Relaxed Indian style at Mandragora Boutique Hostel, Budapest

The Mandragora Boutique Hostel is a home-from-home of the Pest side of the Hungarian capital, Budapest, decorated in modern style with a nod towards India and super friendly and helpful staff – read on for my review….

Imagine your best friend in Budapest invites you to stay – she’s just bought her first apartment in the heart of the Pest commercial district on Blaha Lujza square. It’s in a turn of the century building with a slightly shabby street entrance, a stairwell with wrought iron and tiled floors and an airy internal courtyard, where the other residents grow plants and window-boxes.

Bedroom on 1st floor at Mandragora Hostel, Budapest

She’s decorated the high ceilinged rooms with panelled wooden doors and plaster mouldings in spicy shades of ochre and teracotta with the odd hand-painted mural, popped down to Ikea for the furniture and finished it all off with cotton throws and textiles from her travels around India. You hang out with other friends passing through and she gives you some excellent advice on what to see when you’re here.

This is how it feels to stay at Mandragora Boutique Hostel – it’s a home from home in the heart of the city, with a relaxed and friendly feel.

Sitting room at Mandragora Hostel, Budapest

We spent a couple of nights at Mandragora Boutique Hostel at the start of our week in Hungary, before driving down to the Lake Balaton area. The Hostel is actually divided between two different apartments on the first and third floor of an old apartment building, so if you are travelling in a group and want to have rooms together, make sure you let them know when you book. Although we were travelling en famille, we were accidentally given two rooms on different floors, so we had the opportunity to see both.

The main reception, living area room and kitchen are on the first floor where there are 3 bedrooms – two facing the busy square side and one facing the courtyard. On the third foor is a second apartment with a smaller kitchen, entrance hall with plenty of tourist information and several more bedrooms – the twin room we occupied was facing the internal courtyard. All the bedrooms have an en suite shower room and the facilities include free wifi and use of computer terminal in the living area.

Kitchen at Mandragora Hostel, Budapest

The kitchen that we used on the first floor was well equipped and we opted to have a buffet breakfast on our first morning for an extra €4 per person for a nicely presented spread of meusli, yoghurt, fresh rolls, cheese, eggs and cold hams with juice and great coffee.

Mandragora Boutique Hostel is located on the busy Blaha Lujza square, with the metro stop right outside and trams and buses ready to take you wherever you need to go. I wouldn’t say it’s right on top of all the main attractions but it’s only a few stops on the metro or a 10 minute tram ride from most of them, and probably the easier side of town to get to if you’re coming from the Ferihegy airport.

Twin Bedroom 3rd Floor at Mandragora Hostel, Budapest

Internal Courtyard at Mandragora Hostel, Budapest

The main reservation I had during our stay was the traffic noise  due to the hostel’s location on a busy city intersection, with trams and buses rolling by late into the night, constant traffic and the odd police siren. The noise also seemed to echo around the building and the small water heaters for hot water also disturbed us when being used at night time. The room I was sleeping in on the first floor was otherwise lovely in terms of size and location, but as it faced the street side, I think we got the worst of the noise, despite the double glazed windows. The other members of the family had a 3rd room facing the courtyard side and found it much quieter, sleeping soundly with no complaints about noise – so I suggest that you request a quiet room if this is important to you.

The atmosphere of the hostel is very relaxed and with only a small number of guests, mainly couples in their 20s, it’s more of a chill-out place than a party hostel. The other factor that made our stay so pleasant were the staff who were super friendly and helpful – we met a different girl on each day and there’s someone on duty throughout most of the day and evening, although they don’t sleep in. They both spoke excellent English and went out of their way to give us help and information, looking things up on the internet and making phone calls on our behalf.

We paid €35 per en suite double room per night excluding breakfast in August on a  booking through LateRooms.com – I believe the full quoted price had we not used a booking engine was a little higher.

We loved the stylish decor and relaxed, friendly atmosphere of Mandragora Boutique Hostel but suggest you choose your room carefully if you want a good night’s sleep.

Mandragora Boutique Hostel, József krt. 2, Budapest, H-1088 (Blaha Lujza tér Metro)

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