Budapest: Like Prague Only Cheaper

From THESTREET.COM:

Budapest is an Art Nouveau bohemia touched by only a few true luxury hotels and designer outposts of Western European capitalism. It's been compared to '20s Paris as well as Prague before it became pricey, a gritty version of both that still manages to be affordable.

5 p.m. -- Live Like a Habsburg

It is difficult to remember what a stay in Budapest was like before Four Seasons Gresham Palace opened.

And what a palace it is, one of the finest examples of Art Nouveau architecture in Central Europe, breathtakingly restored with sweeping staircases, stained glass, mosaics and ornate ironwork. A cobblestone motor court at the face of the building offers head-on views of the Danube framed by the Chain Bridge and Buda Palace. Glass-encrusted iron gates insolate the lobby area with its towering glass-dome ceiling and palatial décor where sound is never louder than a whisper.

As the most prestigious hotel in the capital city, the crowd here includes numerous politicians and business elite, giving the hotel an upper-crust vibe.

8 p.m. -- Eat With Some Fashionable Locals

A short walk from the Gresham Palace is Váci Utca, Budapest's central shopping district where small perfumeries and local fashion brands coexist with glassy outposts of H&M and Marks & Spencer. It's here that you'll find the super-stylish Cyrano Restaurant (Kristof ter 7-8) on a small side street.

In a city plagued by unsightly restaurant architecture, a smoked-glass façade reveals a glitzy dining room of baroque wallpaper and staff with chiseled features.