What an extraordinarily beautiful photo of Judith! I literally swooned.
I am a sucker for the Sacher. Your description of it was right on target; it is, indeed, a more clubby, intimate hotel with exemplary, though mischievously impish (that's a good thing), service. We had a perfectly sized (a bit over 1000 sq ft) modern, light filled suite on the top floor with a splendid view. I liked the juxtaposition of the contemporary style of the suite with the heavy, traditional look of the public areas. Most importantly, our suite was just so comfortable. The furniture was perfect for lounging on those cold mornings. I must say that I got a pain in my back just by looking at the stiff furniture in the sitting area of your Imperial suite. How was the comfort factor?
I loved the Sacher, but it does have one glaring fault: that damn torte. There's a whole cult of personality surrounding that insidiously sweet thing, which I found irksome. Tourists line up at the hotel's cafe just to get a taste of this wretchedness and that really got on my nerves.
However, the Blaue Bar is quite sublime. I do judge a hotel by the quality of its cocktail bar and the Blaue Bar is perfection. Such a warm, cozy place on a chilly December night. But--damn!--the bar at the Imperial looks mighty fine. I'm now obsessed with returning to Vienna just to give it--and the hotel as a whole--a try. Alas! That won't be happening anytime soon; I chose the destination for our 2016 holiday outing (opera in Vienna) so my husband got to retaliate by choosing our 2017 escapade. His choice? Some rustic, bug infested lodge in the swampy jungles of Peru.