Hilton Vienna, Vienna

...get two nights at the Hilton Vienna just a stones throw from Stadtpark rail station. If you arrive by plane into Vienna airport you can take the CAT train direct to Stadtpark station in only 15 minutes and the hotel is just a short 2 minute walk once you get out of the station. The hotel is found on Am Stadtpark A - 1030.

We stayed in one of the standard rooms which was about 30sq metres and had all the mod cons you would expect such ...
...was also a very cute Hilton Hotels yellow rubber duck.

The hotel had a great concierge service that we made use off. Our guide book had recommended several restaurants and there were two we really wanted to go to. On the first night we asked the guy at concierge to see if he could get us in but they were both fully booked. He made a recommendation for somewhere else and booked us a table. He gave us the card for the restaurant and ... more

I'm going to start with my confession. I've been a Ciao member for a few months now and written about 2 dozen reviews. I never realised quite how consumed I was with Ciao until I said to my partner "I'm just going to the steam room to relax". He questioned me; "but why are you taking a notepad and pen". My response of "I need to take notes to I get write a really good review" seemed to bewilder him…….fool.

My partner and I decided on a trip to Vienna to see the Christmas markets and get a bit of culture at the same time. We had a bunch of airmiles stored up and used them to get two nights at the Hilton Vienna just a stones throw from Stadtpark rail station. If you arrive by plane into Vienna airport you can take the CAT train direct to Stadtpark station in only 15 minutes and the hotel is just a short 2 minute walk once you get out of the station. The hotel is found on Am Stadtpark A - 1030.

We stayed in one of the standard rooms which was about 30sq metres and had all the mod cons you would expect such as TV, on demand movies, tea and coffee, safe - as well as a few extras such as wireless connectivity in the room that you could pay for online or by purchasing a card from the hotel. There was also an iron and ironing board in the room which is always a good thing for me considering my approach to packing a bag starts with me laying things in neatly and ends with scrunching up t-shirts and cramming them into any available nook or cranny!

The room had two beside tables, a large wardrobe with plenty of hangars, a 3 drawer chest which had the TV on it and on a large glass topped desk. We had asked for a double room which, for once, was a double (a King actually) bed rather than two singles pushed together! Despite this, we still had to separate duvet covers but at least there were no arguments over who had stolen it in the middle of the night. There was only one spare pillow on the wardrobe as well as only one dressing gown. Not really an issue as we didn't use either and I'm sure the hotel would have bought us more had we asked.

The hotel provided room service although the menu was pretty much limited to pizza (€16.50). There was a mini bar at the usual extortionate prices (€4 for a 330ml bottle of Evian) - a small point on the mini-bar, don't remove any of the items to get a closer look; it's an electronic system that charges you as soon as you remove the item! There is also a laundry service available but at €11.50 to have a shirt washed and pressed, we decided to give it a miss.

The hotel has a health and fitness centre which I went to check out. I'd like to say I went because I'm super healthy and can't keep away from the treadmill but, the truth is, Vienna is VERY cold at the end of November and they had a sauna and steam room where I could get my blood circulating again! Free towels are offered in the health centre and the changing rooms lead into a lounging area with a sauna and steam room at the back. The steam room and sauna would fit about 10 people each but I never saw more than two people inside when I went. A couple of points of note were the hose in the steam room for cooling off (very refreshing!) and, this being Europe, naked bodies were the status quo regardless of this being a mixed area. Even so, I chose to wear my 'Daniel-Craig-in-Casino-Royale' swim shorts and nobody seemed to mind. Like I implied, I didn't actually use the gym facilities but they had a free weights and machine weights area as well as about three each of treadmills, cross trainers and bikes. In addition, there was a massage area and solarium but I couldn't seem to ascertain if this was free or not.

The bathroom was spacious: an over-the-bath shower which was pretty powerful was a welcome relief from a long day visiting galleries and museums (be warned, there are a lot in Vienna); a hairdryer; a magnified mirror with a light around (very good for seeing how bad my skin was looking after two days in the biting wind); and a host of complimentary Crabtree and Evelyn bathroom products. Oh, and there was also a very cute Hilton Hotels yellow rubber duck.

The hotel had a great concierge service that we made use off. Our guide book had recommended several restaurants and there were two we really wanted to go to. On the first night we asked the guy at concierge to see if he could get us in but they were both fully booked. He made a recommendation for somewhere else and booked us a table. He gave us the card for the restaurant and our first impression was that it looked a little tacky and we didn't want to go. We went anyway and were really glad we did - friendly and great food - we felt really bad we had doubted to the guy at concierge!

Breakfast was good with something for everyone:
Hot buffet - eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, beans, tomatoes
Cold Buffet - cold meats, cheeses, yogurt, fruit, Cereals, bread, pastries
Made to order - poached/fried/boiled eggs, omelettes
Coffee, tea and orange juice was served at the table and more drinks (water, juices) were available at the buffet area.

I don't have kids myself but the hotel was definitely child friendly. They had the cutest little staircase so kids can step up to the check in desk and well as filling in their own for if they want. The restaurant has a specific kids menu and activities to keep them occupied (mostly based around drawing and puzzles)

We didn't eat in the restaurant ourselves so cant comment on this area. We did have a drink in the hotel bar and the service was good and the prices reasonable (for a hotel!) We paid 13 for two larges glasses of red wine and got some nibbles to go along side.

We had one major issue on the first morning we woke up - well, actually we were woken up by a high pitched drilling in the room above at 8.00am! Admittedly, this isn't a terrible hour of the day but after a long day walking around it's nice to be able to wake up at your own leisure. The drilling continued for about 15 minutes so when we went down to breakfast I complained about it. The hotel offered to move us but since we were only stopping one more night I really didn't want the hassle. They agreed with me and said they would wake sure it stopped. We didn't hear it again for the rest of our stay! I was apologised to, offered a solution and it was followed through - the perfect way to deal with a complaint!

Costs:
As I mentioned, we paid in airmiles which came to 3900 airmiles for the two nights. The advertised rates direct from the hotel site were as follows (all with King sized bed):

Standard room: £156 a night
Deluxe: £176 a night
Executive: £205 a night

Having had a quick look round some of the comparison sites it seems that you won't find a huge difference elsewhere - maybe about £5 off each price above.

Despite the rude awakening on the first morning, I have nothing bad to say about this hotel. The staff were courteous, the rooms were spacious and well designed, breakfast was great and the location was perfect. Who could ask for more?

© of jonescraiga. Also posted on Dooyoo under funkimunki. 

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