THE BEST APARTMENT IN BUDAPEST!

After days of sifting through hotels and VRBO listings in search of the 'right' place to stay (I must admit, it's something I obsess about), it was time to make a decision. Unfamiliar with the city and its neighborhoods, this was becoming difficult. It's not that there were no good options for accommodations in Budapest - on the contrary. What was difficult was choosing just one! Then, there it was, the apartment! ... complete with white linen slipcovers, Ingo Maurer lighting and an amazing location. Something about it made me do a double-take. It was almost as though there was someone who knew me too well created this apartment to tempt me.

The dining area opens onto a high-ceilinged living room with French doors. On the right is the master bedroom (below). Notice the slipcovers of the same washable linen as those on the dining room chairs. And the flat-felled seams!

Best of all: the red refrigerator. When I saw this photo (below) I emailed the owners in wild excitement hoping the apartment was still available. This fridge is a work of art. It may sound ridiculous, but if the owners chose something like this, it signified that everything else in the apartment would be equally amazing. My hunch turned out to be true. Weeks later when we opened the refrigerator, we found a bottle of champagne and a bowl of Balaton cherries.

Even my son thought it was cool (below). And he doesn't think anything is cool.

It's up to you to decide if the stencil of the old lady cooking in the background is charming or bizarre. My vote is charming.

At the end of the day, the most amazing thing about this apartment was the subtle and beautiful way it related to its location and neighborhood. The owners, Sandro and Claudia Negri, are Swiss, which perhaps explains their meticulous attention to detail! After long hours of exploring the city, there was nothing better than relaxing on this balcony for an apero to observe life in the street below.

NEXT WEEK: more about the Egyetem Tér neighborhood.

[If you're interested in staying here, contact Sandro and Claudia at s.c.negri@bluewin.ch].