PHOTO BY DIANE VADINO
GOING SOMEWHERE: BUDAPEST
Let our Senior Editor Diane be your Budapest tour guide.
I'm no snob about where I sleep. For example, I have slept in a
car--specifically, a 1990 Nissan Micra--in the parking lot of a Russian
truck stop. I have slept in the Singapore airport (twice), in an ATM
vestibule (once), on the floor of a bathroom at the nicest hotel in
Laos (food poisoning), and, once, so thoroughly obscured in a pile of
laundry that my college roommate didn't realize I was there until
morning.
That said, I love few things like a really beautiful hotel, and I love
the one I'm in, right this moment, so much that I had to write to you
about it. I am about hotels the way some people are about shoes, or
motorcycles, or handbags: I am hopelessly in love with hotels in
general, and in particular, with the Four Seasons in Budapest, also
known as Gresham Palace. It sits at the foot of the city's Chain
Bridge, on the eastern bank of the Danube River. It was designed by
Hungarian architect Zsignmond Quittner in 1904 as the site of the
Gresham Life Assurance Company. (Fact: It made use of something called
a "central vacuum system," which meant that cleaners could simply
attach a tube to a nozzle embedded in the wall--instant vacuum.) It was
occupied by Soviet soldiers during World War II and fell into
disrepair, housing, at various intervals, a Chinese restaurant, a
casino, and a hair salon.
Seven years ago, it reopened as a Four Seasons after an $84 million
upgrade. Now, it may be the prettiest site in a beautiful city.
Budapest is famous for its Art Nouveau buildings, but this may be the
loveliest among them--especially as two of its chief competitors, the
Museum of Applied Art and the Royal Post Savings Bank, are under
renovation. I am prone to exaggeration, but its lobby may,
nonetheless, may be the most beautiful hotel lobby in the world, with
a vaulted glass ceiling, a chandelier made of hand-crafted crystal
leaves, and a mosaic floor comprised of--literally--over a million
tiles. My favorite place in the hotel, though, is not the lobby but
the peacock staircases. The hotel is built around a large central
courtyard, so the stairwells are washed in bright sunlight that passes
through stained glass to illuminate the incredible detail of the
iron-worked birds.
Actually, my favorite place in the hotel is in bed. From here, I can
see out the windows to the Royal Palace of Buda, illuminated at night
and now home to the Hungarian National Gallery. If I walk to the
window and look north, I can see Fisherman's Bastion, a Neo Gothic
confection that looks like the home of a fairy-tale princess but is
only a century old. In a room this nice, the view is enough, which is
the only problem with staying in the perfect hotel: I'm not going to
see nearly as much of Budapest as I should.
--DIANE VADINO
car--specifically, a 1990 Nissan Micra--in the parking lot of a Russian
truck stop. I have slept in the Singapore airport (twice), in an ATM
vestibule (once), on the floor of a bathroom at the nicest hotel in
Laos (food poisoning), and, once, so thoroughly obscured in a pile of
laundry that my college roommate didn't realize I was there until
morning.
That said, I love few things like a really beautiful hotel, and I love
the one I'm in, right this moment, so much that I had to write to you
about it. I am about hotels the way some people are about shoes, or
motorcycles, or handbags: I am hopelessly in love with hotels in
general, and in particular, with the Four Seasons in Budapest, also
known as Gresham Palace. It sits at the foot of the city's Chain
Bridge, on the eastern bank of the Danube River. It was designed by
Hungarian architect Zsignmond Quittner in 1904 as the site of the
Gresham Life Assurance Company. (Fact: It made use of something called
a "central vacuum system," which meant that cleaners could simply
attach a tube to a nozzle embedded in the wall--instant vacuum.) It was
occupied by Soviet soldiers during World War II and fell into
disrepair, housing, at various intervals, a Chinese restaurant, a
casino, and a hair salon.
Seven years ago, it reopened as a Four Seasons after an $84 million
upgrade. Now, it may be the prettiest site in a beautiful city.
Budapest is famous for its Art Nouveau buildings, but this may be the
loveliest among them--especially as two of its chief competitors, the
Museum of Applied Art and the Royal Post Savings Bank, are under
renovation. I am prone to exaggeration, but its lobby may,
nonetheless, may be the most beautiful hotel lobby in the world, with
a vaulted glass ceiling, a chandelier made of hand-crafted crystal
leaves, and a mosaic floor comprised of--literally--over a million
tiles. My favorite place in the hotel, though, is not the lobby but
the peacock staircases. The hotel is built around a large central
courtyard, so the stairwells are washed in bright sunlight that passes
through stained glass to illuminate the incredible detail of the
iron-worked birds.
Actually, my favorite place in the hotel is in bed. From here, I can
see out the windows to the Royal Palace of Buda, illuminated at night
and now home to the Hungarian National Gallery. If I walk to the
window and look north, I can see Fisherman's Bastion, a Neo Gothic
confection that looks like the home of a fairy-tale princess but is
only a century old. In a room this nice, the view is enough, which is
the only problem with staying in the perfect hotel: I'm not going to
see nearly as much of Budapest as I should.
--DIANE VADINO
This story was published on August 9, 2012.
CONTENT RATING:
( 1 )
( 1 )
anna
08/12/2012
Sounds amazing and a truely fascinating place to visit. Please keep travel articles coming!
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