Accommodation recommendations in Bucharest, Romania

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I booked a return flight to Bucharest for a week in early August for my teenage daughter and me. I would like to book a place to stay for the week. Somewhere central, inexpensive, and comfortable are priorities. I would appreciate it if you have been there and can recommend somewhere. I do not want to stay anywhere too noisy, but as my daughter is quite social, it would be good to find somewhere with a communal living room/kitchen. We're open to all options; however, previous summer holidays have generally been in B&B-type hotels or Airbnb.

Are you in Bucharest for the whole week? I’d really recommend a few days somewhere like Brasov or Sighisoara or Sibiu.

Agree that those cities are lovely. Went to Brasov years ago and it was unique. So picturesque.

Thank you for the replies. I plan to go on day trips to Brasov, Sighisoara, or Sibiu. The distances are pretty long from Bucharest, and I will not have a car, so I plan to take organised tours. For personal reasons, I need to be based in Bucharest, so I am looking for accommodation recommendations there.

We stayed in a 2 bedroom Airbnb in the centre of Bucharest in October. There are loads that are reasonably priced on there.

I have been to Bucharest a few times. Honestly taxis are so cheap (download the Bolt app) -stayng a bit further out somewhere leafy and quieter is not an issue. Look for a good deal at a hotel/apartment you like the look of and take it from there. Make sure you visit Bucharest Terme- amazing value. Trains to Brasov etc are really cheap and quite a pleasant journey if you can manage this time wise rather than tours.

I stayed in the Novotel for few days and loved it - not sure of price.

Just checked- we stayed in Caro hotel in an upgraded room last time. We wanted a pool, the staff were polite/helpful and the location worked for us as it was not too far from the centre but also easy to get to other locations we needed to get to. There is a tram stop outside but we just used taxis- they were a few pounds. I can recommend the Divan restaurant over the road if you like Turkish food.

Depends what you mean by expensive. We recently stayed in the Hilton Garden Inn. It was a lovely hotel right next to the old town. But while the old town is lovely during the day, it was not the best place to be in the evening unless you are on a stag do.

We found the area around the university far nicer for bars and restaurants. The Mercure was right in theiddle of that area.

If you are going to Brasov just take the train. You can easily do it as a day trip and from the train you get to see the mountains and scenery en route.

Also download the Bolt app. Taxis are cheap in Romania but I would recommend using Bolt as if you hail a yellow cab they at least half will try to rip you off.

Agree you should look at the trains as they may be quicker and easier. I think whether to get the train or drive might depend on when you’re travelling though.

The train I got was scheduled for 2.5 hours (the fastest train you can get) although it took over 3. A feature of my trip to Romania was pretty much every train we got took longer than the scheduled time so be prepared for that. The trains were mixed - some were fine but some had no air con and were pretty uncomfortable. However overall the trains are cheap and easy to use. And you can sit back and enjoy the scenery.

Driving might only take 2.5 hours or so on a good day. But we were advised that it can be 4/5 hours drive to Brasov from Bucharest as the traffic can be awful, especially at weekends. So train could definitely be better on a weekend.

If there’s absolutely no way you can stay outside of Bucharest OP, then day trips are worth it to see other parts of the country, but be prepared as it’ll be a lot of travelling. I would do whatever I could do stay elsewhere for a few nights of the trip to be completely honest.

The only other thing though is if you get a driver/tour, you’ll be able to stop at places en route, so will see more than if you get a train straight to Brasov.

This thread is making me re-think our summer short break in Romania - we only have 4 nights in August and land at 9pm so I booked an apartment in Bucharest for all 4 nights and was going to do a couple of day trips to save lots of short stays in different places (will have teenagers in tow). I'm now wondering whether that's the right plan if travelling around is so affected by traffic making long day trips even longer... I had clocked not to try and do the day trips by road Fri/Sat/Sun

Happy to pay for a private transfer to Brasov when we arrive (could be nearer 10pm when able to exit the airport) and go straight there but is that too late to be doing that journey (probably more worried about road safety in the dark)? We could have 3 nights there and come back to Bucharest for our last night as an alternative. Any feedback from anyone who has more knowledge than me, gratefully received!! 😊

@Crumpetsandlemoncurd- on the back of this thread and because I am off work for a while, a friend and I booked flights from our local airport on a whim because it was under £20 each way. Teen daughter is off that week with her friends celebrating the end of her A levels/ 18th birthday.

I have been with the teen a few times, sometimes as a stopover because it is a gateway from our little northern airport and we have traveled on. It is worth staying in Bucharest for night- there is enough to see. When she was younger we always did Bucharest Terme and now she is older we have enjoyed the very unique history. We have family connections from that part of the world and DC is going to do history at university so the quite recent communist legacy fascinates her. We travel to Bulgaria, Poland and Hungary frequently as well- however it is much nearer the surface in Romania.

Trains are cheap (and cheerful). It is very easy to get a train to Brasov and a lovely journey. I would not hire a car. Loads of cheap hotels and apartments near the airport. I would land, grab a taxi (official one or Bolt) and head on the next day via train. Same going back- but I recommend spending a bit of time in Bucharest on one side.

Just to add- Sinaia is between Bucharest a d Brasov and is a perfect place to stop off if you want to break the journey. DD and I have travelled to lots of weird and wonderful places since her dad died when she was younger. Because we were on a budget, we have taken lots of trains and buses and this has been part of the experience. Trains in Romania are cheap and we have had some great experiences chatting to other people sharing our carriage. Even though we are now more solvent, I would still take the train if it works time wise. Romania is a stunning country and trains are cheap and frequent.

Thanks @willstarttomorrow , I'm sorry about your daughter's dad - your travels with your daughter sound amazing and I'm sure she appreciates them. I think based on what you say, I'm going to try and do a night in Bucharest, 2 in Brasov and then get the train back to Bucharest to have a proper look around. I've always been fascinated in countries that were behind the iron curtain (it's my age - a child of the 70's & 80's!) and I seem to have passed that along to my kids. I really like the look of the Sinaia cablecar to get to the top of the Bucegi mountains for hiking too. The issue is going to be fitting it all in. I booked the flights on a whim and really wished we had a week now as it all looks fabulous

@Crumpetsandlemoncurd please come back and update the thread after your holiday if you can as thinking of going September.

@CampervanKween yes I will! Not going til the end of August though