The Ritz-Carlton Vienna

Hotel details

The Ritz-Carlton Vienna, is a luxurious 202-room hotel with an elegant spa in an imposing building on the Ringstraße, close to the city sights. Made up of four grand, 19th-century houses, the hotel’s original features include grand staircases, parquet flooring, walnut wall-panelling and ornate fireplaces.

Made up of four grand, 19th-century houses, the hotel’s original features include grand staircases, parquet flooring, walnut wall-panelling, ornate fireplaces and frescoed or inlaid ceilings enhanced by gilt mirrors and chandeliers. The large reception area is marble floored, while public areas are relaxing, with comfortable high-back chairs and tropical hard-wood furniture. A basement Guerlain spa comprises gym, sauna and steam baths, plus 18-metre pool with underwater lighting and music. The hotel attracts a mix of well-heeled families, sight-seeing couples, business travellers and the international jet set.

King-sized featherbeds, Nespresso coffee machines, iPod docking stations and large marble bathrooms come as standard in all rooms from deluxe to club suites. Premium rooms differ from deluxe purely on size. The more expensive suites have spacious sitting areas, usually screened off from beds, Acqua di Parma toiletries and sometimes a terrace or balcony. Decoration differs from room to room, but tends to be subdued browns and greys enhanced by patterned carpets, brightly coloured cushions and eye-catching artworks.

The main restaurant, DSTRIKT, is overseen by Austrian chef Wini Brugger who produces excellent Austrian cuisine including Carinthian cream cheese dumplings based on his grandmother’s recipe (starter at £8/€9), original Wiener Schnitzel with buttery potatoes and cranberry jus £18 (€22) and Neusiedlersee pike perch with Veltliner sauce £21 (€24) in an L-shaped, bistro-style dining room. Excellent wine list, with many of Austria’s greatest wineries featured. The snug, low-lit D-bar serves cocktails, Austrian draft beer and Viennese coffee, while the rooftop bar offers superb views over the city.

The hotel is on the Schubertring, part of Vienna’s broad, circular boulevard and a 10 to 20-minute walk or short tram ride to some of the city’s top museums and galleries (Albertina, Kunsthistorisches Museum and Hofburg Palace), the Cathedral and smartest shopping streets.