Originally Posted by
pinniped
Any recent Gold reports from either this hotel or the LM down the street? We have a 5-nighter in July...awards and C&P are available at both hotels. 2 adults + 2 kids...I'll book two standard rooms and won't expect much in the way of upgrades, so it's mainly a comparison of regular rooms - not the suites.
Leaning towards Bristol, as the reviews here are that the staff is generally much nicer than the LM. (Some of the LM reports are downright awful.) Also, the worst-case scenario at Bristol appears to be a King bed in each room, whereas the LM could leave me with a Queen in each if the hotel is sold out and I get ZERO (even minor) upgrades at all.
I'm just going to assume that no breakfast option exists at all at either hotel for Golds. It's Vienna...figure finding tasty food nearby shouldn't be hard.
Does either property have any kind of unusual Gold welcome amenity?
Reading Wifi complaints...is it strong enough in the rooms to get a basic connection? Thinking we'll use it for emails, Skype calls, etc. Not planning on streaming movies or anything like that... We'll be accessing via tablets and smartphones, so we do want *some* access to wireless (as opposed to wired) Internet.
Only thing that LM has in its favor is the pool, which the kids would use a little bit. However, the website has no photos of the pool, which leads me to believe it's not exactly a FUN pool, but perhaps a smaller one adjacent to the fitness center. We're spending the following few days in Barcelona at a hotel that is both near a beach and with a big outdoor pool, so the pool isn't a dealbreaker in Vienna.
EDIT: I notice part of Tennis Noob's post suggests he was Plat (breakfast being a welcome amenity) and part references Gold (fruit basket). Golds surely aren't offered breakfast, are they?
When I stayed here as a Plat during a very busy period, I was quite impressed by the Bristol's elite recognition. They apologized for not being able to upgrade me and preassigned the best room of the category I had reserved. My room contained a personal note, fruit basket, and bottle of wine. I seem to recall some comment to the effect that the "best available in category" is what they normally do for Golds. It's the published benefit, but I consider it good that the hotel tends to take this very seriously. [However, not that my room was quite small.]
Are adjoining or adjacent rooms an issue for your family? If so, you might want to ask each hotel what they can do for you on this.
LM is almost across the street (one of the ring strasse, on the inner ring but I forget what this section is called), so the locations are equivalent. The styles of the two hotels are very different, although both are in historic buildings. In addition, much of the lobby level of the LM seems to be a very popular loud bar for young people, while the separate bar (smoking allowed) off the lobby and the bar area of the restaurant at the Bristol seem to attract an sedate older and apparently somewhat wealthy crowd. I wouldn't describe either hotel as particularly family friendly.