Adding some style to life

With 262 rooms spread across eight floors on two wings, the Danubius Hotel Helia right next to the Danube riverbank is one of the biggest, most imposing buildings in Budapest’s District XIII. A full renovation taking some years is very nearly complete, and has allowed the four-star to join the ranks of the city’s long-stay establishments.

First, arriving guests may notice something of a Scandinavian air about the place, starting with the exterior’s white and blue tiling. Once inside, one immediately encounters an extensive reception and lobby area, where further Scandinavian touches include a ceiling that is way, way up there and just-as-tall bright yellow-framed windows opening onto the terrace, garden and riverside. The Yellow Bistro & Bar emphasises the effect.

On this day the place is buzzing. Mexicans, Mozambicans, Costa Ricans and people from who-knows-where-else are getting ready to leave after coming to Budapest for a chess olympiad, while an air crew is checking in. The Helia staff are busy as can be but maintain an easy-going mentality, as Scandinavians are said to do. The Danubius philosophy is “We are where life happens”.

Probably those going and coming today occupy the many regular rooms and suites, two-thirds of which look down on the world flowing by in the form of the Danube, currently rain-filled and swollen. The hotel’s brand-new Longstay and Lifestyle rooms are mostly for a different kind of guest, such as business people or diplomats new to the city and perhaps accompanied by their family. Pets are welcome too.

Such guests will be in the city for years to come, and so need time to look around to find their feet and a flat to buy or rent. That office wonderland Vaci út is a 10-minute walk away.

There’s a difference between a casual holidaymaker who may be in the capital for a week or two and who pays a regular daily rate for a room, compared with someone needing a temporary home for months or even years. The hotel can offer the latter a discount for a dedicated period as they look to settle in the city, and this is where the Helia’s six new Longstay suites come in.

As the renovation of the whole hotel proceeded, some corridors were deemed wider than necessary, allowing walls to be  knocked out completely and repositioned so that these rooms would occupy 54 square metres, quite possibly half the size of a city flat in which the temporary occupant might eventually live. Longstay apartments have a living room, bedroom, combined bathroom and laundry, kitchenette and a separate toilet. And a balcony looking down on the river, with Margaret Island and the Buda Hills a green delight over on the other side.

Apart from the double bed there is a convertible sofa bed, giving the suite a capacity of four persons, with the possibility of a connecting room. They can enjoy a flat-screen television with cable channels, radio, telephone, refrigerator and bathrobes, plus slippers if requested. A laptop-sized safe takes care of valuables, and a table is good for business meetings and dining.

The kitchenette comes fully equipped with oven, microwave, dish- and cookware. There is an electric kettle with coffee or tea. The en-suite bathroom has a bath and separate walk-in shower, bidet, hair dryer and toiletries. Nearby is the washing machine-dryer with cleaning products, and a built-in wardrobe. The toilet is separate.

The two new Lifestyle rooms are another thing again. Here are found a guest’s private sauna, an exercise bike and – perhaps most impressive – a kinesiology wall. This feature, with its name derived from the Greek word for movement, “kinesis”,  the study of the mechanics of bodily movements, would undoubtedly test just about every muscle, with a sideways view of the Danube etcetera  thrown in. As the hotel aims to fulfil both business and pleasure needs, these rooms also have a work table.

The entire first floor of the Helia is giving over to conference facilities, with nine meeting rooms fully equipped with up-to-date technology and providing daylight. The largest is able to host 400 people. A ground-floor wellness centre has an adventure pool, 25-metre swimming pool, sauna and two-storey fitness club, again with the panoramic view.

For tired bodies there are physiotherapy remedies involving wax and mud treatments, with a salt cave and massages too. Topping it all off is a sun terrace for that important vitamin D.

A Helia stay also comes with a beauty salon, a small business corner and the sparkling Episode restaurant, which caters for hungrier appetites than those served by the Yellow Bistro & Bar.

Apart from the new Longstay and Lifestyle Apartments, the Helia offers a choice of three different Premium Rooms, either with balcony overlooking that beautiful view of the Danube, Margaret Island and the hills, or others have a simple river or street view minus the balcony. Four Junior Suites and all the Superior Rooms look on the Danube side too, with Standard Rooms facing the Pest-city side.

 

Danubius Hotel Helia

Budapest, Kárpát u. 62-64, 1133

Telephone: (06-1) 889-5800

Website: www.danubiushotels.com/hu/szallodak-budapest/danubius-hotel-helia

Email: helia.reservation@danubiushotels.com

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