Having left the Bristol, I went up the street to LM, where my experiences were similar to those of
Shareholder, above:
Originally Posted by Shareholder
...the building has been thoroughly rebuilt on the inside and is Philipe Stark contemorary. Even cooler than any Ws I've stayed at, but actually not as cold as I find the majority of Ws. Staff was also friendly and not at all haughty...
It looked to me as though two buildings were joined together, as there were some differences of level within the same floor... but back to his point: to me what made this hotel a lot better than most Ws was the staff—there was no attitude at LM, even as the hotel was über-cool and with art projects and installations at every turn (the rounded staircase was great!).
As a platinum, I was upgraded to corner suite on Ringstraße, though unfortunately only on the second floor (I was told that one on the fifth floor would not be available until ~5, as another plat would be checking out at four
). Had a welcome letter, sparkling water and petit-fors waiting for me, and for my amenity (on the recommendations of the staff), I chose a bottle of a very decent Grüner Veltliner. The room was beautiful, but it proved to have some problems.
First, the ethernet ports seem to be malfunctioning (the hotel's own tech support was able to locate a working port, but I could not get an IP address on my Mac, and the service provider's support was unable to solve the issue). Fortunately, I was getting a strong WiFi signal from the lobby/bars below, so the management readily comped me WiFi access to insure I would have the free internet access included in my rate ^.
In the evening I noticed that one of the bedside lights would go in and out at whim. Fiddling a little with it, I figured that the problem was in the wall attachment (it's a suspended light). And during the night, every so often a 'clunk' would come from HVAC system; not very loud, but loud enough to keep me up when half-awake. In the morning I noted these things, and I was promptly moved to another suite (not a corner one, but I found this one to be more comfortable, anyway). The staff's and management's handling of all of these things was absolutely fantastic. Well, I found the staff to be fantastic, cheery and engaging in all aspects—they cared and they showed it. Concierge service was very good too!
Maybe they've upped the offerings since
Shareholder was there, but my rooms included (in addition to nescafe) ground coffee for the Coffee presses ^, which came in handy one morning; as did throughout the day the free minibar (replenished during turndown service ^).
My second room had plasma TVs in
both the living room and the bedroom. I liked the layout of the bathroom better, too. The showers are a stand-alone column in a glass-enclosed room with two nozzles along its height in addition to the overhead one. The controls allow for complete control over which nozzles operate
. The bathtubs are modern recreations of the free-standing claw-footed bathtubs of old, but with über-chic fittings and contouring for comfort.
The hotel has a fully equiped gym with cardio- and weight-machines and free weights
and trainer. There is also a pool and hot tub, though the pool is not very big (certainly not like the Munich LM's). The sauna and steam room facilities were very very good ^. Unfortunately, the gym/sauna hours are short. There is also a spa, but I can't tell you much about its offerings or treatments.
The LM is great addition to the *W portfolio in Vienna, and for me, it was a welcome and refreshing change after a disappointing stay at the Bristol.