free101girl

As part of a 10-year anniversary trip, we redeemed 40,000 Starpoints per night here for a 3-night stay in a Maisonette Duplex Suite. A standard room is 20,000 Starpoints. At double the points, the suite is well worthwhile and a great use of points.

The Maisonette suites are two-level suites on the top (5th) floor, with amazing views out over the city rooftops. The main floor is a large bedroom with a good-sized sitting area (love seat, 2 chairs), plus a substantial entry hall with extensive wardrobe space and a very high-end all-marble bathroom with Bulgari toiletries, separate tub and shower, and heated floor.

A spiral staircase goes up to the upper level, a balcony-style area about half the size of the lower floor, with a view down into the lower floor. The upper level has a desk with fax machine and another decent-sized seating area (love seat, 2 chairs) facing a flat-screen TV.

The decor of the Maisonette suites (we saw two) is totally over-the-top. You are constantly reminded that you are living in a former palace. It is very "old Vienna!"

Butler service is included with the Maisonette suites. All service requests are routed through your butler.

We were taken up to our suite for private check-in. On arrival, our butler brought us a dozen beautiful white roses in a vase, a bowl of fruit and a box of Imperial Torte petit fours. Each afternoon the fruit was refreshed and more edible goodies would appear. One afternoon it was a multi-level presentation of canapes; on another day it was dried fruit and nuts.

One slight oddity: when we arrived, the butler also asked if we'd like coffee, tea or water. We said yes, thanks, and requested a pot of coffee and some sparkling water. When we checked out, it turned out we were charged something like 17 Euros for a "room service" order! So don't assume everything is complimentary.

The breakfast buffet, for which we paid cash (28 Euros per person, per day) was excellent. The cold offerings were so good that we never bothered with the eggs made to order, hot sausages, etc (and probably we should have been charged a slightly lower rate for the continental buffet only, but we didn't bother contesting it). It's definitely one of the nicest breakfast buffets I've experienced. The baked goods were phenomenal, the cheeses and cold cuts were delicious, the jam was amazing, etc. The coffee, as one would expect in Vienna, was outstanding, but the tea (brought in a lovely teapot with extra hot water, etc) was really great as well.

We would go back in a heartbeat. I've never felt my points were so well spent.

jaejaez

Thank you vm for a great post free101,

would you know how much the same suite would cost in Euros (on average)?

free101girl

I seem to recall the cash price was about US$1600 per night, so that would be about 1300 Euros per night.

sdm1130

It looks like the Hotel Imperial is now charging 58 EUR for a car transfer to/from the airport (I'm quoting a post from 2005). Is the taxi fare still between 30 and 40 EUR? Are there any private car transfer services that someone can recommend or is it best staying with a taxi or what the hotel provides?

kokonutz

We had a truly Imperial time there. It was a bit dear at 20k points per night but a pair of free weekend nights did the trick quite nicely, thank you very much!

We were upgraded to a 'Junior Suite' (I think it was room 127). Regally decorated and a king bed that actually had a king mattress on it, not two twins. Really, every request and detail was perfect. We asked for the wine plat amenity and apparently turn down even refreshed the ice in the bucket! ^ Oh, and love love LOVED the automatic bllinds!!

We ran into some folks at a bar around the corner who were complaining about the high price of hostels in Vienna, and all we could do was laugh as we were staying at one of the best Starwood properties either of us have ever experienced, and we were paying far less than they were to stay in a hostel. Ah, Starwood, how I love thee.

Some photos:

Entry hallway to Suite (bathroom is on left, LR on right, second bathroom and closet behind).


Second toilet and closet.


Bathrooom


'Living room'


'Bedroom'

mtimmer

Does anyone have any experience getting opera tickets through the concierge at the Imperial for a sold out performance? I'm sure they can do it and I'm also sure it's expensive...just hoping it's not so much that it will make me cry.

schley

You will pay through the nose. Vienna is about as artsy as a city can be. Music is everywhere in historic venues. I went to hear the Vienna Philharmonic with Gustavo Dudahmel guest conducting and purchased in advance luckily. Some other guests were paying a 50% markup via the concierge at the Le Meridien.

I view this as a once in a lifetime almost. I mean how often does one get to Vienna and when you do just expect it to be expensive. I would have paid twice face value for my tickets 85 euros each, but that is subjective.

mtimmer

While I can't fully guess the supply/demand dynamic for the opera in Vienna, I'm fine with a 50% markup as I agree with you--it's close to a once in a lifetime opportunity. But since face value on the best seats are 165 euros, if I have to pay a 100% markup, well then I'd start to think twice. (But I still might do it...)

PS You saw The Dude in Vienna?!? Very cool!

jaejaez

i will be staying here in May and am already in talks with the concierge to secure tickets for the upcoming Nabucco.

for those interested, i am told that the ticket prices are EUR 124 to 192. hotel then charges 25% commission and 8% handling fee (?). This works out to be about EUR 260 if you want the best seats....

just wondering if there are any other ways to get tickets aside from hotels for these events? hmm

RoundTheWorld_12

Hi,

there is a Nabucco in the Staatsoper and the Vienna City Hall. I bet (and hope) you are thinking about the one in the Staatsoper.

The tickets can be bought online at http://www.viennaticketoffice.com/detail_de.php?ID=28

The Imperial is just round the corner of the Staatsoper, Bristol and LeMeridian are also nearby and all of them are great hotels.

Have fun in Vienna

fdemacar

Just back from Vienna:
Booked 3 FWN in December (the last days available).

Reception
Receptionist were really nice while the doorman were completely indifferent.

Room
We were upgraded as plat to a junior suite with a gigantic bathroom with a gigantic round Jacuzzi (room 335) which can hold 3 people which we used a lot with the Bulgari amenities (the perfect match. The beds were really nice.
The decor is obviously old world but you can feel Franz-Jozef wandering around. If you are nice to cleaning ladies (they are extremely charming), they will tend to restock your Bulgari amenities with a little more generosity

Opera
We bought online the last seats at 10 EUR (with obstructed view) which happened to be a bargain as there were empty seats in front of us with full view :-) (Internet site posted in one of previous messages).

Location
Pretty everything can be done on foot. An unlimited 3 day ticket for transport costs 13.6 EUR. So you can hop on and off.
Bristol is really in front of the Staatsoper while Imperial and Meridien are really close.
Took the fast train from near the hotel (2 tram stops) where you can check-in your luggage (9 EUR per pax) to the airport (16 minutes).

Breakfast
As on points we choose to eat in the cafe on the other side of the road for a fraction of the price.

Restaurant
We ate once in the cafe in the hotel and it happened to be quite nice for a reasonable price.
You have many restaurant in the area nearby.

Swimming pool
Although no swimming pool are on site we asked for the permission to use the one of the Meridien, which was granted. You need to send an email to the hotel before and ask the concierge to give you a business card of the hotel. Nice touch although it can be relatively crowded at certain times of he day (around 6 pm)



All in all a very nice hotel especially on FWN.

snufl

I’m a goose. I type my hotel reviews in Word then copy and paste into the thread. I thought I did this but have discovered that not only didn’t I do it, I’ve deleted the file. So this is late and not as detailed as I’m sure my original was. Our stay was early September 2010, 3 nights, 2 of them FWN and 1 C&P.

I’ve always wanted to stay at the Hotel Imperial and had high expectations. The problem with high expectations is the real chance of feeling let down. Fortunately our experience was everything we had hoped for. What struck me as we were escorted to our room was the size of some of the room doors, if someone super famous or important had emerged I wouldn’t have been at all surprised. You can imagine all the famous guests from past years walking through these halls, very regal and beautifully maintained.

Before leaving home we watched SPG TV to get an idea of the history of the hotel. There was a concierge talking and his eyes sparkled as he spoke about the hotel. The staff at this hotel do seem to have a genuine pride in the hotel. Any request or question was professionally and graciously addressed. Hard to describe the service, not too casual, not too snooty, just right. All Platinum benefits recognised and delivered.

By the time we got to Vienna Miss S had a nasty cold so we really appreciated our upgrade to an Elizabeth Suite. The room had external shutters on the windows and a door between the bedroom and lounge room. Late in the afternoon she could block all the light from the bedroom, close the door and go to sleep. I could catch up with FT in the lounge room.

The room? Soaring ceilings, chandeliers, heavy weight velvet, antique furniture. The only thing we didn’t like was the colour of the carpet. It was obviously expensive carpet but it seemed to clash with the other colours in the room. I mentioned this to my husband when we got home and his face went and told me I’m turning into a Starwood spoilt brat.

So, a belated thank you to everyone at the Hotel Imperial Vienna for taking such good care of us. Our decision to include Vienna in our trip was influenced by a desire to stay at your hotel, it was wonderful.

Of course, now we have glimpsed Vienna, we want to return. For anyone planning a trip, try to include a day trip to Melk. I had seen photos but nothing prepares you for the experience of walking into the church. It is a take your breath away, over the top experience.

Some pics, but they don’t do the hotel justice.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/3063128...693952/detail/

flightjunk

EUR 58 is far too much. Taxi is normally between EUR 35 and EUR 45. There are some private transfer companies (prices start at EUR 30) such as Airport Driver (www.airportdriver.at) or Airport Transfer (www.airporttransfer.at)

schley

All the stars aligned as I was planning on visiting Vienna before I found this. I was like NO WAY Dudahmel?!!!! While I'm there with the Vienna Phil in the Concert Hall? Way cool. Once in a lifetime.

fdemacar

Here is a pix of the bathroom of room Junior Suite 335 (December 2010).
The nicest I have ever had.
Bulgari amenities with a gigantic jacuzzi to stay in for hours.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59041077@N08/5404984279/