I visited the hostel with my friend back in September 2006. This review is a bit delayed, but here it is. When we arrived we stayed in a hotel, with a view to booking a hostel for the remainder of the stay. Central Hostel booked us in for a further 3 nights- we specified a twin room only, but on our arrival we were told that we were in a 8 bed dorm. Afetr lots of deliberation (an no acknolwledgement of a mistake from them) we agreed to chance it- we ended up in a room with a load of guys smoking and drinking the rooms stank so we went back to the desk to complain. Not once did they apologise (bearing in mind this mix up consumed a couple of hours of our valuable holiday time). It turned out that they HAD made a mistake. We got to know two German girls who were fluent in English and Hungarian- they were due to start uni in Budapest (lucky things) and were waiting to move into a flat. The staff had horrible nicknames for people... We had just quaified as doctors and it was nice to rub this in when they were being so rude to us re: the mix up about the room. Finally, on our last day we booked a taxi to the airport through the hostel and they said to wait in the foyer and would tell us when the taxi came as they would come to the desk- a guy came, and we heard the girl say that there was no one for the taxi- luckily we had some nowse about us and went outside and caught him before he drove off. He was so apologetic saying that the woman had specifically said there was no one else- she knew!!! She clearly wanted us to miss our flight. The BEST thing is that we were so polite to them the whole time so it didn't spoil it for for us!!
The beer is fab in the bar though. Rooms are nice.

Mellow Mood is a big hostel name in Budapest and they own several hostels and budget hotels. We chose the central hostel because of its fantastic location and because we wanted more of the hostel experience (chance to meet other travellers and socialize) rather than a budget hotel. We were not disappointed on the location, but we were disappointed on some other levels.

Of course, we were staying in Budapest in February--definitely the off-season. And we booked a private room (twin beds) so we weren't going to meet people by rooming with them. Still, the hostel felt remarkably cold and unsocial. The website promised an on-premises bar. There wasn't one. We weren't clear if the bar was a thing of the past or something that was closed in the off-season. Another promise--internet access. But there wasn't any.

The rooms themselves felt a little dreary and, while not dirty, not the cleanest I've ever encountered. And a small but essential point for people like us who read before bed--we really yearned for some bedside reading lights. The only light in the room was a glaring overhead, far away from the bed. We joked that the least they could do was provide us with a long stick so we could turn out the light from our beds. And while we had a private room with a shower, it was one of those where the shower is just in the middle of the bathroom and there's the possibility that you will flood your room if you use it. We opted to use the communal showers instead.

On the plus side, the location is fantastic. You are within easy walking distance of main streets Vaci Utca and Andrassy Ut. The Vorosmarty ter metro stop is steps away. The river and the chain bridge are also close. The hostel provides a very good deal on an easy shuttle service from the airport and the rooms were well-priced. There is no curfew.

Would I stay there again? Maybe. But I would be more inclined to find a smaller and friendlier hostel.

Before I say anything else, I know that this is a youth hostel, not a 5-star hotel.
On the plus side, it's right in the middle of Pest, very near vaci utca and the other bits of town that most visitors to Budapest are gonna want to see. Staff are reasonably friendly as well, and you can book the place on the web

The downside, is that it's most definitely not a hotel. All the private rooms were taken when I booked 2 days in advance, so ended up in a 4-bed dorm. There are private lockers, and the rooms aren't too small, but the room really did feel a bit scruffy, and I'm not sure how clean the bed linen was

If you do decide to go, make sure you take your reservation number (it gets sent to you automatically in the confirmation message) - if not, you may be asked to go find an Internet cafe nearby to get the number - there's a CCTV camera in reception and the staff are at risk of being fired if they let you use the in-house Internet PC. There's a bar on the 5th floor, so if you want to sleep you might want to be on a different floor. When you book on the web it seems you can pay by credit card - you can't ! The desk at the hostel accepts only cash

That all said, the place isn't bad and it is cheap

My wife and I spent a couple of nights in a double room en suite. The room was pretty clean and had high ceilings.

Our room was beside the common bathroom. The walls are a bit thin though and I do believe someone was having noisy sex in the bathroom the first night we stayed. The kitchen is quite small and its not easy for more than 2 pple to be cooking at the same time.

The location was good. Its on the same road as the Meridien and taking the subway/bus to the airport is very easy.