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• Simon Lane says:

  20 Jul20 July 08:18

  What is an upside down egg and what would it look like ? I didn’t realize there was such a thing?

  • Ken says:

    20 Jul20 July 10:31

    You are aware that an egg has a more pointy end , and when you buy they that end will be facing upwards ?

    If you flipped it, it would be upside down – and if you do this every couple of days will extend the life of eggs to a couple of months.

    Not much use in the normal course of things but might be if you ever find yourself at sea for 3 months.

    • RussellH says:

      20 Jul20 July 12:42

      I would have said that eggs are the “right way” up with the narrower end down, which is how all the eggs I buy are stacked in the egg box.
      This is also the way that they fit into any egg cup I have used in the UK.
      However, German egg cups are designed quite differently, lower top, much wider opening, so that the egg sits narrower end up.
      So how does Marcel Wanders eat his boiled eggs? We need to know, before we can decide on what an upside down egg shaped check in desk would look like.

      • TGLoyalty says:

        20 Jul20 July 14:20

        https://www.ihgplc.com/en/news-and-media/news-releases/2024/kimpton-hotels-restaurants-opens-its-1st-boutique-luxury-hotel-in-the-heart-of-budapest

        Not sure the pic of the reception desk clears matters up either lol

        • RussellH says:

          20 Jul20 July 15:41

          I could not spot a reception desk, TBH.

          But having seen those pictures, I would say that it is not for me.
          The only Kimpton I have seen is Glasgow, which looks very conventional compared with this.

      • HampshireHog says:

        20 Jul20 July 17:12

        Nooo narrow end up in the egg cup surely?

        • RussellH says:

          20 Jul20 July 17:51

          In the UK, yes. But not in Germany.

• RussellH says:

  20 Jul20 July 12:46

  On the subject of the Dorothea Hotel, I can confirm that the Las Vegas Casino in the hotel does pay out winnings without any fuss, at least as long as they are not really big.

  • Londonsteve says:

    20 Jul20 July 13:46

    I think the casino has nothing to do with the hotel, it just happens to be in the same building with an street facing entrance. I believe it has been there for years, long before the idea of converting the building into a hotel was even conceived of. Be aware that casinos and ‘gentlemen’s bars’ in Budapest are under the control of the local mafia and I wouldn’t go into one even if I was paid to. Reports indicate it often doesn’t end well.

    • Blair Waldorf Salad says:

      20 Jul20 July 15:58

      Was about to say same re casino owners. I thought the Las Vegas Casino was attached to now closed Sofitel.

      • RussellH says:

        20 Jul20 July 18:00

        It is a chain of 5 casinos. Is the Sofitel closed? Last month there were posters all over the city advertising it, and it is the first listing on the website https://lasvegascasino.hu/en/sofitel. The one at the Dorothea is the Tropicana.

        Disclaimer:- It is my partner who loves casinos, not me. I was spending money at Gerbaud a few metres away while she was extracting money from the Tropicana casino, and she does seem to win far more often than the odds would suggest.

        • Blair Waldorf Salad says:

          20 Jul20 July 19:25

          Looks like the Sofitel has reopened. The building was an eyesore when last I saw it.

        • Rob says:

          20 Jul20 July 20:17

          Sofitel is becoming another Accor brand, forgot what.

      • Londonsteve says:

        21 Jul21 July 00:23

        The Sofitel is being completely rebuilt. The building opened as the Hotel Forum in the 1980s I believe and was one of the pre-eminent hotels in Budapest for a long while. The current Marriot (the concrete eyesore on the Danube south of the Chain Bridge on the Pest side) was originally the Intercontinental, then when a newer hotel opened next to the bridge in the early 80s opposite from the current Sofitel, the IC moved from its original location and Marriot took over the vacated building. For a long time the Marriot, IC and Forum were the only players in town until the Four Seasons opened in 2004.

        As for the Las Vegas casino, I believe it has remained open throughout the comprehensive gutting of the Sofitel for its top to toe refit.

• Londonsteve says:

  20 Jul20 July 13:56

  The Kimpton Bem looks magnificent. The location is superb, fairly quiet at night located in a very good city centre residential area, a short walk from a metro station that’s also a major transport interchange, a minute from the Danube. Some of the Budapest high-end properties are in very busy and not that salubrious settings, the Hyatt Parizsi Udvar and Matilde Palace being two examples. The award for best location AND most beautiful building has to be the Four Seasons Gresham Palace but the room rates are astronomical these days, the Kimpton is likely to be half price, or less and would probably my current choice if I was seeking a 5 star deluxe hotel in Budapest.

  • C says:

    20 Jul20 July 16:04

    I was at the RC Budapest on Wednesday. It was very busy on account of being awash with F1 personnel in advance of the GP but it’s a great central location.
    The RC Budapest is simply superb, on every level, was also UG’d to a Deluxe Suite which was magnificent.
    Beautiful city, will definitely return.

    • Blair Waldorf Salad says:

      20 Jul20 July 16:58

      I forgot I had stayed at the RC. Agree, wonderful breakfast buffet and setting too. Marred only by noisy kids left in care of nanny – which over my stay seemed par for the course with the crowd staying at the RC.

  • kpworldtravels says:

    20 Jul20 July 17:54

    Not sure when you went to Budapest. I was there two weeks back and didn’t think Parisi Udvar and Matild Palace are in a bad area. I was walking at night and seemed completely fine.

    • Londonsteve says:

      21 Jul21 July 00:35

      The wider environs are some of the plushest in the city, they’re located in the V. district which is the very heart of Budapest. Alas, the Hyatt and Matilde Palace are both sited on Ferenciek tere which is a busy transport interchange with a metro station and the busiest bus stop in the city which attracts some interesting ‘characters’, particularly at night. The 6 lane road outside is also the city’s busiest thoroughfare with high levels of pollution and it remains busy 24 hours a day as it forms the main axis through the city. During the night a lot of transit traffic that would otherwise avoid the city entirely on the M0 ring motorway coming from the west heading to Ukraine and Romania likes to drive along it due to the much lower road miles involved with no time penalty. The parade of shops going to Astoria along the main drag is pretty forlorn and not somewhere I’d choose to go for a walk, assaulted by traffic noise and pollution with narrow pavements. If I was dropping 400 Euros a night on a hotel room, I would not want to stay on Ferenciek tere. They are both lovely hotels however. The location of the Kimpton Bem, Dorothea and the 4 Seasons are a world away, as are the the IC and Marriot on the river front.

• Charlie says:

  20 Jul20 July 14:10

  IC Budapest is good if you have lounge access. Rooms a bit dated but no more so than IC Vienna, for example. And Pizzamanufaktura isn’t too far to walk…

  • Blair Waldorf Salad says:

    20 Jul20 July 16:01

    IC Budapest is beyond dated; the rooms could be lifted as-is to an Eastern Bloc museum. My bedroom led to a sitting room (oddly you’d expect the room to open into the sitting room then lead to the bedroom). All became clear when the very old desk in the sitting room had 8 sockets. I presume handy for plugging in recording equipment.

    • Londonsteve says:

      21 Jul21 July 00:39

      Recording equipment… LOL.

      I doubt the IC’s building is long for this world. It’s such a plum site and an architectural eyesore it’ll be gone in a few years. The current trend in Budapest is for historical reconstruction so I wouldn’t be surprised if the lavish classical building that stood there before the war was faithfully rebuilt.

• AlanC says:

  21 Jul21 July 18:50

  Kimpton Blythswood in Glasgow is highly recommended. As IHG Diamond they really look after you and the free Mini bar in the Premium rooms are one of the best I have had. Miniature whisky and gins with other premium drinks.

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