am, it was at that time that the lady began to place things on the table.
As vegan options, the only thing that was available were cereals, non-dairy milk, vegetables to make a salad, and whole wheat bread.
On Saturday and Sunday there was another lady who worked in the kitchen and those were the only two days when breakfast was excellent since at 7am absolutely all the food was served on the table. In addition, she prepared fried tofu, stir-fried vegetables, gave us vegan cheese, vegan yogurt, and even a special granola.
That’s when we ended up realizing that the woman who worked in the kitchen during the week was incompetent.
Another thing is that when the girl of the week was there, she always burned the food, and the two floors of the hotel were filled with smoke and the smell of burnt eggs. Unbearable.
Inside the hotel, all the workers were dressed as if it were summer because it was 30 degrees. For my taste, the heating was excessive and, in fact, the first few days we slept badly due to the heat in the room. We had to always leave a window open.
I summarize the good and bad of the hotel:
Pros
- The receptionist of the afternoon shift was very friendly and helped us with everything we needed.
- Good location in the Buda area.
- Good breakfast during the weekend.
Cons
- The cleanliness leaves a lot to be desired, especially in the bathroom. In the daily cleaning, all they do is make the bed, nothing else.
- The mattress is extremely old and worn.
- The bathroom is very old and worn. The bathroom curtain was torn.
- The lady who works in the kitchen during the weekdays doesn’t know how to do her job and doesn’t have breakfast ready at the right time. In addition, you had to be entering the kitchen to ask for things that should already be outside. Even at 8:30, she was just starting to take out the bread and make the scrambled eggs. The woman who works in the kitchen during the weekend is punctual and professional and at 7am, all the food (vegan and non-vegan) was already in place.
- The elevator is too old and does not work properly.
- The hotel needs a renovation.
In short, I fail to understand how the Christina Residence supposedly has 4 stars. Also, I see that people’s standards are very low when evaluating hotels and tourist accommodation. Seriously, it is impossible for me that a hotel like this can have almost a 10 rating on booking.com.
The good thing about the stay is that when we returned to Porto, I felt that my house was a palace.