25. Courtyard Marriott Messe Vienna
Courtyard by Marriott Messe Vienna
Vienna, Austria
3 nights points redemption
Corner Room
After taking the S-bahn line 7, changing trains at Prattershorn, and taking the U-bahn line 2 for two stops, we got off at Krieau station and made the 2 minute walk to the hotel. The Courtyard by Marriott Messe in Vienna isn't in the most central part of town, but it is right on the U-bahn and a few subway stops from all the action of this beautiful city. We chose it because it was such a strong value-for-money on points compared to the other Marriott or Starwood properties in the city. We booked it before Marriott's revaluation, and while room rates were over 200 Euros a night, it was only 15,000 Marriott points per night. So for 45,000 Marriott points we had 3 nights at a clean and comfortable hotel right on the subway in Vienna. And the hotel was just that, clean and comfortable.
The reservation was in Lady Tocqueville's name, who is a Platinum with Marriott. For some reason, they had our reservation for September 6 - 9, even though our printed confirmation e-mail demonstrated we were on for September 7 - 10. The agent was a bit nervous, because the 9th was scheduled to be a busy night. Nevertheless, she made it work, but asked us to forward our confirmation e-mail from Marriott to her for her records. We were offered a snack and a drink from the "Marketplace" at check-in as our Platinum Amenity. We went for a big can of Pringles Sour Cream and Onion Chips and a Big Water to help facilitate some football watching we would be doing. The night of check-in, the University of Georgia was playing the University of South Carolina in American University football, and this 10:30PM kick-off was a not to miss for me. Fortunately the internet was free as a platinum, and was fast allowing me to watch the game in almost HD quality on my computer using a Slingbox. Breakfast was not included, and at EUR18 per person, we skipped it each day.
We checked-in, quickly changed, and headed out to the Vienna Opera to watch Carmen at 7PM. After 3 hours of Carmen, we headed back to the hotel for some football action and ordered in some after-midnight delivery burgers. The Georgia 'dawgs won, and by 2AM it was time for bed to get some sleep before two big days of sightseeing to come.
View of the Courtyard by Marriott Messe Vienna at night from the outside. The hotel was in a quiet business park neighborhood.
A view of the sterile and comfortable lobby.
View of the corner room for the door, a small desk and wall to wall windows.
A view of the bed. Rather than using the desk for using the computer for blogging or researching tourist sights, I would lay on the bed and prop the computer up on a pillow on my lap.
A view of the shower and sink in the bathroom. Water pressure was very good.
This hotel worked great for us, paired with our unlimited subway/train/tram pass we bought of Vienna. We were able to see all the sights, eat all the eats, and drink lots of
dranks. Ha! It is now 20,000 Marriott points per night, which is still a decent value for this hotel. But our booking at 15,000 Marriott points per night we felt was an exceptional value.
After our 3 night stay, we book the U-bahn and S-bahn back to the airport to catch our next flight, an Austrian Airways jaunt over to St. Petersburg, Russia.