The MICHELIN Guide now includes over 7,000 hotels across the world – and not a single one is simply a room for the night. These are places that significantly add to your experience as a traveller, each vetted by our hotel experts and judged as excellent across five categories: architecture and interior design; overall personality and character; quality and consistency of service; value between the level of the experience and the price paid; and the hotel's contribution within its particular locality.
Which brings us to the Keys. On 8th October 2025, The MICHELIN Guide Inspectors revealed their latest Global Key distinctions, highlighting what they consider to be the most outstanding hotels in Hungary for the first time. Just like the MICHELIN Stars for restaurants, the MICHELIN Keys represent our top hotels. In total, the first MICHELIN Guide hotel selection for Hungary includes 13 Key hotels, broken down into 2 Two-Key hotels and 11 One-Key hotels. Discover all of them below.
A distinctly beautiful, mesmerising country with a winning fusion of magnetism and authenticity, Hungary is somewhere that should be on every traveller's list. Its capital, Budapest, started life as three cities, Buda, Pest and Óbuda, with 2023 marking the 150th anniversary of their union – and this fascinating, ever-evolving super-city now blends romantic architecture and illuminated streets, age-old melodies and modern coffee house culture.
Yet nature is never far away. Tura boasts a magical mix of city and country with soulful, breathtaking wild forests and thermal baths; Balatonfüred is a soothing spa town capping Lake Balaton’s north shore; and it’s hard to resist Tata’s Baroque beauty. As for sleeping over, there’s something for every mood, be it lavish palaces, modern luxury hotels, fancy spa resorts or whimsical fairytale castles.
The Two-Key Hotels
Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace Budapest, Budapest
Perfect For: The Four Seasons' legendary opulence; a White Lotus season
Mention the Four Seasons generally and ears prick up – and rightly so, especially after The White Lotus – as the brand is synonymous with sheer luxury and exclusivity. The Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace Budapest doesn’t deviate from the brand’s hallmark excellence: it’s set in an utterly exceptional, exquisite, art nouveau landmark building with stunning views of Buda Castle. Once inside, the sophisticated, classically styled hotel has 179 beautiful, stately rooms, a practically perfect breakfast-restaurant-come-French-brasserie, KOLLÁZS, and a splashy cocktail bar primed for stories. The true highlight? The polished top-floor spa. Test out the glassy infinity pool and bliss out with a super-luxe treatment with Omorovicza lotions and potions – maybe it’s time for a new White Lotus season.
Matild Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Budapest
Perfect For: A palatial slumber at Budapest’s heart
Matild Palace is an exclusive 130-room Luxury Collection hotel situated in a majestic Belle Époque palace – it is quite simply a magical, enviable Budapest base. The hotel's razzle-dazzle interiors are a beautiful blend of modern glamour and old-world elegance, and the rooms and suites are fit for a King or Queen, of course, with dream-inducing cloud-like beds, and regal gold and white marble bathrooms with postcard-perfect views of the Danube. Go to the hotel’s rooftop bar to imbibe a pre-prandial tipple, high above the city lights, then head for dinner at the smart Spago by Wolfgang Puck with its light-hearted dining concept. Don't miss the ocean-hued spa in the morning.
The One-Key Hotels
Anantara New York Palace Budapest, Budapest
Perfect For: An elite, luxury wellness stay
This history-rich hotel, set in a gorgeous palace, has a storied past – it's an architectural wonder with sky-high ceilings and superb original frescoes, and the hotel's old-world allure and panache make it a compelling stay. The romantic café after which it's named has to be experienced; it dates from 1894 and the devil is in the detail – it really is a captivating space. The rooms and suites are as lavish as you’d expect, dramatic, palatial and sumptuous in design: light-filled spaces with gold-infused neutral tones, splendid marble bathrooms and Murano glass chandeliers. Anantara hotels are renowned for their focus on wellness, and the premium spa comes with a sultry indoor pool, a high-spec health suite complete, and opulent decoration that includes a host of Swarovski crystals.
Dorothea Hotel, Budapest, Autograph Collection, Budapest
Perfect For: Modern luxury design enthusiasts
The Dorothea Hotel is a spectacular, modern luxury hotel that was designed by Piero Lissoni, and it is magnificently based across three spectacular 19th- and 20th-century buildings in homage to Dorothea of Württemberg, the wife of the 19th-century governor of Hungary, Archduke Palatine Joseph. Every detail of the jazzy, 216-room hotel is to be relished and there are lots of little embellishments, such as the fancy, intricate room designs and furnishings woven throughout the hotel. There's a quirky botanically influenced garden restaurant and a rooftop bar, as well as a serene spa with deliciously fragrant, herbaceous treatments.
Hotel Clark Budapest, Budapest
Perfect For: Big-hitter sights; breathtaking city views
The deluxe Hotel Clark Budapest is in a coveted central location near Budapest's big-hitting sights. Step inside the unassuming building and there are bright and bold design features, colour pops and rich, luxurious Art Deco touches running throughout the public spaces and 79 rooms. Be sure to book a room with a view of the Danube. Its best asset has to be the impressive rooftop bar with its magnificent wraparound cityscape – you'll feel like you're on top of the world.
Kimpton Bem Budapest, Budapest
Perfect For: A whimsical, colour-bright Kimpton stay
The vivid signature Kimpton style of luxury is writ large at the 2024-launched Bem Budapest, yet a fresh, creative feel abounds. Courtesy of design whizz Marcel Wanders, the eccentric building has been inventively remastered – with Hungary’s local nature and legacy as its key influences; inside, spy brilliant white, striking emerald green and cobalt-blue hues in the colourful, cool-as rooms, a nod to the beautiful Lake Balaton. Exercise buffs should try out the petite spa’s sauna and cute gym.
Kozmo Hotel Suites & Spa, Budapest
Perfect For: A sensational spa weekend
Kozmo Hotel Suites & Spa has a fascinating history as the former headquarters of the biggest telecommunications centre in Eastern and Central Europe. It’s a unique space, and the special renovation of the building successfully blends timeless sophistication with sheer modernity. As for the rooms, there are various options, some with gorgeous, blonde herringbone parquet flooring, and all skillfully designed with a voguish vision. The spa is dreamy, with two glimmering pools and some lovely treatment rooms.
Párisi Udvar Hotel Budapest, Budapest
Perfect For: The architecturally-obsessed; design lovers
Párisi Udvar Hotel Budapest is a true gem in many ways: it’s dazzling, decadent and ritzy. It has a reinvented, ornate art nouveau shopping arcade as a lobby – and that’s not to mention the striking mix of architectural influences – it is a class act, so prepare to be smitten. Though the exterior and lobby are superbly grand and melodramatic, the sumptuous rooms, suites and residences (all 110) are more dialled-down, being sassy yet modern with some added bling detailing for good measure. The spa is a surefire winner too.
Verno House, Budapest
Perfect For: An inviting, nostalgic city base
The vintage aesthetic of Verno House is warm, inviting and tastefully designed. The rich rust, saffron, sage and forest-green colour palette throughout the hotel is earthy yet opulently nostalgic – keep an eye out for the retro telephones in the rooms. With just 50 bedrooms, there’s that smaller hotel appeal, and the comfort score is high. The hotel’s compact spa offers a gentle respite after a day wandering the city’s copious sights – the jacuzzi does wonders for aching feet. When it comes to dining head for, FLAVA, the in-house restaurant, a bustling city hotspot that comes complete with smoking cocktails.
W Budapest, Budapest
Perfect For: A wow-factor sleepover with your beau
The W’s Budapest hotel has all the hallmarks of the happening, sleek, clubby hotel group, but with a few twists, for example its home in the French Renaissance icon, Drechsler Palace. The result is an extraordinary ambience and style, a classically wow-factor place to stay, with the W’s clubby, jewel-toned colour hues at its heart in its rooms. There’s a great spa, and the location is spot on, right among the city action.
BOTANIQ Castle of Tura, Tura
Perfect For: Living like the King or Queen of the Castle
For an exquisite, fairytale retreat less than an hour from the bright lights of the capital, the BOTANIQ Castle of Tura is a bewitching, modern country hotel set in the reimagined Schossberger Castle. While boutique in nature, a stay here is a lesson in quiet luxury: lavishly designed yet sufficiently moody, snug and intimate, more like a private residence. The revamped, contemporary space houses 19 pretty rooms – some roomy, some petite, but all incredibly cosseting – and the peaceful, nature-inspired spa might feel like your own slice of paradise.
Hotel Petit Bois, Balatonfüred
Perfect For: A design-led lakeside escape
The ravishing, on-trend Hotel Petit Bois is a mere two-hour drive from Budapest, but it feels like a world away, with its bespoke luxury in the abundant greenery of Balatonfüred, a gentle lakeside town. It’s adults-only here, and the hip and fresh hotel has gloriously retained its Belle Époque charisma too. Out of the 13 rooms, book one overlooking the luminous lake and make sure to slow down at the excellent spa before dinner and drinks at the especially good-looking rooftop bar and restaurant with a snazzy poolside view.
Related Read: 48hrs in Tihany
Platán Manor, Tata
Perfect For: A Two-MICHELIN-Starred weekend retreat
Under an hour's drive from Budapest and next door to Hungary’s Tata Castle, the luxurious Platán Manor, set in a 17th-century palace, is an alluring, heritage stay with attractive contemporary details. With just 21 rooms, this small hotel is a peaceful bolt-hole ripe for escaping the capital. Hungarian designer Zoltán Varró was at the helm of the new-fashioned interiors, pairing lush antiques with modern luxury features, resulting in an epic transformation. Check into the Mirror Spa, nestled by the castle with its forest feel, and be sure to book a table at the Two-MICHELIN-Starred Platán Gourmet or Bib Gourmand bistro, Platán Bisztró – both will delight epicureans.
Hero Image: The view from a bedroom balcony at Two-MICHELIN-Key Matild Palace, one the first hotels to be awarded a MICHELIN Key in Hungary (© Matild Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel)
