Hotel Rum

Pest, Budapest, Hungary
Book from GBP Book from £75 per night

Hotel Rum

Pest, Budapest, Hungary

Cosy and contemporary city-centre hotel with a panoramic rooftop and two restaurants

Cosy and contemporary city-centre hotel with a panoramic rooftop and two restaurants

This fine conversion of an old Pest apartment block conceals a hotel of considerable charm and style. Merging understated chic with sleek design and impeccable hospitality, Rum is a top-drawer addition to Budapest's stock of accommodation. Moreover, its super-central location means you're within easy walking distance of all the city’s key attractions.

Spread over 6 narrow floors, off an elegant central spiral staircase, are 40 modern rooms. They come in 4 sizes - Light Rums (Small), Spiced Rums (Medium), Gold Rums (Large) and Black Rums (Large Plus) - though furnishings and facilities are more or less the same throughout. The buzzy rooftop restaurant serves modern cuisine paired with killer views, and doubles up as a flashy little wine bar. Or head to the ground floor to find a Hungarian fine dining restaurant with a chef's table and a Michelin Star. Anyone looking for a relaxing city break will find Rum an enticingly spicy proposition.

Highs

  • Great value
  • Staff are fantastically attentive and courteous
  • The central location couldn’t be better and yet it’s still incredibly quiet
  • Rooms are refreshingly uncluttered and stylish, with designer lighting
  • Buzzy restaurant-cum-wine bar on the top floor, popular with locals, and a ground-floor Michelin Star fine dining concept

Lows

  • Rooms on the first floor have rather dull street views
  • Glass-walled bathroom doors, though they are frosted for privacy
  • The moody, predominantly dark colour scheme might be too oppressive for some

Best time to go

Budapest is beautiful all year round, but at its best in spring, early summer and early autumn. In spring, the natives emerge from their post-winter slumbers and the city’s premier annual event, the Budapest Spring Festival, swings into action. In September, the searing summer heat has dissipated, yet the days remain long and pleasantly balmy. Crowds are thinner too, and you’ll have the city’s attractions almost all to yourself.

Our top tips

Hop aboard the number 2 tram for a scenic trundle along the Pest embankment - the views across the water to Buda are terrific. The tram winds up at Mupa (Palace of the Arts), home to the illuminating Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art; fans of Picasso and Warhol will particularly enjoy this.

Great for...

Cheap & Chic
City Style
Family
Foodie
  • Boutique Hotel
  • 40 rooms
  • Two restaurants and bar
  • All ages welcome
  • Open all year
  • Pool
  • Spa Treatments
  • Beach Nearby
  • Pet Friendly
  • Disabled Access
  • Car not necessary
  • Parking
  • Restaurants Nearby
  • WiFi
  • Air Conditioning
  • Guest Lounge
  • Terrace
  • Garden
  • Gym
Room:

Rooms

The most striking aspect of Hotel Rum is its heavy-tone decor. Various shades of black and grey are used throughout, though this is alleviated by the occasional burst of brighter colour. Otherwise, there’s nothing overtly flashy here: just good-sized beds with high-quality cotton linen (and the obligatory half a dozen cushions), tree-trunk bedside stools, small armchairs and designer lighting. In a nice touch, all furnishings were manufactured specifically for the hotel, in Hungary.

Bathrooms - typically separated from the bedroom by a sliding frosted-glass partition - are well designed, with black and white metro tiles, rainfall showers and big mirrors.

There are 4 cleverly titled categories of room, differentiated by size: Light Rums (Small), Spiced Rums (Medium), Gold Rums (Large) - which is what I slept in - and Black Rums (Large Plus Triple). Facility-wise, there’s little to distinguish between them, though Large and Large Plus Rooms also have the perennially popular Nespresso machines.

Features include:

  • Hairdryer
  • Minibar
  • Safe box
  • WiFi

Eating

Hotel Rum provides plenty of choice for eating in, with a Michelin-starred dining experience downstairs and a cosmopolitan restaurant/bar on the roof. Though different in style and substance, both SOLID and SALT share the same ethos of celebrating Hungarian cuisine.

Cast up on the top floor, SOLID skybar is your one stop shop for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It's new since we last visited, but we hear the vibe is youthful, the food is trendy, and the views are outstanding.

This is where the a la carte breakfast is served. You'll find a few of the usual suspects, like granola or sausage and egg on sourdough, but why not opt for something distinctly more local; the eggs benedict with honey mustard pork sounds fab, or the soft-boiled egg with citrus yoghurt for something lighter but no less adventurous. At weekends, you can pick from a brunch menu to allow for a lazier start to the day.

Dinner follows the same classic-meets-contemporary theme, with lots of imaginative small plates and a few meaty mains (it's worth noting that options for veggies and vegans, particularly the latter, are limited here). There's an extensive list of international wines to accompany your meal, or provide a pre-town tipple in the evening.

On the ground floor, SALT is open for dinner Wednesday to Saturday (6pm-11pm). It serves up fine dining with a difference - and a central chef's table. Chef Szilárd Tóth’s menu showcases Hungarian herbs and wild plants, many of which are foraged by himself, freshly pickled and fermented. Poultry comes from Szilard’s own family in Szatmár. This commitment to locality has earned them, in addition to one Michelin Star, a Michelin Green Star for sustainability.

If you would prefer to eat out, there are heaps of other restaurants a short walk away; ask reception for their tips.

Features include:

  • Bar
  • Restaurant
  • Restaurants nearby
  • Room service
Eating:
Activity:

Activities

  • Budapest is bisected by the Danube; one side is Buda, the other Pest. Stroll both to admire stunning architecture and take a night cruise along the the river: both embankments are heritage sights
  • Head for the Buda hills on the delightful cogwheel and children’s railways, the latter built by Communist youth brigades in the 1940s
  • There are over 1,000 thermal hot springs in Hungary, 118 of them in Budapest. We like the hidden Veli Bej baths, an old Turkish complex, with a central octagonal pool and an ice shower
  • The late-19th-century Great Market Hall is a terrific place to buy souvenirs (Tokaj and paprika feature heavily) and try local produce
  • Budapest Zoo is one of the world’s oldest, and has stunning Art Nouveau pavilions
  • Explore the Jewish quarter, with its magnificent Dohany utcai Synagogue and the uber-cool ruin bars

Kids

Not especially geared up for families, but they are welcome nonetheless.

Best for:

All ages

Family friendly accommodation:

Large Plus Rooms have a pull-out sofabed in a little annexe room, which can sleep 2 children aged 2-12, or 1 child/adult aged 13+.

Kid Friendly:

Location

Hotel Rum is ideally located on a very quiet street in the central 5th district, on the Pest side of the Danube.

By Air:
Fly into Ferenc Liszt airport (aka Ferihegy), which is 20km away. Click on the links below for a list of airlines. From here it's a 20-minute drive to the hotel; best to jump in a taxi as you won't need a car in Budapest, though see our car rental recommendations if you do want one.

More on getting to Hungary and getting around

Airports:

  • Budapest Ferenc Liszt International (aka Ferihegy) 20.0 km BUD

Other:

  • Beach 500.0 km
  • Shops 0.2 km
  • Restaurant 0.2 km

Our guests' ratings...

Based on 4 independent reviews from i-escape guests

9/10
Room
10/10
Food
10/10
Service
10/10
Value
10/10
Overall

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Rates for Hotel Rum

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