expert reviews of cheap hotels in Budapest

With access to multiple swimming pools, framed photographs of famous Olympic swimmers, and reasonable nightly rates, the Hotel Császár is a gold medal winner.

Hotel Kálvin Ház is a 10-minute walk from The Great Market Hall, the Danube, café-filled Ráday utca and the Kálvin tér Metro station.

Rates are uncommonly low for the luxurious atmosphere of stylish Italian imports in the turn-of-the-last-century building housing K.M. Saga.

Although the Mandragora offers hostel accommodations, it doesn't have the hostel party vibe—on the contrary, it's actually a place of peaceful tranquility.

Winning couple Maria and István rent out two rooms in their own apartment, as well as two rooms in a flat nearby, with genuine proprietorial joy.

The Papillon Hotel, which sits atop a hilltop square in Buda, is perfect for visitors in search of a leafy retreat from concrete-central Pest.