Szín-Ház Apartman Review - LGBTQ+ Friendly Accommodation in Gyula, Hungary

Last year, Julcsi and I were, simply out of curiosity, browsing through the Szállás.hu website to see what kind of guesthouses are available in Gyula, Hungary, when we bumped into something completely unexpected - a B&B that advertises itself as LGBTQ+ friendly! We couldn't believe our eyes when we spotted the official Hungarian LGBTQ+ safe space sticker on the website. An LGBTQ+ friendly guesthouse, in Julcsi's hometown of all places! There and then, we knew that we'd need to give this place a go. After all, it's not like Hungary is particularly known for its gay friendliness and successful attempts to better LGBTQ+ rights. In other words, finding Szín-Ház Apartman was a very positive surprise!


Fast forward to this summer, and we finally got to experience Szín-Ház Apartman for ourselves! In other words, we decided to play tourists in Gyula for one day to find out what this guesthouse is all about.

Szín-Ház is located on a quiet street but still just 600 metres from the main sights of Gyula, including the spa and the castle. The name translates into 'Colour House' - a theme that is visible in all the five apartments of the guesthouse. Each apartment has its own colour theme as well as a LED design system that you can use to change the colour lighting in your room. Fun times! The guesthouse is LGBTQ+ friendly, pet friendly and adult-only, but children are welcome, too, in case the whole guesthouse is booked for the same group. Szín-Ház also welcomes all kinds of guests so it's not addressed solely to the LGBTQ+ community. Altogether, Szín-Ház accommodates 16 guests. Some of the apartments, such as the one we stayed in, are studio flats while others have space for more people.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by the loveliest hostess ever! She's the only employee at Szín-Ház and is always just a phone call away in case you need anything. She only speaks Hungarian, but let me tell you - this lady has no problems whatsoever in communicating with people, and the term 'language barrier' ceases to exist with her! She spends quite a lot of time at the guesthouse, managing the place and preparing things such as homemade lemonade and cookies, and will go out of her way to help you with anything you might want out of your stay.

Homemade elderflower lemonade and gingerbread at Szín-Ház Apartman.

After our welcome drinks, we got taken to our room. We stayed in the blue room, which was lovely! The other rooms are gray, green, orange and yellow. All the apartments are equipped with a bathroom, a small kitchen with a sink, a fridge, a microwave, dishes and a kettle, and a TV. And yes, we absolutely loved the LED system!

How is LGBTQ+ friendliness visible at Szín-Ház in addition to the safe space sticker on the website, you might wonder? Well, the logo of the guesthouse is created out of the six colours of the rainbow flag, and there is an adorable rainbow-coloured well in the garden. We do have one suggestion, though - the general guideline sheet available in the apartments could include a sentence or two about the B&B being LGBTQ+ friendly. While the rainbow symbolism is of great help for the LGBTQ+ community in spotting this accommodation option, the average traveller might not be as well aware of the message behind it.

After a good night's sleep, we got served morning coffee, which is included in the price, as is a small goodbye gift handmade by the aforementioned adorable hostess. We had a lovely stay, and we hope you will, too! You can book your apartment at Szín-Ház through Booking.com, Szállás.hu, AirBnB, Visit Gyula and the guesthouse's own website - the minimum stay is two nights.

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Disclaimer:
This post was written in collaboration with Szín-Ház Apartman. Regardless of that, I always give my honest opinion of the products and services I review.