As expected the property is still getting its bearings - but overall its certainly on its way to being a wonderful option for Hyatt loyalists. The building is classic yet sophisticated. It doesn’t have the “datedness” that PH Tokyo does, or the “modernist” feel that PH Seoul does, or the “too fancy to touch” feel that PH Paris does. It sort-a sits somewhere in between those three. The blend of the original features and newly added features really is seamless. The older items have been deeply refurbished, while the new items were constructed to be timeless. There are just a handful of small details that do feel off/cheap though.
Entering through the main entrance the check in desks are to the left to the right and to the right is “Living Room” lounge and “Pearl” bar. . Up the stairs straight is “The Bank” restaurant, up the stairs to the left are the conference room/ballroom, and up the stairs and to the right is the main elevator and grand staircase to guest rooms. Check-in is typical Park Hyatt, your name is captured by the bell/doorman (the door is a modern revolving door so no “holding open” by the doorman), and as you approach the front desk they have your folio ready and check-in is completed in your room. (I assume it was an opening glich, but my name was attached to someone else’s reservation, but it was quickly sorted).
There is a single main elevator runs down the middle of the central guest staircase, its extremely fast, and all glass - albeit with a pesudo stained-glass effect (one of the off/cheap looking items). There are two other elevators (and a 3rd service elevator) tucked away left of the front desk that is handy for those staying in the “back” of the property. The elevators all required key access to reach the guest floors - funny as someone nefarious could just take the stairs without a key. The guest hallways are long, with few adornments. The carpet is a deep brown with simple design, walls are soft, and room doors in inset with a deep dark stain. There are just a few “art elements” inset in the halls that look like blown glass - but they’re cheap plastic. Door numbers are to the side on brass plaques alongside a small hook, doorbell, do not disturb light and the RFID key sensor. Its worth noting the doors take some getting used to 1) they’re heavy and thick, 2) there’s a good 2-3 seconds between when your card is “read” and when the lock retracts.
In our suite (144) you enter into a marble foyer with floor inlay. There’s a european style “keycard switch” to the left, which doesn’t power the room, but rather senses the time of day and sets the lighting/blinds/HVAC to a “welcome” setting. Removing the card does cycle the lighting/blinds/HVAC to an “away” mode, but doesn’t power-down the room as you can turn things on manually without keycard present. The celling was 14”+ the rooms are quite tall.
To the right of the foyer is the large closet. Along one wall is a built-in closet unit - there’s the normal Park Hyatt umbrella/robe/iron/safe. The safe was just large enough for a 15” laptop, any bigger and it wouldn’t fit. (Again I’m sure it was an opening quirk but our safe was locked when we got to the room - it took a few hours before someone could come up to unlock it). In our room, the connecting door was actually though the closet (I have no idea if the room on the other side was though the closet as well)
To the left of the foyer is a massive bathroom. Two vanity areas each with their own sink. A TV embedded in the wall, and speakers in the celling. A separate toilet room - with poo phone and Japanese style bidet/washlet. There’s no instructions and the buttons are tucked on the side without labels. There’s a large soaking (non-jetted) tub with separate shower wand, the tub uses “touch” sensors to control water flow, which like the front door take a second to register each button “press” before they react. Lastly there’s a large shower room with bench, a rain shower and adjustable handheld. Water pressure was quite good, and the hot water got very hot. There is a double door into the bedroom between vanities. Toiletries are Blaise Mautin and everything is packaged in oversized shiny silver packaging.
Straight ahead from the foyer is the living area which has hardwood floors but a large throw rug under the couch/coffee table. There is a TV hidden behind a mirror (funny enough this wasn’t motorized/automated and required manual intervention to lift up). The mini-bar/coffee machine is tucked away in a small armoire. The coffee machine is an Illy Y5 Iperespresso, and the minibar is really more of a cool-box than a true refrigerator (its I believe the same one used in the PH Maldives). The working table is not moveable and not particularly large. Embedded into the desk is the “mediahub” to allow VGA/HDMI/RCA inputs to the television. There are 3 power outlets and a wired ethernet. The phone system appears to be an IP based. We had internet and phone issues during out stay but it just might be opening gremlins. The wireless network “hyatt” had WPA2 security turned on so I couldn’t login (oddly there were open “Hyatt_Employee” SSIDs), while on the wired network I only averaged 1.2mbps down and 3.5 mbps up. When using any of the “quick dial” buttons to the concierge/spa/housekeeping they all went busy. When trying to dial the front-desk “0” the phone rung endlessly (for giggles I let it ring for 7 hours to see if anyone would ever pick-up…) so the phone was relatively useless.
The bedroom can be entered either through the living room or the bath. The king size bed was comfortable but nothing special (it was labeled as “Simmons Suite 612” which the googler says its a “3-star hotel mattress”). There are 2 outlets on each side of the headboard as well as control panels for the drapes/lights, one one side was a Bose SoundLink, but there was no alarm clock (although there was one in the bath). One bottle of still, one bottle of sparkling water was bed side when we came in, but they were not replaced/refilled throughout our stay. There’s a small table and seat by the window, and another seat and lighted mirrored vanity tucked away against the bathroom wall. There’s a TV identical to the one in the living room behind a sliding mirrored door. The TV system is quite nice, extremely responsive, not overwelmingly intuitive but useable. It features an interactive hotel/vienna guide, visual tv listing/movie guide/radio station selection. Oddly the menu showed an option for a “Blueray” (sp?) option but we couldn’t find it in the room anywhere (there were hidden cubbies under the TV so perhaps its a planned enhancement)
The pool/spa area was the highlight of the property for us - its open 9am to 11pm and the money definitely seems to have spent here. You can enter the pool from floor -2 using the “side elevators”, but to properly capture the experience enter using the main elevator to -1, at the spa reception desk you’ll see the old bank vault door and the pool below. The spa receptionist will then take you down to the locker/changing rooms. The lockers all have digital combo locks, and each has a bottle of water, slippers, robe, laundry bag and a hanger. Also in the locker/changing room there was a dry sauna, steam room, rain/message/ice shower, 3 private showers, and a heated bench. It may have just been opening night - but there was no one else in the area for the hour my wife and I spent at the pool (as a bonus that let me get some photos). As you exit the changing/locker rooms there is an area with a dozen chaise lounges, paired up into little nooks to be semi-private, from there you go up about 10 steps to the pool. The pool itself is small (I believe 15m), so anymore than 4-5 people and the pool itself could feel crowded (in fact poolside there are only 4 recliners). I”m sure its just an opening ‘feature’ but the water depth was noted by a printed piece of paper taped down near the pool’s edge.
Service was good - English was solid (in fact even though we greeted everyone in German, nearly universally we were responded to in English), there are separate menus in English and German in all the bars/restaurants and the in-room literature was all English/German (the TV had a dozen other languages to choose from). I assume we were upgraded to a suite as a Diamond, but it was never mentioned (paid using Cash+Points). During check-in there was no fruit/ammenity in our room which the check-in clerk noted and said they’ll bring something up. When we came back there was a fruit bowl and a letter from the GM inviting us for a free drink at the “Pearl” bar). But looking back FD1971 was correct fresh fruit is listed in the standard amenities of each suite on the site so that couldn’t have been the amenity so looks like we got nothing. We did visit the “Pearl” for a drink - there it was pretty busy around 21:00 with lots of locals, the bartender was a sweetheart and offered us a drink “for free as a grand opening welcome” not knowing we were staying at the hotel and that we had an invitation from the GM. Our second round was rung-up and I signed it to the room - but it wasn’t taken off at check-out so I still need to reach out to see if they intended to comp this per the card in our room. Also worth noting our bill said that our purchases were “Not point earning eligible, and Not point redemption eligible” - so this we’ll see if they post if the drinks are indeed not comped. The “Pearl” does seem a little out of place compared to the rest of the hotel - its tucked away with a separate street entrance and seems much trendier than the rest of the property. We also stopped by the “Living Room” to grab a smoke - its a nice space, but even with just 4 people smoking in there, you can tell ventilation is going to be a problem. There are bottles of scotch/congac/rum lying around (and high-end bottles at that, of Louis XIII, JW Odyssey, Pyrat 23) - I’m curious to see how long that lasts before a bottle mysterious walks away… We walked around the conference room floors quickly just to see them, and they’re beautiful but extremely small.
Lastly, we had early flight out of VIE (7:05am) so ordered room service for 4:45am. Unfortunately it didn’t get delivered until 5:10am. But the person delivering room service also, ended up being the bellman who came to retrieve our bags at 5:30am, and was ALSO the person at the front-desk checking us out and calling a cab for us. So perhaps they’re still not fully staffed up. Overall for being the first day, the property shows real promise and is definitely a nice addition to the Hyatt portfolio. Is it worth 350euro a night, location isn’t as great as some of the other high-end properties in Vienna (that are actually on the ring itself), but if it can distinguish itself with a beautiful spa/pool, an amazing dining room (in the “Bank”), and being closer to high-end shopping it maybe a good fit for some.