BUDAPEST ESCORTS

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY LUXURY TRAVEL GUIDE

Gresham Palace, Four Seasons Hotel, Budapest

Few hotels offer a more magnificent prospect than that of Gresham Palace, Four Seasons' Art Nouveau landmark on the banks of the Danube in Budapest. Below each of the 17 suites, within view of several of the 162 rooms, brightly lit pleasure craft and party boats cruise the river. The grand sweep of the Chain Bridge leads your eye from the Pest side of the city toward the hills of Bud a, where the Royal Palace, spires of the 13th-century Matthias Church, and towers of a medieval village anchor your panorama of Hungary's capital, Budapest.

Opened at the height of the Belle Epoque period in 1906, next to the square that hosted Emperor Franz Josef's coronation in 1867, the six-story Four Seasons building served originally as the central European headquarters of London's Gresham insurance company. For decades after its debut, the Gresham was the most prestigious address in the city, housing not just insurance offices but luxury apartments and a shopping arcade. The building's riverfront cafe was the meeting place of the influ­ential Gresham Circle artists' group (whose roster included painters J6zsefEgry and Bela Cz6bel), but in 1944, the Gresham nearly became a victim of its location on the Danube. During the siege of Budapest, the Germans, in a futile attempt to slow the advance of the Russian army, blew up the Chain Bridge, mere steps from the Gresham's lobby. The blast scarred the building's facade and tore the arcade's wrought iron, peacock-adorned gates from their hinges.

Subsequent years were no kinder to the Gresham, as its apartments were divided into compact units, and state-run entities occupied the offices. When a chandelier was damaged, a lightbulb took its place. Finally, in 1998, Hungarian investment firm Gresco purchased the Gresham and enlisted Four Seasons to oversee a $110 million conversion of the building into a hotel. Sculptors and mosaicists repaired the stone facade, and guests of the hotel, which opened in 2004, now enter the lobby by passing through the rebuilt peacock gates.

Inside the Gresham, dramatic architectural elements-a soaring indoor winter garden, a glass­domed lobby, regal staircases that link the sitting areas and bedrooms in tower suites-abound. The lounge's purple velvet sofas provide a fine setting for a glass of Tokaji before dinner at the adjacent restaurant, Pava (the Hungarian word for peacock). The wide avenues and luxury shopping districts of Pest are just outside the hotel, while Buda, with its historic buildings and spas on every street corner, is a short walk across the bridge.

LOCATION
On Roosevelt Square, just steps from the Danube on the Pest side of the river, Budapest, Hungary.

ACCOMMODATIONS
AI117 suites and several of the 162 guest rooms enjoy views of the Danube and of the hills and historic build­ings of Buda across the river, Budapest.

FACILJTIES
In a city famous for its spas and bathhouses, the Gresham's top-floor spa stands out for its infinity pool and full range of services. The hotel offers five rooms for meetings and events for all Budapest visitors.

DINING
Pava features contemporary Italian cuisine, though dishes with foie gras, a Hungarian specialty, add local flavor to the menu. The hotel's river­front cafe, once the meeting place of the Gresham Circle artists' group, serves coffee and Hungarian cakes.

CONCIERGE RECOMMENDS
Cross the Chain Bridge to Buda and explore the Memorial House of Hungar­ian composer Bela Bartok, whose works are performed at the memorial's 80-seat concert hall.

RATES
Superior Budapest rooms begin at $450, the Royal Suite at $6,825.