10/02/2022
Very few places in the world capture both old-world charm and elegant modernity like Hungary's capital city, and Budapest's latest 130-room luxury hotel, Matild Palace, is a shining example. The neo baroque palace turned hotel, which opened last summer in the city's District V, is a UNESCO-protected site that once housed the city's royalty. The hotel is now home to Wolfgang Punk's famed restaurant, Spago, the first of its kind in central Europe. It also hosts the Duchess bar, a rooftop "liquor library" that mixes craft cocktails using local wines and pálinka, Hungarian fruit brandy, which can be enjoyed alongside panoramic views of the Danube river. Surrounded by 22 wine regions, Budapest is a city for oenophiles. Enjoy a glass of Kékfrankos or Kadarka in the Castle District's newly opened wine bar, Takler Borbár Buda, founded by one of the country's renowned winemaking families. Don't leave the city without visiting Marlou, a biodynamic wine bar near the Hungarian State Opera, and Portobello, an unassuming coffee and natural wine bar around the corner from Matild Palace.