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Reserving with 3 weeks earlier got us a very good price - 217 euro/3 nights. Spa access was included. The hotel has a decent position in Budapest, near Arpad Bridge, but it doesn't have spectacular views or neighbourhood. It has a large and accessible parking lot (14 euro/day).The staff is very kind and prepared with answers for any question you may have. However, the English level (conversational) could be better, but it seems a general problem in Budapest. We had to ask for a room switch, because our original one had the toilet seat obviously dirty and the place was looking "cleaned in a rush" at best. Our second room was better, but we found some used stationery right under the bed edge and I suspect some of the amenities were missing - this was quite an unpleasant surprise for a 5 star hotel.Another unpleasant surprise was the restaurant - we ordered 2 Schnitzels, aperitives and sodas. These cost around 50 EUR - which is very expensive (i.e. you can eat a 2 course + desert for 10-15 euro in a lot of tourist places) - but the problem was not the price, but that the meat was so hard I could barely cut it, not too tasty. By far the worst schnitzel I had in the past 4 years. Definitely not a 5* restaurant.Everything was repaired by the bar and the spa. The bartenders are really polite and professional (I actually watched our bartender a bit, he was upset/tired when no one looked, but whenever a client asked something, he always smiled). The drink menu is large and you can ask for most of the classic cocktails. They really know how to prepare and serve them.The main attraction of the hotel is the Spa located underground. They have 2 thermal pools, 33 and 38C with water drawn from Margaret Island (very close), a 15m swimming pool, jacuzzi, saunas and all the related services such as various massage types and mud baths, solarium and so on. The access to the water facilities was free and the prices for the rest of the services were decent. Everything is very clean and in order and they keep it open until 10 PM. Very relaxing after a day of exploration.Internet in the hotel is freemium - meaning there is a paid version that (in theory) gives you access to broadband speed. However, for regular tasks such as email and messaging and map searching and mobile use, the free internet was very ok (the signal was strong in most areas of the hotel). Don't expect video streaming to work.The TV is a bit frustrating (for our personal tastes) - most of the channels are international news. No music ones and very few general ones in international languages. The radio doesn't work very well and the movie trailers tend to break after 10-15 minutes of running. The rest of the menu is regular hotel software.All in all, we will definitely going to return to/recommend this hotel, but we'll avoid the restaurant and inspect the room before accepting it.

I spent two nights in the Aquincum Hotel Budapest when i was visiting the capital. It was a great two days, the hotel offers great value for its price. The restaurant and the food was also excellent, especially the breakfast. The only thing is that the hotel is a bit out of downtown but there is a lovely island nearby where i had a great workout run.

Booked two rooms in April 2013 and a conference room. The bedrooms are spacious, clean and the bed comfortable. The spa and swimming are good. It does have a impressive reception and you can find easily access to Budapest centre. Danube is cross the road but nothing to see. If you cross the bridge you can walk on Margaret island within 5 minutes. The staff are unprofessional starting with reception who are avoiding eye contact, the waiters give the impression that you are not welcomed. Some customer care training will be helpful. My last comments are based on the bad language used by bar tenders who they think that are the only Hungarian speakers. The duty manager asked as 3 times if we paid the conference room so....no hand over from the conference manager was made. He could save me time to look on my confirmation emails with the payment. The taxi booked by hotel is a bit expensive. If you go out after 10 pm avoid the passage on the left even if you are dying to eat a kebab from local shop. Strange people going around and they will notice straight away that you are foreigner. No harm was done but didn't feel very safe even if it was. The only guy to give me a smile from the staff was the engineer who fixed the safe.

We have just returned from "my" first visit to Budapest. My other half is hungarian. I can not find one bad thing to say about our stay at this hotel. Arrived in the afternoon and was welcomed by friendly helpful staff. Didn't realise that the Danube was literally across the road when i booked our stay. Asked for a room with a view of the river once i had realised it was right there. There was only one room available with a corner view so we did not have to pay the little extra charge for a room with a view. The room was exactly like the pictures. Clean, spaceous with a very comfy bed. I'm not a morning person and we went out quite late everyday. Our room fresh and tidy when we returned every eve.Ordered room service on one night and the food was excellent. This hotel definately made our visit more enjoyable and has great transport links a short walk away. We will definately stay again.

EXECUTIVE ROOMSWe thought maybe GBP175 for three nights in a quality Budapest hotel was too good to be true but the offer we picked up was indeed good value. When we checked in we were surprised to find ourselves in an ¿¿¿Executive room¿¿¿ on the first floor. No idea why we got this upgrade as we¿¿¿d been booked a Superior room but we were glad to have it. You can find out more about these rooms on the hotel¿¿¿s web site but one advantage is access to the Executive Lounge. This is a bit like an airport VIP lounge where you can take snacks and refreshments at any time, and there is a PC to use ¿¿¿ all free. Our room was generally very clean, unlike the experience of some other reviewers. And not particularly tired. It would be nice though if they realised that bleach is quite good for removing brown stains from the loo.Our breakfast was taken in the Exec lounge too and with just a dozen or so tables in play it¿¿¿s much quieter than the much larger dining room downstairs. And easier to commission just the eggs you want from the waiting chef. I noticed on checking in that these rooms are usually an extra EU15 per night which might even be worth paying. There is always someone on the desk and you'd probably find it easier and more reliable to get restaurants booked etc. than using the downstairs reception which was nearly always busy.AVOIDING SUMMERYou may have noticed other reviewers complaining about the aircon. Our room had functioning aircon which was producing cold air. But not enough. We stayed in May with daytime temperatures of around 25C but the aircon could not cool the room enough at night. We had to open the windows instead. This was OK (and generally a preference) but the hotel is surrounded by major roads on two sides and tram and railway lines. The roads/tracks are not that close but close enough to be intrusive for light sleepers with the windows open. Maybe try asking for a room on the South or West sides which should be a little quieter. The upshot is that I would have to be convinced that the aircon had been seriously upgraded to stay here in the summer months or I¿¿¿d worry about baking.PRE AUTHORISATIONThe hotel has a policy of pre-authorising your credit card (or taking cash) against mini-bar and meals. We were docked EU300 so presumably it is EU100 per night. Seems a bit toppy but it is only a pre-authorisation not an actual deduction. However I assume it does impact your available credit so one to watch if your headroom is a bit tight. GETTING ABOUTThe Aquincum is hardly in the heart of town and you need to take the tram across the Danube and the metro down, or the train down and the tram across to get to Pest. For Buda just take the train down. All this can be done on a travel card (qv). The ¿¿¿down¿¿¿ trains come every ten minutes so we could live with that, but were less keen to pop back into town for evening meals after freshening up.EATING OUTIt¿¿¿s not quite the culinary desert we first thought. Having read the reviews of the in-house restaurant we decided to eat out at Kehli and Code 7, which are both within a short walk. There are several others. See separate reviews. Suffice to say we went to Code 7 twice. Local restaurants don¿¿¿t have many reviews which I think puts them quite far down the rankings, and often further than they deserve. I have to say the in house restaurant looks reasonably comfortable and the menu lines up all the usual hotel suspects so it may be an option (especially on a Sunday when all the ¿¿¿destination¿¿¿ restaurants we tried to book were shut for the day).STAFFWe found them universally helpful, efficient, friendly and English speaking.NEW TO BUDAPEST?These tips may help. We took a Flo taxi from the airport and it cost EU24. It took about an hour as it was rush hour (1700 flight arrival). Avoid the ¿¿¿official taxis¿¿¿ in the hall and follow the signs for taxis. Outside you will find the Flo office. You are told a price in advance, the despatcher (speaks English and doubt