We got off our overnight train in Budapest around 7am, figuring it was early enough in the day that we could find a place to sleep, leaving it up to fate. Sure enough, we were approached by a few people and decided to take up sweet wrinkled Helena on her offer of a bed in one of her two accommodations.
She has private apartments (~30Euro) on offer, but were living cheap and opted for the 6 Euro dorm beds in Helena Guesthouse, which shares its name with both Helena and her daughter.
The pros:
Super-affordable (~$10 CAD) single non-bunk beds, free Internet access and kitchen, clean bathroom, good location. They'll store your luggage, let you wash your clothes and give you a free map of the city. 24-hour access.
The cons:
Well, I just want to be honest here. The family lives in the front room/foyer with a loft, where the TV is on around the clock and someone is smoking on the couch while watching it. They are very good about closing the door to the guest rooms, so it's not smoky where you are sleeping. But I had a sense of walking through their living room every time I came and went and it broke my heart to watch these ladies ruin their lungs and skin chain-smoking all day long. One of the sons lives in the room adjoining the kitchen, so again... I just felt like I was intruding a bit, cooking my rice listening to awful North American music he was downloading. Some of the dishes in the kitchen I washed before using.
The Last Word:
I don't know that you could pay less for a central place to stay and it's completely safe for you and your stuff. I'd say if you're looking for a cheap bed, this is it. If you're looking for a hostel with an atmosphere... although you'll meet fellow travellers here, this is not in my top places to re-visit.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment