We spent 2 nights at the Gellert and could have stayed much longer. The room had a balcony overlooking the Danube and was large and nicely furnished. The ambience is great - grand and old - it is a listed building. Staff are fantastic. The Gellert is attached to the Gellert Spa and you can reach this from within the hotel. As a guest you have free access to the spa which is fantastic! Brilliant outdoor swimming but exceptional indoor pools and themal baths all with amazing 19thC tiling etc. The Thai massage was excellent.

Colleagues of mine told me this was the best hotel to stay in within Budapest for traditional atmosphere and value. The architecture was definitely great, and I guess I can't complain about the dated rooms that much for the price we paid ($140 US per night with breakfast and access to the Gellert Baths & Spa). But the rooms are really old (think great-grandmas house without all the knick-knacks). I also didn't see any window screens here and found several gnats/bugs dead on the white tablecloths of the restaurant while having breakfast. That all said, you can get Wifi in the rooms (cards purchased at front desk), the bars are very cool and the spa is quite an experience! The spa is separate from the hotel (keep this in mind -- the front desk gave me inaccurate information about the spa hours and reservations). The spa was a total trip -- Hungarian elevator maid who escorts you down to the spa level, Hungarian ladies helping you put your personal items in private rooms and locking your wooden cabinet. Everything there is a la carte -- you only get access into the baths, steam room, pool. (I wish the waters would have been warmer.) Sparkling baths, mud baths, massages are all extra. The pool decor was very cool; loved the old marbel. Definitely get a massage at the Thai Massage place down the hallway -- best massage in my life, way better than the Hungarian lady at the Gellert Spa Bath.

My standard double room on the fourth floor was spotless, very adequately furnished with no ambience of the much-quoted but long-gone Communist era - and with a splendid balcony view of the river. Staff very friendly, food good and the building itself was delightful. Excellent location away from the city centre but only a ten-minute walk from its edge. My only but considerable reservation would be the lack of air-conditioning in the summer for the majority of rooms. Minor gripes would be the expensive broadband on the several computers available (twice the cost of that in an internet caf?, one of which is just 300 yards away), and the hotel restaurant's ensemble trying to flog diners their CD after their otherwise pleasant performance. Other than that, the Gellert was memorably different, but I wouldn't risk it in high season with no air con.