Kempinski Hotel Corvinus Budapest, Budapest, Hungary

Kempinski Hotel Corvinus, a luxury hotel in Budapest, Hungary is still one of the finest five-star hotels in Budapest. Name a hotel that can match its buffet breakfast or its 500-square-metre spa stuffed with enough state-of-the-art machines, massages and therapies to sort out even the Elephant Man. What’s kept the luxury hotel at the forefront (founded in 1897, the Kempinski hotel group is the oldest luxury hotel collection in Europe) is its desire to offer guests an experience greater than their expectations.

The facilities

From the classical trio constantly serenading the enormous split-level lobby/coffee shop patisserie (a little bit like going on board an ocean liner), to the front of house staff for whom nothing is too much trouble and without being asked, right down to the finicky detail of an overnight complimentary shoeshine service, this is a luxury hotel that desperately wants to please, impress and be remembered – even if the metal, marble and glass excrescence that is the modern façade paradoxically belies the warmth of welcome awaiting you inside it. Should my financial fortunes change at the same time as the Budapest Hilton blows up, then put me straight back into the Kempinski Hotel Corvinus.

The rooms

My voluminous Standard Double Room, amongst the 335 rooms in the luxury hotel, had much that I liked: a large writing desk, under floor heating in the marble bathroom and enough IT to challenge the most happening of businessmen - all in a blended pastel décor that was both comforting and timeless. Although the luxury hotel is expensive, guests won’t feel a more cosseted vibe from any other luxury hotel in Budapest. Watch out for promotional packages, often over a weekend and/or around a theme of golf, opera, horse riding etc. which can drastically reduce the normal tariff.