I am using the expert review mode to do a comparison and contrast of the Hotel Imperial, the Park Hyatt, and the Hotel Sacher here in Vienna. I stayed at the Imperial and visited both the PH and Sacher (as well as the Bristol, which isn't in the same league).

For the record, I'm not a TA. I always have loved visiting luxury hotels while visiting any city or location where I may have the time. 

HOTEL IMPERIAL

I reviewed the Hotel Imperial, where we stayed, in a separate review. I am copying elements of that review for the purposes of this comparison and contrast.

We all were blown away by the Hotel Imperial. I recently on FlyerTalk named my favorite 12 hotel stays of all time; the Hotel Imperial must now be added to that list. It simply was that incredible. The service standard here is as high as I've seen anywhere in the world. 

The hotel is lovely and obviously historic from the exterior:

The lobby entrance really shows how historic and beautiful this hotel is:

The bar was simply breathtaking, one of the most beautiful we've ever seen:

The staircase was, not surprisingly, quite grand:

The mezzanine level, on which our suite was located:

The view from the mezzanine to the lobby:

The cafe/dining room, where we had breakfasts and lunches:

The Restaurant Opus, 1* Michelin dining:

We had two rooms: ours was an Imperial Suite, and my mother's was an Elisabeth Suite (junior suite equivalent).

IMPERIAL SUITE

The long entry hallway, to the right side of which was a large closet and the only toilet in the suite:

It was odd to realize later that the master bath adjoining the bedroom did not have a toilet, and that this toilet was our one and only toilet! It also was odd that the closet here in the entry hallway was the one with the safe. While obviously odd, it didn't in any way detract from the quality of our stay. We chalked it up to the historical oddity of staying in such a grand and old hotel.

Then we walked into the suite living room. We were simply wowed by the enormity of the space, the sheer 20' height of the ceiling, and the incredible amount of natural light:

We thought the smallish TV in the corner of such a massive room was hilarious. But almost any TV in that space would have been superfluous. 

Large mirrored sliding doors opened to the beautiful and extremely spacious bedroom:

To the left side of the bed was the door into the (toilet-less) master bath:

This was when we realized there was no toilet in the master bath. We laughed so hard, I cannot describe it. We discussed briefly whether we should inquire about the availability for another Imperial Suite but quickly decided to just enjoy the peculiarity.

As it were, the odd toilet location really wasn't an issue for us--as the distance to the actual toilet was not any further from the other side of the bed to the master bath, anyway. But I did once or twice go to the master bath when I wasn't thinking...

And waiting for us in the suite also was a truly wonderful welcome amenity:

The air conditioning was excellent. Once or twice, being the freak I am, I did get concerned, so we asked for a fan to be safe. But I barely used the fan. For such an old hotel, the air con surprisingly worked wonders--especially considering the incredible room volume.

The views from our second story huge windows looked onto the city streets--nothing special for us, but it did offer tons of natural light. The room was completely blackout in the evening, too--shutters closed outside the windows, and the big curtains were drawn by housekeeping.

We loved the suite and all its hisorical pecularities. It truly had a remarkable sense of place. We absolutely knew we were in Vienna. After touring Schonbrunn Palace, we easily could see our suite decor and furnishings truly reflected that bygone era.

ELISABETH SUITE

My mother was surprisingly upgraded from an entry level award room to an Elisabeth Suite--even though there is no stated Platinum benefit for more than my own room. Before we even arrived, my mother had mentioned hoping for a view. So not a few minutes after she arrived in her upgraded Elisabeth Suite with a huge bath but no view, the front desk called to let her know another Elisabeth Suite was available in a short while that had smaller bath but a wonderful city view. My Mom immediately accepted and they moved her to the new Elisabeth Suite. Sorry--no photos of her original suite, or of her bathroom.

My mother also loved her suite. Even though the bath was small, she said she originally had the bigger bath but preferred the view. To each, their own!

Without question, this is one of the most beautiful and historic hotel properties at which we've stayed. While we prefer more modern style, we absolutely adored this hotel and its impeccable and timeless quality.

Service was absolutely and breathtakingly extraordinary. I'm not sure they missed a thing besides perhaps a curtain not entirely closed in our living room the first evening?

Everyone was so friendly, so warm and gracious, so eager to please, and so genuine to do so. I don't think anyone said no--ever.

After only our first night, I posted to FlyerTalk the following:

"Review forthcoming, but we've just had the  first of 3 nights at the Hotel Imperial. It's been absolutely spectacular. Truly one of the best service experiences we've enjoyed anywhere--including Aman, Peninsula, and StR hotels.

Food and beverage exquisite. Had great lunch at the Cafe and a wonderful dinner at 1* Opus. Also was given free tickets to last night's Beethoven concert in the bar. An exclusive affair with award winning pianist. They reserved us front row seats...and awaited our (slightly late) arrival before beginning the performance. Yikes. But what a concert.

Concierge efficiently and graciously moved our afternoon city tour to our final day since it was raining for our first day. No issues. Just taken care of.

Air con in suite--wonderful. Concerns--handled quickly and easily. Just a perfect stay so far. Didn't want to wear a long sleeve shirt to dinner at 1* Opus for fear of being too warm--not a problem."

The rest of our stay was true to that first day and night. Absolute perfection.

We were truly blown away by the Hotel Imperial in a way that very few hotels worlwide ever have. Truly, this is one of the world's greatest hotels.

PARK HYATT VIENNA

The Park Hyatt is a spectacularly beautiful and modern, new, fresh hotel. It has all the bells and whistles one could want from a new hotel--except, perhaps, any sense of place. While the hotel was beautiful, we couldn't much tell that we were in Vienna; its modernity lacked any sense of place for us.

The beautiful entrance lobby:

The staircase trying to be grand:

The main restaurant/dining/bar space:

We weren't so sure about the big glitter light balls, but I'm sure they're wonderful around the holidays!

The beautiful lounge/cafe where we had snacks and drinks:

Downstairs, another dining area/cafe, seemingly de rigeur for Vienna's luxury hotels:

ROOMS

I don't remember every category, so please bear with me. The rooms were spacious and wondefully designed:

We toured the Ambassador Suite, which was tremendous:

The TV was conveniently hidden behind the mirror, which opened to reveal the TV.

The Park Hyatt is a very beautiful, modern hotel with spacious rooms with all the amenities--but with absolutely no sense of place whatsoever. It could be anywhere. The rooms and suites were wonderful and modern.

The Park Hyatt had nice service, but even in the short time we visited, we were let down a number of times: the wait at the front desk with a few staff seemingly not doing anything,  the staff member who said he'd be ready in 30 min never came to find us in the cafe, the drink order came wrong in the cafe, the long wait for the correct drink, the doorman who never helped my mother out of our taxi, the doorman who never helped my mother into our taxi, the doorman and bellman who seemed completely disinterested in us or anyone else coming or going into or out of the hotel. The doorman issue and reception issue were in stark contrast to the Imperial, where only once was a doorman not even present and where we always were assisted at reception as quickly and warmly as possible. The doormen issue was particularly galling in contrast with the Imperial where at all times, the Imperial doormen couldn't be gracious enough or fast enough to offer assistance to my mother or even us as we got into or out of a taxi or for our airport transfers. 

You can't go wrong with the Park Hyatt, but you'd go better with the Imperial--especially in terms of service (and likely food/beverage). 

HOTEL SACHER

The Sacher was a mere 10 minute walk from the Hotel Imperial, and just around the corner from the Opera House from its SPG/Marriott cousin, the Hotel Bristol.

The lobby had concierge, but not reception, curiously. Reception was around the corner and off to the right in a very cramped space, surprisingly--making it almost impossible for me to take a photo. Sorry.

There was a beautifully clubby and intimate lounge room between the lobby and bar, but it was too crowded for me to politely take photos. Sorry again.

The famous and beautifully intimate Blaue Bar, where we enjoyed wonderful service and had the famous Sacher torte--which was, indeed, delicious:

The hotel was only able to show us one of their suites, which was surprisingly modern. The staff indicated that there was quite a range in style for the hotel rooms, from this suite's modern style to a much more traditional style more akin to what we had at the Imperial.

View onto the Opera House:

The Hotel Sacher is a beautiful but more traditonal and clubby feeling hotel with quirky spaces and rooms/suite with varying decor schemes, but still very Viennese. The suite we saw was beautifully and surprisingly modern but not as spacious as I would have expected. The Blaue Bar truly is adorable, though, and a bit less ostentatious than the Imperial bar. Service was to a high standard here. We loved the Sacher torte more than the Imperial torte. You definitely can't go wrong with the Sacher, but you'd be looking for something a bit less grand and perhaps a bit quirkie than the Imperial.

HOTEL BRISTOL AND DO & CO HOTEL

In case anyone were interested:

The Hotel Bristol is a lovely hotel, but its rooms, room decor and layouts, and overall ambience just aren't in the same league as any of the Imperial, PH, and Sacher. Not even close. Service was to a good standard, and the public areas were fresh and modern, but the rooms and suites looked like they were seriously dated and in desperate need for a refurbishment. This felt more like a business hotel or for the well traveled tourist who doesn't way to pay top billing or use too many points. A nice hotel, but not close to the Imperial, Sacher, or PH.

The DO & CO looked like a grandiose modern monstrosity in the core of Vienna--it really stood out as a bit garish. I love modern design hotels, but its exterior appearance did nothing to invite us in. Our guide shared that the owner never wants to pay enough to keep staff so service suffers and is seriously lacking. It looked it.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I've rarely been so happy as to have made a hotel choice as I was to choose the Hotel Imperial for our stay.

For those looking for modern appointments, the clear winner will be the Park Hyatt, but you definitely sacrifice any sense of place and of Viennese charm with your stay there. We would not choose to stay here given the better choices available.

For those looking to have a sense of place, there is no question that both the Imperial and Sacher will fit your bill. The Imperial is more opulent and impressive, while the Sacher is more traditional and clubby in its charm. Both are likely to serve one well.

While we normally prefer more modern, clean design, we absolutely were blown away by the incredible appointments, sense of history, and amazingly high level of service and food/beverage at the Imperial. We'd go back in a heartbeat with not a single reservation--not even with the odd toilet location!