We enjoyed our stay and would stay again. Looking over some other reviews, it seems that if you're the kind of person who wants everything to be "just so", on your holiday and get really stressed if it's not, this might not be the place for you. If you're a bit more laid back and accept that the room prices are so competitive because this isn't a five-star establishment, you'll have a good time.

The hotel is very distinctive and must be one of the few buildings that is instantly recognisable from a Google Earth image, even if you aren't familiar with the city. The lobby and public areas downstairs are bright and inviting and make a very good first impression.
It's true to say that parts of the guest areas are in serious need of refurbishment. There does seem to be an ongoing programme of renewal, but it hasn't quite reached the very top floor (where we stayed). On our first night, the tired corridor carpet and musty smell when we stepped out of the lift was quite disheartening.

The room itself was much better, but there was a slightly stale smell at the beginning, suggesting it hadn't been used for a while. That was gone by the next morning and didn't return during the week we stayed. Our room was a junior suite, which was perfect for 2 adults and a teenager. Two good sized rooms with a full bathroom including a toilet and a separate toilet on its own - a very useful arrangement! The room was clean, the air conditioning worked well (although one unit was prone to producing condensation that caused a damp patch on the carpet) and the wifi was excellent (YouTube, Netflix both ran perfectly - rare in my experience of free hotel wifi in the rooms). There was a kettle and cups in the room, but NB - no tea, coffee or milk. About 200m along the road country bound there is a Spar supermarket, so that might be a worthwhile early destination if you want to make tea/coffee in your room. Room cleaning was of variable quality - there were two days where we were fairly sure only towels had been changed - but the rest of the time the room had obviously been vacuumed, cups cleaned or replaced, etc. to a high standard. The shower was a "mixer tap above the bath" set up and was the most temperamental I have encountered for many years - from cold to scalding in seconds for no apparent reason. Exercise caution!
The view from the room was spectacular, no other word for it. We didn't quite have a direct view over the city centre, but it was visible off to one side. Absolutely amazing at night. The hotel is on the edge of the Buda hills and with the height of the building itself, you get great panoramas.

The elevators were a source of much comment and amusement. There are definitely problems in the morning when multiple coach parties (a major part of the hotel's business), are trying to leave at the same time. If you can walk down to breakfast, do so. Many of the elevator problems are caused by the way people use the elevators. They want to go down but press both call buttons; they get into lifts that are going up when they want to go down; in short, they behave like people. I swear this is true: my son and I got into a crowded lift on the 15th floor (full of people wanting to go down who nonetheless got into an elevator heading up). As we got in a lady pressed 13 and checked to make sure it was lit up. At 13, she didn't get out but a man (who never interacted with her in any way), got in. He pressed 2. The man didn't get out at 2, but got out at the restaurant, while the lady travelled down to the lobby and got out along with us and then went straight out the front door and away! What chance does any lift system have when that sort of thing is going on?

The hotel is about 1.5 miles from the heart of the city centre. It's really easy to use public transport to travel around, with buses and trams stopping very frequently just across the street. Direct travel to the centre takes about 15-20 minutes. Any city bound tram will stop at Szell Kalman Ter, where there's a major tram/bus/metro hub. From there a no. 4 tram will take you across the Margaret Bridge into the city. Alternatively, get a no. 5 bus from outside the hotel and cross the Elizabeth Bridge without having to change. For a bit of a twist, get a 61 tram to the end of the line and walk down to the Liberty Bridge (which in summer 2016 is pedestrianised due to roadworks), maybe stopping for coffee or brunch at Kelet Cafe on the way. Walking the liberty bridge was a regular highlight of our stay.

There are plenty of things to do in the immediate area. Just across the street is the start of the Cog Railway that takes you into the hills and to the Children's Railway. It's 5-10 minutes walk to the Mammut Centre with many nearby cafes, bars and restaurants and 20-30 minutes walk to Buda Castle. You can reduce those times by taking the bus or tram. There are many very good little cafes, bars and restaurants within easy walking distance of the hotel, but they're not immediately obvious. Trip Advisor map search was very useful!

We liked the hotel and its staff and would return. For us, the foibles of the building only made it more memorable.

Hotel Budapest promotes itself as a 4 star hotel. On any international scale, it's not. It's probably a 2. The hotel is older and reflects the wear and tear of its age. The rooms were fine although the TV didn't work. I had good experiences with the day staff, the breakfast was great, and the views are spectacular if you are on the side of the hotel that faces towards the river and a few floors up. If you are driving a car here, parking is extremely limited to non-existent. Lots of tours book here because of the lower cost rooms relative to other area hotels so what parking lot they have is pretty much full of buses. There is public transportation right across the street and it's only a five minute walk to the Mammoth Mall.

I'd stay there again with a group but not with family or business. The value of the hotel was pretty decent just don't come in with heightened 4 star expectations.

Important side note: late at night walking through the lobby, several of the men in my group were approached by prostitutes. It didn't appear to be an issue with the hotel and seemed almost expected. Even if you are morally ok with this practice, which I'm not, it isn't safe from a security standpoint for anyone but especially tourists We were traveling with a group that had kids with us so was happy curfew for them was well before that. So, personally I'd recommend steering clear of the lobby by yourself past about 10pm for security reasons.