D53 Apartments

The room was quiet and conveniently close to the center and metro stations, and it would suit four people. But cleanliness is the main thing, and this wasn’t what I expected. The sheets were dirty, there was dust on the shelves and cobwebs, and the glasses had fingerprints on them.

It was inexpensive, but the place felt cold and a bit dated. There was no parking, and underground parking costs around 35 euros a day.

The bedding and towels were clean, which mattered a lot to me, since it took plenty of searching to find a place where guests weren’t complaining about dirty ones. Someone clearly cleans after each stay, though the job was a bit sloppy. It was generally clean, but could use a thorough scrub. The key pickup was easy, and we were allowed to check in an hour early. We could use the washing machine and iron, and there was a supply of laundry capsules. There were mattresses on the floor instead of a bed, and the sofa wasn’t usable as a bed because there was only one large sheet. The sofa also didn’t match the photo. At night we heard a little noise from the nightclub, but I knew about it, and closing the window or using earplugs fixed that. Budapest is a bit worse for this than Prague or Poland, for example, but by Hungarian standards I’d recommend the apartment.

The apartment was comfortable, and it’s close to everything, including Oktobon metro station, with several bars and restaurants nearby in a busy part of town. The bathroom was the downside. The shower gets the whole bathroom wet, washing my hair was a struggle, and the room is dark. It’s also the only place with a mirror.