Sharp eyes
Thanks for saving me some typing , you get the drift .
Some should not be in the hospitality industry if they do not have the hospitality DNA in them or at least make an effort to understand what service is all about - biases aside .

If one wants to stay at an old Viennese style hotel , perhaps Sacher or when Bristol is renovated .
But one can hope that Imperial gets their act together quickly and not rest on their laurels ( bhrubin ‘ s stay was peak - have alerted him on this deterioration ) ?
Too many slip ups ..

Interesting report. Bhrubin and I have discussed how the Imperial is a rare hotel where we had vastly different experiences— in fact our mid 2000s stay was probably our most disappointing Luxury Collection visit ever. And we were really sad because we wanted to love this hotel- we had heard good things from friends and my cousin’s home is just a few blocks away from there.

But the service and the room was so mediocre if not bad that we haven’t returned there on subsequent trips to Vienna —although we were planning to finally give it a second chance on our next visit.

Now I wonder.

Hmm , sounds like regression to when you stayed , damon88
Which hotels have you stayed since , a few nearby maybe worthy of this thread ? Any of the others mentioned ?
As hinted , wanted the stay to be close to that enjoyed at FS Gresham Palace where we had come from , though matching the experience would have been a tough call . Am wondering too if and when our second chance might be .. perhaps bhrubin can vouch for you if you do decide to stay - might just work wonders

Will now be cautiously optimistic for my other stays at Luxury Collection hotels this year - think had not realised they were when reserving and Imperial is likely our pioneer stay with this Marriott brand !

We have had many amazing Luxury Collection stays over the last 16 years -just in the last 12 months we have stayed at Schloss Fuschl, President Wilson, Prince de Galles, Mystique, Grande Bretagne, Maria Cristina & Alfonso XIII. All 7 of those hotels provided luxury service. I am sure my Ambassador status has helped with our stellar upgrades but the Luxury Collection impressed me years ago and before I was Ambassador the Danieli upgraded us to their (then) 6000 euro a night Royal Suite and Suiran Kyoto to their almost $4000 a night Presidential Suite. I don’t know what happened at the Imperial and I’m still (all these years later) angry at myself for not insisting that they change our room.

At my cousin’s suggestion we booked at the Le Meridien last visit. While I wouldn’t consider that a Luxury hotel, we had a very pleasant 8 night stay in a spacious contemporary Suite. They were remodeling the rooftop terrace Suite or they would have upgraded us to that. We would happily stay there again.

Will be staying Grande Bretagne , Suiran , etcetera later this year so what you say is encouraging after what happened at Imperial . Will see what our “ status “ is by then , not Ambassador though .. damon88
Thanks for the information
Initially , we were not going to change suites but the WC site and minute shower really bugged me besides not having a view . I requested to see our original reserved suite and decided it made sense to move . Seems occupancy was very high then being close to Easter .

Have added to the review

@FlyerEC I’m only now getting around to reviews and threads I’d missed while on our most recent travels.

I’m so sorry to hear that the Imperial disappointed you. It sounds like you had a service lapse compared to when we were there and treated absolutely as VIPs. I think my Ambassador status may have played a factor in that, as my then SPG Ambassador made sure to pull out all the stops on my behalf. I suspect my current (Marriott) Ambassador status and the same amazing Ambassador would also better ensure better service for us on any future stay—and certainly better recovery as appropriate.

As for the bathroom and toilet placement outside the master bath, I must confess it’s one of those historical quirks and oddities that most surprised us while there but which didn’t bother us in the slightest. And it is one of the most memorable elements of our Imperial Suite that makes our stay so memorable.

I was most happy to endure the historical oddity of the toilet in order to enjoy the tremendous historic grandeur of the property. Perhaps you might be more comfortable on a future stay in the much newer and much more modern Park Hyatt...or split the difference with the Sacher.

Despite your unfortunate experience, I’d gladly and most assuredly return to the Imperial. I actually hope to in the next few years, so good was our stay. The expectation of VIP treatment as an Ambassador elite guest is too good to pass up again, as well.

I do reiterate what @damon88 indicated of the general excellence of many of the historic and special properties within the Luxury Collection. We also have had tremendous stays at the Gritti Palace Venice, Suiran Kyoto, Prince Gallery Tokyo Kioicho, Hotel Alfonso XVIII Seville, the Chatwal NYC, Excelsior Gallia Milan, and Prince de Galles Paris, to name a few, and we are continuing again this fall with stays at the Grand Bretagne Athens and Mystique Santorini, as well as a return to the Prince de Galles Paris.