Bits: FREENOW buys Gett app, The St Regis Budapest hotel opens
News in brief:
Two largest London taxi apps to merge
In April 2025, we covered how Mercedes-Benz and BMW had given up on their attempt to make money in rideshare with the sale of taxi-booking app FREENOW to US group Lyft.
FREENOW operated in more than 150 cities across nine European countries. In the UK it is primarily used in London for black cab bookings. It is well behind Uber and Bolt in the rideshare market.
Lyft picked up the business for €175 million which is was peanuts given the valuation of Uber and indeed FREENOW’s earlier valuations.
Lyft has now doubled-down with the acquisition of Gett for a reported $55m. This is likely to mean a loss for the Israeli consortium which paid $188m for the business as recently as August 2025, although it has retained the Israel operation.
It seems likely that Gett and FREENOW will both be integrated into the Lyft app in time and cease to exist in their own right. In the short term, both will continue to exist as separate standalone apps although the Gett team will transfer to FREENOW. If you are currently using both, it would make sense – in time – to replace one with an independent app such as Jump.
What is interesting for HfP readers is that Lyft has partnerships with some miles and points programmes, including Hilton Honors. (We covered the Lyft / Hilton Honors partnership here for anyone heading to the US.) It would be good to see these extended to London black cab bookings in due course.
Marriott’s The St Regis opens in Budapest
Marriott has launched St Regis in Hungary with the opening of The St Regis Budapest, image above.
The hotel is set within the Klotild Palace, a major landmark in the city and very close to the Danube.
To quote:
Klotild Palace is Neo-Baroque architectural emblem of the Austro‑Hungarian Golden Age, commissioned as a twin palace at the turn of the 20th century by Her Imperial and Royal Highness Princess Klotild of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and designed by celebrated architects of the time, Flóris Korb and Kálmán Giergl.
The building was once the ceremonial entrance to Pest for travellers crossing the Elisabeth Bridge, recognised by its defining feature, a 48‑metre tower, adorned with enlarged replicas of Archduke Joseph Karl’s crown. The intricate design honours the building’s royal lineage and celebrates the palace’s origins and its status as a protected UNESCO‑listed architectural site.
The St. Regis Budapest features 63 refined rooms and 39 luxurious suites, including the coveted Klotild Tower Suite and a two-bedroom Presidential Suite that extends over 169 square metres with a private balcony offering sweeping Danube and city views, including the Elizabeth Bridge and the Citadella.
Each room has been designed to reflect elevated living, exceptional comfort and discreet sophistication, showcasing a refreshment centre that recalls the traditional Hungarian tile stove. Inspired by Budapest’s long-standing connection to Opera anchored by the Hungarian State Opera House which opened its doors in 1884 in the city, guestrooms are designed as a private theatre box framed with city views.
Design touches include tiles, shaded fabrics and refined brass-accented bedside details that echo the city’s Art-Nouveau traditional decorative technique. Guests will also enjoy the St. Regis Butler Service, a signature offering that provides each guest with personalised and anticipatory attention.
Budapest has seen a burst of luxury hotel openings in recent years, with Marriott behind quite a few of them. I reviewed the Dorothea Hotel (Autograph Collection) here and there is also the Matild Palace (Luxury Collection) and W Budapest (one of the new style luxury W hotels). It did, however, lose The Ritz-Carlton Budapest last year which now trades as Al Habtoor Palace Budapest.
We look forward to giving the hotel a visit at some point. The St Regis Budapest website is here.