"The best hotel in the world" – excuse me? Not even in Europe; or Hungary, for that matter. "Hotel" just may be the only word that rings true in the above statement.
It's nice...kind of. There's free wine – at a certain time of day. The rooftop bar is indeed lovely, and the bartender did a great job on my amaretto sour – the service, however, is painfully slow, cold, and inattentive.
The room looked nothing like what I saw in the pictures – because those photos show rooms in a different wing, as I found out later. It was, however, spacious and well-equipped – and if it wasn't for the empty minibar (can't help wondering why it's there in the first place) I'd have nothing to complain about.
One receptionist neglected to take a copy of my passport at check-in, and another never thought it necessary to ask for ID when I forgot my keycard inside the room and had to ask for a new one. For all I know, anyone could have introduced themselves with my name and gotten access to my room in a matter of minutes. This may sound paranoid, but I've heard of worst things happen in the walls of hotels that ignore simple security measures.
Thus this important tip – use the safe.
The room service menu is two pages long and proudly states that everything is available 24 hours... the first page is cold snacks, the kind normally found in the minibar. The second one offers a limited selection of barely edible warm-ish dishes, as well as sandwiches served with crisps (yes, crisps). My soup arrived cold and the salad I didn't even dare to try. I attempted to place this order after midnight, and the person who took it was downright rude – after being hung up on, I called back to find out the person had "bad signal"... More like bad service, if you ask me. I wasn't charged for this order and was also brought a cheesecake I never ordered.
Thanks, I guess... because here's the problem – I prefer to stay at 5* hotels because I appreciate good food (and often do it after midnight) almost as much as I appreciate good service. Guests who are willing to pay for both of those hardly go looking for freebies when it comes to dining, especially when it looks like junk and tastes even worse. Forget the customers – it's an insult to the ingredients you use in your "cooking".
The lunch and intermezzo menus at both the bar and the restaurant on ground floor are the same as the room service menu, plus 3-4 dishes, which sound just as boring as the rest.
I was way too disappointed by my previous attempts to eat in that building to order food at the rooftop bar. Plus a friend of mine, who is local, confirmed that it wasn't worth it.
The logic here is pretty simple: What's the point of staying in a fancy huge room if one can't make the most of this experience as a whole? If it wasn't for the hunger – or my craving for something other than goulash soup – I'd have spent a lot more time there. Instead I feel like I've wasted money on this good-for-nothing pretty imitation of a five-star hotel.
More tips – if you dare to order room service, go for the goulash or the cheesecake, and never order sandwiches at night unless you wish to suffocate. To be safe, avoid nighttime room service altogether and, unless you're a foodie like me, you may actually enjoy your stay at Aria.
The truth is that there are hotels in Budapest, which I would call great without hesitation. As of now, Aria still has a long way to go. Though I do hope for this review to be proven wrong sooner rather than later, there's no chance of me coming back or recommending this hotel to anyone.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Dear victoriarayne,
Thank you for staying with us. Having submitted your review so early during your stay, you gave us the opportunity to immediately address many of your concerns while you were still on property, which we hope resulted in turning your experience around for the better.
Regarding your comment about your call for Room Service, you were not hung up on. Truly, it was a bad connection and we are sorry for any perceived offence. We sent you a complimentary cheesecake as a gesture of goodwill. When we read that the items you selected were not to your liking, we followed up and asked you what you would enjoy seeing on the menu. At the time you had no suggestions; however, if you think of anything, we would love to hear from you, as we take guest feedback seriously, so much so that we already intend to update the room service menu to provide more options.
I would like to take the opportunity to share a few things we discussed together for the benefit of other readers.
Yes, we do offer complimentary wine and cheese from 4pm to 6pm every day to all guests, as an amenity which you will see clearly described in all our marketing materials, as well as on Booking.com where you made your reservation. We also offer complimentary breakfast, and complimentary made-to-order items as well, including complimentary coffee and bottled water in each guestroom room and in the Music Library, as well as free wifi. We proudly offer the most generous array of complimentary amenities, unrivaled by any other hotel in Budapest, which leaves us baffled by your comments.
Regarding your room selection, you are indeed correct, we offer four different interior design styles and a variety of room and suite sizes, which we clearly display on the Booking.com website as well as our own website and right here on TripAdvisor. Although you were unsatisfied with the room you chose, we were happy to accommodate you in another room, which you accepted and said it was to your liking. We are very transparent about our room descriptions and the photographs that depict each room type, never would we mislead anyone into choosing a room not suited to them.
In Hungary, it is not required to present your passport at check-in. At the Aria, guests’ safety and security is a top priority. As we are a boutique hotel with a limited number of guests, we have the distinct advantage of often being able to know our guests by name. Had you not been known to the Guest Service Agent who provided you with a duplicate key, rest assured you would been asked to present identification.
We were puzzled by your observation about the empty mini bar. Indeed, we do provide a mini refrigerator in every guest room, stocked with only complimentary bottled water; however, we provide a list of items you can choose to stock your mini bar with, during your stay. This allows us to provide only the freshest items, ensuring high quality. As requested by our guests who have commented on our sister hotels here on TripAdvisor, it seems most of our guests prefer that we provide a refrigerator where guests are welcome to store items such as medicine, purchases from the local markets and even leftovers from their dining experiences.
I am glad that you liked our beautiful SkyBar and the cocktail you had there. When we spoke you said that the staff did smile and welcomed you, so we are still a bit mystified by your complaint. If there is anything you can share with us that can enlighten our service an training, I would very much welcome continuing our discussion.
Please feel free to contact me personally at zoltan.k @ ariahotelbudapest . com or via +36302278967 any time.
Thank you again and best regards,
Zoltan Kecskemethy
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Thank you. We appreciate your input.
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
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