Pal’s Hostel and Apartments, Budapest
More photosPal’s Hostel and Apartments isn’t your traditional, cookie-cutter lodging. Instead of a single building, it functions as a unique, scattered-site network of private apartments and rooms surrounding the grand St. Stephen’s Square. The reception serves as the central hub, but checking in means you are handed the keys to your very own piece of historic Budapest real estate, blending hostel socializing with the independence of apartment living.
The location places you inside the historic, neo-Classical heart of District V. The building housing the main reception offers a spectacular, front-row balcony view directly facing St. Stephen’s Basilica. Throwing open the windows lets you take in the massive dome and the bustling plaza below, a viewpoint usually reserved for high-end luxury hotels.
Adding to its distinct charm, the property completely rejects the standard hostel formula by ditching bunk beds entirely. Guests sleep in proper, low-profile beds spread across high-ceilinged rooms featuring classic Hungarian parquet flooring. This thoughtful layout accommodates everyone from solo backpackers in small dorms to large groups renting massive multi-room flats.
The concept has resonated deeply with the global travel community since its humble beginnings. Pal’s quickly put itself on the map by winning consecutive Hostelworld “Hoscar” awards for the Best Hostel in Hungary, proving that a localized, home-style approach to hospitality can easily compete with mega-hostels.
Expert reviews
“Spread across several different buildings in central Budapest, this personable and characterful hub offers a range of accommodation from dorms and private rooms in self-catering apartments. All are well maintained and service is friendly and helpful.”
What guests liked
- Clean rooms
- Friendly staff
- Free Wifi
- Central location
Location
Recent guest reviews
25 August 2025
Brilliant location for an affordable price
Friendly staff. Easy and safe entry to the property. Location for that price is brilliant!
18 August 2025
Excellent, large, clean, tidy apartment.
Fabulous place. Excellent price and value for money. We had an apartment for 6 people. It was huge, and quiet. The receptionist was really nice, helpful and friendly. We didn't feel like we were in a hostel. I will definitely book again in the future.
17 August 2025
Great location, very spacious but basic amenities
Very spacious appartment, plenty of space and perfect location with side views of the Bazilika.
It's a great start for a walk or bike trip through Budapest.
Kitchen was basic, gas plates didn't work well and the button for the oven was broken so we needed to be creative with other utils to put it on and off.
13 August 2025
Great stay-lovely staff who are super helpful. Location is fantastic too
Great location
A little bit tired
7 August 2025
Highly recommend for a group trip. Excellent location, clean and helpful staff.
Everything! Brilliant price, full of character and a brilliant location.
4 August 2025
A great experience and would definitely book again if in Hungary
Location was amazing and the apartment was a great size. Reception was also very helpful and nice
It was very hot and there was no air conditioning (fans were provided and it looks to be an old building so the lack of air conditioning made sense)
25 July 2025
Amazing view and comfy
The view is the best of all!
Apartment was clean and comfy.
Apartment do not have parking, but on street is free parking from 22:00-8:00 and then 600/h but max till 3h if you stay for one night - perfect.
For longer parking there is few garages.
If there will be some day the self-check in it would be amazing
12 July 2025
Great stay right in the city centre
Amazing location, right in the city centre. We had a great view and could see St. Stephen's cathedral from our windows.
The room was clean, comfortable, and spacious.
The check-in process was easy and the host was friendly and helpful.
18 June 2025
Pal’s looked after us well!
Great location and price. Very clean and good cooling appliances- fans and air conditioning as it was very hot during our stay. The rooms we were in were great, including cooking facilities, and were very quiet. Helpful staff.
18 June 2025
Excellent location, would recommend anyone to come we were a family of 6
Location, very friendly and helpful staff
11 June 2025
If you want to experience character its the perfect place
Amazing People Who work there. Always thinking about how its going. They have amazing ventelation(spelling)
Nobody gave me a hug when i left
6 June 2025
We had a great stay! Great location and comfortable place for an affordable price!
Great location and very spacious flat! Especially for the price, nothing to complain about!
There weren’t basic toiletries like body wash. But this is genuinely the only fault I could find with the place!
2 June 2025
Great location at a great price
The location was great. The space was really big. It had a working elevator, a nice view. The staff waited for us outside of working hours because our flight was delayed.
The wooden floors were quite old and made a lot of noise when walking on them, which was annoying to those who were still asleep.
31 May 2025
Location and view from our 8th floor apartment was stunning
Everything was just perfect
Nothing
16 May 2025
Was really comfortable😊
Great location.. Beautiful st. Stefan's Basilika view from window.. Many attractions are walkable from property. Lively place surrounded by good restaurants n shops. Entrance was little scary but had good security...
Toilet smell in room..
5 May 2025
incredible location, gorgeous rooms (high ceilings were unreal) friendly staff with reccomendations felt very safe as a
incredible location, gorgeous rooms (high ceilings were unreal) friendly staff with reccomendations
oven didn’t work :(
2 May 2025
Everything went well
The property was near a lot of places we needed to get to, staff was kind because they always helped us when we needed to book a ride to go somewhere, bed were comfy and the whole place was clean in general.
N/A
15 April 2025
not luxurious but fun and absolutely top location
perfect location at the St stephen's basilica, staff helpful, organised, cafe platz frequented many times - delicious food
11 April 2025
Couldn’t have asked for better
Amazing location, super friendly and helpful staff, beautiful apartment
18 March 2025
Delighted with the choice, location perfect for short stay
Great value for money, 5 minutes walk to metro, 10 minutes walk to Ruin bars. Very clean, well equipped.
Very basic, no frills.
12 March 2025
Perfect for what we needed
Perfect location, very friendly and communicative staff, huge rooms for the price paid.
The bedding and towels were basic but that didn't bother me much considering the price paid. We were also given 4 rooms for 18 people when there were definitely enough beds to fit us in three rooms, so I'm unsure if this was just to upsell us but again, it didn't matter because the value for money was so great.
Hotel facilities
General
- - Non-smoking rooms
- - Family rooms
- - Lift
- - Heating
- - Non-smoking throughout
Services
- - Laundry (additional charge)
- - Luggage storage
- - Private check-in/check-out
- - Shuttle service (additional charge)
- - Airport shuttle (additional charge)
Entertainment & family services
- - Board games/puzzles
Transport
- - Airport pick up (additional charge)
- - Airport drop off (additional charge)
Miscellaneous
- - Key access
- - CCTV in common areas
- - Thermometers for guests provided by property
- - Face masks for guests available
Reception services
- - Invoice provided
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2 September 2025
Highly recommended. I woukd definitely come back