Danubius Hotel Annabella

Hotel Annabella in Balatonfüred has an exceptional location with direct access to the Tagore promenade and a small private beach, which is a definite highlight.

However, the restaurant has felt the effects of inflation since 2023, leading to a more limited menu. While the kitchen seems to have made some improvements this year, the planning wasn’t always ideal.

On my last night this year, they quickly ran out of duck, followed by chicken drumsticks, and eventually resorted to serving nuggets or some form of industrial breaded chicken.

Some rooms have been renovated and are quite pleasant, but with the exception of one stay in 2020, I’ve been assigned rooms facing east rather than the more desirable west in 2022, 2023, and 2024.

This year, the view from my room at the very end of the corridor on the third floor was truly boring. Overall, while the location is fantastic, there are areas that could use some improvement.

Unbeatable location but an extremely tired and out of date product. We got there early and checked in but our room wasn't yet ready. We wanted to use the hotel's private beach but the receptionist (a middle-aged, rather grumpy lady) refused to provide access, so we ended up going to the beach next door and paid the HUF 8,800 entry fee. Disappointing. It wouldn't have cost her to give us access and she could have easily create a great first impression, but her customer service skills were clearly stuck in another century (I worked for Marriott International for 26 years, so I'd like to think I'm competent to make a balanced assessment).
Our family room was apparently the highest category. The entry door wouldn't close properly, the interior design was from the 1990's.
The highlight of this property, besides its location, is the culinary team. The half-board catering is absolutely sublime: fantastic selection of Hungarian dishes (e.g., 6 different kind of main courses every evening), and everything tasted amazing (home cooked, even). And their pastry chef is fantastic: so many amazing dessert options, you really have to restrain yourself.
Overall, we enjoyed our stay but we won't be returning at this price range until they invest some of the profit in refurbishment which has been looooong overdue.

rooms are modern and well renovated, airco was included.
food is really bad, everything is fried food and the options are limited
breakfast is a joke
strand is very good

We visited the hotel 8 years ago and we made a wow that we will never come back here. The freshly renovated room (and the fact that there were no available rooms elsewhere) made us break this promise. Overall evaluation: not terrible, not good either. The rooms were good, modern, and practical. The AC worked fine, there were plenty of space to pack our stuff (that we had with a kid). The two toilets were a nice addition, and in these rooms they fixed the smell ventillation as well. As I see in other reviews the old rooms remained bad smelling with uncomfortable beds, so as a person who experienced the both - it's worthy to pay more for a nice room, a better hygiene and better sleep. I don't close out the possibility of coming back again, but I'm not keen on spending more time in this hotel. When everything works well, it's fine. If not, they no-one is responsible (or maybe you are)...

Service: Why I'm rating the hotel low is the attitude. There was a fire alarm malfunction during our stay which woke up my son twice with a screaming alarm and we had to take a walk at 1am on the neighboring streets to attempt to help our kid to sleep. During our checkout no sorry, no compensation, no nothing. The food (although improved somewhat since our last stay) consisted mostly of deep fried mirelite food, the breakfast had no variety during the days. I wanted to have an iced coffee at the lobby, but they didn't give me - although they had ice and coffee. Paying for the parking when I already pay a lot for the room feels nonsense. There was only one elevator that could take us to the restaurant and the swimming pool, so if you plan to visit these facilities, get ready to wait an eternity or take the stairs. What brought back my rating from the negative stars was the kindness of the girls at the animation and the cleaning lady. Also the improvements they did with the private beach is welcome, otherwise I did not feel welcome and couldn't feel the hostility that I felt in other hotels.

Location: I think that's what we're paying for.

The newly renovated rooms are very cosy. The hotel will be completely different in just a few months.