Central Passage Apartments by Vagabond

This is a hard area to beat, right in the heart of Budapest and close to everything. Check-in and check-out were straightforward and stress-free. The apartment felt tired and less fresh than it looked in the photos. We expected a terrace but got a small balcony, which was fine. The air conditioning was the bigger problem: it barely worked, and the room was uncomfortably hot. We asked to move and were told there was nothing available, even though we could see availability online. We would have gladly paid the difference. They offered to send a technician, but we didn’t want interruptions during our holiday. Then the AC started leaking, so we had to keep a bucket and sheet underneath for the rest of the stay. I wouldn’t stay here again, though I’d choose this area. We were tempted to check out and go across the road to 7Seasons Apartments instead.

We picked this apartment for the location, near a metro station, and for the windows facing a quiet inner garden. The location and number of rooms matched what was described, but that’s where the good parts stopped. The apartment looked like it was last updated around 1987, nothing like the modern listing photos. The appliances and furniture were cheap, especially the living room sofa, which was listed as an extra bed but was uncomfortable even to sit on. One bedroom had an old, worn wardrobe; the other had none, so we had to use shelves in an awkward spot in the hallway. Both bedrooms had little besides beds and lamps. The kitchen was dated. The coffee machine filter was full of old grounds when we arrived, and the fridge didn’t work. It was only repaired after we’d left groceries on the balcony overnight. The bathroom photos showed a sleek Italian shower, but we found an old bathtub and showerhead instead. The hairdryer was broken, and the supposedly stainless steel bathroom lamp was rusty. Staff were somewhat responsive: they replaced the broken hairdryer and offered free late checkout to make up for the misleading listing. We turned it down because we wanted to shorten our stay, not extend it. They offered nothing else. Checkout is at 10 a.m., and staying an extra hour costs 30 EUR, which seems excessive given the apartment’s state and the high price. The stay wasn’t completely terrible, but the listing is misleading and lacks transparency. At this price, there must be more modern, comfortable apartments in Budapest to consider.

We booked two apartments for our family through Booking, but they ended up in separate, far apart buildings inside a kind of shopping arcade. The photos weren’t accurate. The apartments were old and unlike the listing, and none of the three units we were moved to had the washing machine shown in the pictures. We spent more than two hours moving between apartments with our six-month-old baby, waiting for a solution that never came. Once we realized the apartments pictured on Booking simply weren’t there, we asked for a refund and left for an Airbnb. Honestly, it felt like a scam.

The TV was useless, with just four channels, all in Hungarian and no subtitles. On our last morning, drilling started at 8 a.m., and the cleaners had arrived before eight every day, talking loudly in the hallway. Kids running around outside at night also made the noise hard to put up with. The towels felt like paper and weren’t replaced until the second-last day of our six-day stay. A window handle came off when I tried to open it, and the soap dispenser nozzle fell off when I pressed it. From the other reviews, I think we were lucky to leave with our sanity.