Boscolo Budapest

A bit off-the-beaten path, this lavish property is a step down from the Four Seasons but has a destination restaurant, the historic New York Café.

When seen from Erzsébet boulevard, surrounded by Communist-era buildings and nondescript storefronts, the imposing Boscolo looks like a transplant from Rome or Venice. Its Renaissance-inspired exterior incorporates Italianate spires, carved figurines and fanciful columns. Italian hotel group Boscolo took charge in 2001 and spent five years and $126 million restoring the property to its former glory. The result is a 107-room hotel that showcases design styles ranging from Baroque to contemporary minimalism with an unmistakably Italian flair (think Murano chandeliers, gold-paneled elevators and five kinds of Italian marble).

Don’t expect subtlety: everything at the New York Palace has an element of flash, from the soaring white marble lobby, which rises six floors to culminate in a huge skylight, to the spacious guest rooms, some of which have oversize gilt-framed mirrors, silk-covered walls and bathrooms clad in colored marble. While the location, a fifteen-minute walk from the Danube, is not as dramatic as that of the Four Seasons, the views from the rooms overlooking Erzsébet boulevard are lovely.

The New York Café, with a separate entrance on the ground floor, was a famous gathering spot for Budapest’s intellectual and cultural elite in the early 1900s. Naturally, it is now a classic Budapest institution.

Travelers looking for large rooms and five-star amenities who don’t mind the ultra-opulent design.