Serenity Boutique Budapest

I'd booked months ahead through booking.com and gave my card details to secure the reservation, but on the day I arrived in Budapest the property cancelled and gave my room to someone else. Their listing said check-in was possible until 20:00. I got there at 19:00, but the owner told me it wasn't a hotel, said it was too late and that I had to find somewhere else, then hung up on me. They later accepted my free cancellation request, but I still had to find a new place after 19:30 during Sziget festival, despite having booked months earlier on a non-refundable basis. It was a really bad experience, especially if you might arrive later in the day. I wouldn't recommend it.

Serenity Boutique is set up for self-catering, so my friend and I could come and go freely, use the kitchen, and keep things in the mini fridge in our room. The host met us when we arrived and was available if we needed help. There was a small aircon issue, which she fixed quickly. We loved our stay at Serenity. The apartment was peaceful, the rooms were spacious and modern, and the beds were comfortable. It's also easy to walk to the main areas. They describe it accurately on Booking.com as not being a hotel. A few small things could be better: we only got one towel each plus a small hand towel, one shower head had very weak water flow and the other, smaller one was broken. The kitchen bins weren't emptied and the toilet roll wasn't topped up. Some guests also didn't shut the main entrance door properly at night, which didn't feel very safe. These aren't complaints, though. We had a lovely stay and just wanted to mention a few things that could be improved.

The location was the one thing that worked for us. I slept under three hours a night, with back and neck pain, because the beds were so narrow and the pillows were unbelievably uncomfortable. The room looked nice, but the bathroom had nowhere to hang towels, clothes, or a toiletry bag, and water leaked across the floor. There was no real service either, not even useful restaurant or balneario recommendations beyond what you could find on Google. Check-in was at 15:00 and check-out at 10:00, and they wouldn't let us leave our luggage until our 16:00 flight, so we had to pay somewhere else to store it. Awful accommodation and service. Run!

We could walk to all the places we wanted to see, and public transport was nearby too. This tucked-away boutique hotel was charming, clean, and well cared for. I'd happily recommend it.