Budapest is an unusually lovely city.

Accommodation:

Generally there are two spots with ridiculous prestige: the Hilton Buda immediately adjacent to Matya's Templom

and Fisherman's Bastion (the lovely white castle over looking the whole city). Since I lived 1/2 block away I can tell you this is totally over-hyped. There's a hotel called "The Burg Hotel" that seems like the holiday-inn version (and possibly more charming). As well as a hard to find Hosteling International option. That's if you're excited about staying inside the castle walls. It's also pretty convenient... if you like stairs.

By far the most decadent and desirable hotel is the restored Four Seasons in full Art Deco at the Pest side of the Lanchíd (Chain Bridge, Híd = bridge) This is handy to know because Budapest has many, many bridges for a small city and all of them are different and most offer a gorgeous view and being plunked into a new part of the city that you may (or may not) be looking for. The Lanchíd is by far the most famous, as well as the most centrally located bridge in Budapest.

In Pest (and also Buda, but other than the Castle you don't want to stay in Buda (see Gellert exception below) because you'll waste your time trying to figure out how to get around) There's a huge variety of hostels as well as low-cost hotels. Hostels are the cheapest and have the benefit (or detraction) of forcing you into interacting with other travelers. I can recommend the Mandragora hostel, which also has a website and online booking.

If you want to revel in the lost Grandeur of Budapest/Europe/Civilization, et al. The best option is the Hotel Gellert, which also houses the famous Gellert baths, is made out of this incredible carved stone stone, looks like a dirty fortress, immediately adjacent to a major university and

The famous Gellert/"freedom" Bridge. FYI this is also the most popular bridge for suicides and is currently under renovation on the south side. Crossing over to pest (Gellert & the university are on the Buda side) from both Gellert Bridge and the Lanchíd you'll find major tourist attractions like cafe's minor (not very exciting) shopping; postcards, desk trolls and your best shot at hearing English spoken on the street. (these will be other tourists)

Depending on how much time you have and what your personal inclinations are Budapest is good for a few different things:

1. Getting semi-naked in ancient bath houses
2. Drinking surrounded by incredible (largely crumbling) architecture.
3. I hear the museums are great but I really don't know.
4. Music

1. Bathing:

The first thing about the bath houses are that they're OLD, which as an American winds up being surprising that they're not totally pristine modern (or recently renovated). Judging also by experiences in Japan it might be a little weird from that perspective too. That means some crumbling facades and everything feeling a bit like a once-magnificent old house.

This is a Hungarian maintained information site listing all bathing options (there's a LOT more in the summer with water parks and seasonal pools in the Islands between Buda/Pest and in the city outskirts). The site is in English, but it's a little weird as it's clearly a babelfish version.
Pictures for each of the sites are great.

http://spasbudapest.com/tartalom.php

The easiest, most grand experience that will make you feel like you've entered a movie or new world is the famous Széchenyi Thermal Baths. It's also really easy to find next to Hero's Square and the big Circus/Museum Park area (kind of like the Budapest version of Central Park).

Keep in mind these are natural thermal waters and while they are constantly filtered and renewed they've got different mineral/natural content that turns them weird colors and sometimes a natural "smell" that I was surprised by.



2. Drinking:

First off: the Hungarians don't drink cocktails unless they're a gangster/prima donnas and the rest are all tourists/ex-pats willing to pay the price hike.

What does that leave you with?

An INCREDIBLE amount of cheap, bountiful beer, wine and strange local concoctions. Namely these are Zwack Unicum (often referred to as Balon) or one of the variations of Palinka, similar to a fruit liquor with an alcohol content that would send anything into outer space. Plum is the traditional favorite.

You can drink in the streets, so you can go to a corner store and get a beer, a wine and sit along the Duna, one of the parks or streets and just look around. Hungarians, like New Yorkers are really funny to watch and that alone might be a good way of checking things out.

Other than playing the street lush there's an enormous variety of options, from the local pubs that appear every 15 feet tucked into buildings looking like Eastern European VFW posts. Look for one with a menu sandwich board outside the entrance as that means they'll cater to your English speaking, even if it's only pretending to understand. Eating and drinking are inseparable and generally eating options seem to be an add-on to the drinking options in most places.

When/if you have to eat:

There are Vegetarian options: if you're vego like Nona, prepare to suffer. There is, however, restaurant/shopping info for how to survive in a meat and beer society. Some are lovely, some are strange and all of them are kinda funny.

Since it depends on where you are at any given moment let's go over the general layout:

The city is laid out in a giant circle (the Grand Korut, which depending on which district you're in will have a slightly different name (Josef Korut (near Josef town in Pest), Margit Korut (near the Margit Bridge in Buda)). Cutting through them are some major streets (utca) like Andrassy, the major route for just about everything pattered after grand Parisian city planning and just to keep things consistent the Opera House, Shopping and Cafe Boulevards are all along Andrassy. Where Andrassy and the Korut intersect is called "the Octagon" or oktagon.
Being the most central and easy to find point this is a great location to memorize as a meeting point.

Here you'll be impressed at the Giant Burger King, Subway, TGIF and other favorites you've just sat through a 11+ hour flight to get away from. But if you're feeling sheepish about language barriers or want really cheap familiar food, it's an easy option.

This isn't Italy or Paris, so the "cafe culture" doesn't actually care for coffee (or anything about the genre) except as a facade for tourists. There are some exceptions but generally the best coffee is not in a KaveHaz but in a local bar/restaurant with kave on the menu. If you're jonzing for American version of caffeine it is known as a "Long Kave/Coffee." If you ask for it with a gutteral accent, you'll get a close approximation of what you're expecting.

That said, the Central Coffee House in Pest is an epic place to spend an hour eating traditional foods, having coffee and sitting in a big grand place that's neither crumbling nor youth oriented. It's also got a dictionary sized menu with good English translations. All the waiters spoke decent English and likely several other languages, which should make you feel really grateful for whatever employment you've got with just one language.

HEAVY DRINKING:
this can be done anywhere. But there are a few places that the kids really love:

Szimpla (at least 2), West Balkan (there are something like 4 west balkans, which range from the mega-club complex to little cafe or small club sized venues), Godor, Tandem.

There's also the venues that open up on the islands along the Duna...

All have websites that are almost impossible to navigate. If interested I'll send directions, etc.


3. Museums:

Again, I'm not an expert but I've biked past nearly all of them. The ones along Hero's Square are particularly easy to find and majestic looking from outside. It might be a nice cultural add-on if you go to the Széchenyi Baths. There's also the Zoo + Circus in the same park area.

The thing is also that there are a million little impromptu mini-museums all over the city, particularly in the castle where you can learn about everything, though potentially not in English.

Aside to Museums is TEMPLOMS, this is the Hungarian word that encompasses all churches/temples regardless of faith/affiliation. The Grand Baszilica and the Grand Synagogue are the two exceptions you might want to visit. Huge, gorgeous and beyond snippy description.


4. Music

The really nice or possibly frustrating thing about music is that it's everywhere and often impossible to coordinate on a particular schedule. Most touristy spots along the river, in the castle or along Andrassy will have environmental music for patrons, from local gipsy performers in the restaurants in the castle across from the abominable Hilton to violin players or crazy trance parties.

Major performers come to Sziget the major venue on one of the islands in the Duna, like you'd expect from Madison Square Garden but more pretty and with public smoking and drinking.

Godor, the easy to find centrally located venue always has concerts. It's the one with the fake lake above the actual venue and as far as clever public projects go its' a must do for any urban planning fanatics.

The big West Balkan is epic with many floors with different kinds of music. All DJ as far as I can tell.

There's a symphony/Orchestra but that might be hard to coordinate on the semi-regular schedule they seem to haphazardly operate on.