Hotels

Bucharest is well geared to receive visitors with company expense accounts, with respected western chains all represented here and offering most of the luxuries and comforts you might expect in other parts of the world. An increasing number of modest and better-priced accommodations are available, although you may miss some of the amenities offered by similarly priced properties back home (few have pools, for example). Budget hotels leave much to be desired.

Hotels are spread across the city, but there are only about 4km (2 1/2 miles) between the northernmost (Sofitel) and southernmost (Marriott Grand) hotels mentioned here. If you want to be in the heart of the city, there are plenty of hotels across the quality spectrum right in the center, within walking distance of major attractions. But bear in mind that Bucharest's attractions are spread out enough to make proximity to the center only a minor consideration when choosing your hotel.

Very Expensive

If you want to be near Ceausescu's Palace of the People and, in fact, stay in the hotel he conjured up to accommodate his guests, consider reserving a room at the JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel (Calea 13 Septembrie 90; tel. 021/403-0000; fax 021/403-0001; www.marriott.com/buhro; from 290€/$363 double, without breakfast or taxes), where you can expect the usual standard in-room amenities and hotel services. There's also the good chance of having any number of important dignitaries as fellow guests; the Marriott is a typically huge and luxurious complex with myriad dining options, an expensive and extensive shopping mall, and the slight whiff of impersonal service (there are 407 guest rooms); public spaces are unlikely to make you feel much like you're on holiday with businessmen barking into their mobile phones as they pace around the lobby. Another excellent international chain hotel, located in the north of the city, and unfortunately attached to the World Trade Center, is Hotel Sofitel (Montreal Sq. 10, 011469 Bucharest; tel. 021/318-3000; fax 021/317-2997; www.sofitel.com), with over 200 beautifully appointed rooms seeped in gracious luxury. There's plenty of space and an abundance of comforting extras; the bathrooms have bathtubs as well as separate showers. The hotel has every imaginable amenity and its marvelous Mediterranean restaurant, Les Oliviades, is one of the city's best. Doubles start at 220€ ($275), excluding breakfast and taxes.

Inexpensive

If you don't mind foregoing room service and the like, a good way to save money is to rent an apartment; just make sure you're not located too far from the action. Bucharest Comfort Suites (www.comfortsuites.ro) and City Comfort (www.citycomfort.ro) both offer rentals that work out far cheaper than hotel stays; rates start at 35€ ($44) per night, including central locations. Apartments are clean, modestly furnished, and include occasional cleaning service and air-conditioning; some have free Internet access.

Room with a View

At the climax of the December 1989 Revolution, students from the University of Bucharest were among those who sat on busy University Square in protest, only to be driven over by tanks still loyal to Ceausescu. The square is today still lorded over by the ugly frame of the Intercontinental Hotel (B-dul Nicolae Balcescu 4; tel. 021/310-2020; www.intercontinental.com), from where you can share the same view as the international press who witnessed the wholesale massacre of ordinary citizens barricaded in by the military. On the night of December 21, 1,000 helpless victims were killed here; a black cross marks the spot where the first victim fell in the early evening. Today, the areas in front of the National Theater (Teatrul National) and the fountain in front of the University building are once again popular meeting points for students who find many diversions around or near this great physical and symbolic crossroads.