dimramon

Thanks - I was upgraded to an Elisabeth suite, but no mention of a butler.
What was interesting though, is that the hotel recognized me as an "Ambassador Guest". I have been with the Ambassador program for a while (and love it), but no hotel has ever mentioned it.

yvr76

At this property, you only get the butler service if you pay for the room outright, not if you get upgraded.

charder

According to the T&C one gets all the perks that come with the upgraded room. It does not matter if you pay for it or not.
I had the same experience at the Imperial a year ago but did not push for it as I do not need the butler service and staff was very friendly anyway.

yvr76

Agreed, the staff were very friendly and they seem to regularly upgrade Platinum guests here. I imagine if we pushed for the butler service with complementary upgrades they would all of a sudden become 'not available'.

dimramon

My thought exactly.. wonderful hotel, and staff as well.

FormerAmtrakTraveler

Just completed a stay here. Overall a beautiful hotel with a lot of history in a great location. Received platinum upgrades to suites. Did not seek out butler service... don't think it's included in upgrade.

We also stayed at the Schloss Fuschl Resort on this trip. I can see jaejaez's point that you would get better service at the Schloss Fuschl. The Imperial was inconsistent on service. Sometimes we got great service from some staff, other times we got poor service from the same staff. Shout out to Tom who handled our luggage. He was a very jovial guy who had a ton of knowledge on the hotel and Vienna that you should tap if you visit.

PhillyPhlyer40

So I emailed the hotel for a few clarifications prior to my arrival in a week-and got an email back with "we will discuss it when you get here!"

The questions were plat. arrival gift of breakfast/if it is available for the family/what it includes!! Seems kinda easy to me! But, with SPG cryptic/horrific rules on bfast/ammenities/paid v award stay/etc, I really wanted clarification!


Any recent general thoughts on this hotel? I have 2 reservations for a suite/regular room on points coming up in a week. Any thoughts on the free Plat breakfast? Will it be comp'ed for the entire family? (2 adults/2 kids)

FormerAmtrakTraveler

See post here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starw...l#post18353290

You should entitled to two breakfasts per room. It's their full breakfast and it was good. As mentioned in the post, no everyone knew the rules so you might need to be persistent when you check in. Good luck.

FD1971

Basically, we are talking about two hotels in one building.

On one hand and on the lower floors, the hotel for (mostly) Asian tourists on cheap package rates or (mostly) American tourists burning SPG points....

On the other hand, the true upscale Grand Hotel for real VIP guests and heads of states.

PhillyPhlyer40

So, had my stay here last week. I am VERY unimpressed with the hotel/staff/management at the Imperial. VERY IMpressed with the rooms. I erred in a previous post-I had 2 rooms reserved on points, regular rooms, not a suite/room. (Had a suite/regular room reserved at the Bristol, cancelled for the 2 regular rooms at the Imperial).

Check-in:
Arrived at the hotel with 2 kids, 5 pieces of luggage. No welcome from the stiff doormen/bellmen. Although luggage was taken, with no comments or holding of the door.

Went to check-in, and it was empty. As it was only 2pm, wasn't expecting rooms to be ready. Checkin desk said he had two rooms ready-regular rooms. I had checked the website prior to the arrival and noticed 8 suites available (booking 8 rooms it was ok, 9 wasnt available) for my stay dates. He originally said that the hotel is international, so no suite upgrades , then said that due to the fact that my reservation stated connecting rooms, no suite upgrades . I asked to CHANGE my reservation to say I do not need connecting rooms...but he said the time to change my reservation passed (24hr prior)so I couldn't! WHAT???

Ok, new approach "sorry I had it marked as such, can you upgrade me to a deluxe room?" Response was "sure, but they will not be connecting!" Now I am completely !!! So I say, ok, but if I am getting non-connecting rooms, can one be a suite-as I beleive that is an SPG plat benefit. Finally he gives in.....

He states one room is ready, but the other suite isn't. Ok-fine by me. He then hands me a rack rate card, and CIRCLES (I still have it!) the rate I should be paying ("but you are staying for FREE" he comments-really, points 20Kpts/room/nt were free???) and also the cost of the upgraded Elizabeth suites and marks it 2X. Great-upgraded to 2 suites, after 5 minutes, and told I am getting something for free.

Next, plat arrival gift. Here is where it gets WIERD!!! He pulls out the "complimentary breakfast card" and starts to write on it. He puts the date, room #'s, etc. He then tells me that "since he went above on the suites" I will "have to pay FULL PRICE for one breakfast for my son, but the daughter is free" (2 yrs old). He writes "2XFREE, 1X39 Euro" on the card!!! I tell him my wife usually likes tea/biscuit for breakfast, she will just have that. He says "No, you must pay 39 euro for one breakfast!" This is different then what other have said on here, and also why I tried to get clarification on the benefits PRIOR to arrival!!

He does show us to our room, and gives us a tour of the hotel. Asked who my butler would be, and was told that I didn't qualify as I am staying for FREE and did not book the rooms!

Rooms:
Nicely appointed. Spacious. No view, though.

Conceirge/Staff:
One junior member did set us up with a GREAT private guide. He did a terrific job. One minor issue was that I was quoted 75 euro/hour for this, and took 5 hours. Total bill was 378 euro's. Not really sure why the extra 3 euro charge.

The main conceirge and most other staff were HORRIBLE. I have never felt like a second-class citizen in ANY hotel worldwide like here! I have stayed at luxury hotels before, and still am in awe that we were treated so badly. We are younger, and did not fit the "60's+" crowd that was so well catered to. At breakfast, we were ignored (more below), when asking questions, it was what seemed like a hassle for a response - ie, good places to visit on a rainy day, restaurant recommendations, etc. It went so far that the one senior conceirge stopped mid-sentence talking to me to deliver an umbrella to a couple walking out, and had a ~25 second conversation with them before returning to my conversation! I did ask to speak to a manager on the final evening, but was told everyone was tied up preparing for an arrival (later found out to be Madonna). If there is one reaon to NOT stay here, it is the horrific treatment from 90% of the staff!

Although, housekeeping/butler were FRIENDLY!

Breakfast:
After finally getting the attention of the stiff wait staff, we were seated. Another couple approached the table to sit in a little "nook" area by a window next to us, and the waiter said "why dont you sit on the other side, it will be quieter!" Guess my kids looked loud???

I showed the card, and asked to order from a menu. He said they only had one breakfast-buffet, and it was 39 euro for the extra breakfast. Whatever

Breakfast was so-so at best. NOT worth $15, let alone 39 euro! We had breakfast 3/5 days, and were charged 39 euros without signing.

This was to be a special stay-we like old grand hotels. This sub-par stay has greatly influenced my loyalty to SPG-in a negative way. No longer does the family look forward to future SPG grand old hotel places. Sad to say-but maybe this hotel just doesn't "fit" into SPG's portfolio???

TimWong

We stayed there in July 2012 for 2 nights on points. Platinum upgrade turned out to be a great suite. The bathroom was rather large with Jacuzzi and view was to the Ring.

Staff was attentive and made the stay memorable. They organized for a great lunch at Plachutta. We had breakfast buffet and enjoyed it (Imperial cake - delicious). The ambience in the old-established hotel is special.

sbtinme

Sorry you had so many frustrations here, but surely you'll acknowledge that virtually the rest of the world really delights in this wonderful hotel. The reviews are consistently exceptional and the hotel's reputation for excellent service is legendary.

While it's true that every property can have an "off day" from time to time, I'd be interested in hearing the hotel's version of this story, as well. My experiences at this hotel have been so fully opposite yours that I'm left to wonder what might've caused your experience to be so different from almost all of the rest of us.

PhillyPhlyer40

Age?

Non-SPG apologist?

Expectations? (of treatments at other high profile/grand hotels)

Might factor into it

I guess the other reviewers on that other site (TA) also are not being truthful? (quite a few reviews comment on the bad service)

HansHuckebein

All my best wishes to you and your family for your next stay as valued SPG Plat in a traditional hotel like the Imperial. I really felt sorry when reading your experiences before and during your stay. It look likes you hit a bad day - what a pity! You must also have a look into positive sides, e.g. you got breakfast for you and your wife. Imperial and Bristol are my&my wife's favourite hotels in a great city.

FD1971

At the Imperial, you are a second class citizen as pointed out in my post on July 16 already.

Aside from that, we do not sign for things like breakfast in Europe, they check your name, when you enter the restaurant and that's it.