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The Palace of Schonbrunn in Vienna, Austria.
Vienna and the Viennese are not defined by the Ringstraße—the ring road that circles the historic heart of the city—but the Ringstraße does affect movement around town in that it makes it all easier. In the imperial Vienna of the preceding centuries, the street did serve as a kind of demarcation line in defining proximity to the Habsburg court. The closer you were to the Hofburg, the Court Castle, the better.
Except for those families already so close or so powerful that being ''inside" the Ring didn't matter, such as the princely Schwarzenbergs. A super-sized likeness of the Napoleonic-era's Field Marshal Schwarzenberg sits astride his war horse at Schwarzenbergplatz, just south of the Ring. The current Prince Schwarzenberg, the 32nd generation of royal Schwarzenbergs Europe, still keeps a flat in one wing of the immense Palais Schwarzenberg behind the statue. The other wing is the Swiss Embassy—that's Vienna.
Here's where to stay in the city:
The Ring Hotel
Vienna's Ring Hotel.
The Ring, a Relais & Châteaux property on the southwestern flank of the Kärntnerring section of the street, has a fine chef in Alexandru Simon at its At Eight restaurant. The restaurant's name references the proximity of performance because the Kärntnerring is that part of town that houses the Opera, and the Musikverein, Vienna's two greatest concert halls. A better-situated hotel for lovers of the opera or the mighty Vienna Philharmonic doesn't exist.
The Grand Hotel Wien
The Grand Hotel Wien
Vienna's Grand Hotel opened in 1870 and was considered especially modern in that it had its own telegraph office, an unthinkably luxurious level of connectivity back in the day. Nearly 150 years on, the Grand is now a jewel in the JJW group, with 205 rooms, thirty suites, and three restaurants. It has since the early 20th century also incorporated its two neighboring buildings. Composer Johann Strauss, the so-called "Waltz King" of Vienna, celebrated his fiftieth anniversary of performing at the Grand, in 1894. Put it this way: The Grand can handle whatever dance you bring.
The InterContinental Hotel Vienna
InterContinental Hotel Vienna
Tucked into the Johanngasse across from the Stadtpark, the City Park, on the Ring's southern flank, the InterContinental opened in its own modern building in the middle of Europe's version of the go-go 1960s. The asset here is not just the InterContinental's usual strong array of amenities, it's also the restorative of the park. From October until March every year, there's ice-skating on a 6000-square-yard rink.
Imperial Riding School Renaissance Vienna
The Imperial Riding School Renaissance Vienna
Tucked into the Ungarstraße, or Hungarian Street, a few streets west of Castle Belvedere outside the Ring, the Imperial Riding School, a Marriott property, was, in fact, a riding school. No, it wasn't the Spanish Riding School, which is still going strong inside the Hofburg. The hotel's orientation is perpendicular to the street, so it's easy to mistake it as small, but over its two facing buildings there are 352 rooms, 17 suites and some 11,000 square feet of meeting spaces. The hotel also has a fine pool, which is delightful, and a rarity in this town.
The Guest House Vienna
The Guest House doesn't try to be anything but what it is, rigorously elegant and unfussy. Designed by the UK's maestro of simplicity, Sir Terence Conran, it's also a truly comfortable place to live. Its Brasserie is open for three meals a day, 365 days a year (until midnight), a great gift in a town famous for taking its holidays seriously. The careful, modern cuisine of the Guest House's Brasserie is worth booking into even if you're not living there. It has its own bakery, also open every day. A really unusual, mid-high market spot, well inside the southern flank of the Ring behind the Opera, the Guest House is a great base from which to walk anywhere in Vienna's center in minutes.
The Hollmann Beletage
Hollmann Beletage
On central Vienna's eastern side, Schwedenplatz, or Sweden Place, is a party-hearty, late-night square that slopes from the town proper down to the Danube ferries that can get you to Bratislava. Lying just inside the town up from the square on the Köllnerhofgasse, the Hollmann Beletage is a refuge of canopy beds and very cool design. The Jewish Museum is not far away, and Mozart's apartment is just around the corner. In the cutting Viennese parlance, the neighborhood is actually called the Bermudadreieck, or the Bermuda Triangle. In Vienna what that means is, you're welcome to get enjoyably lost.
K + K Hotel Maria Theresia
K + K Hotel Maria Theresia
Maria Theresia was the famous Austrian empress, and the letters K + K stand for kaiserliche und königlicher, which translates as "imperial and kingly," referring to the several crowns of Austria and Hungary unified under the Habsburgs. The K + K group is Habsburg-Empire based, and this hotel in Neubau, just steps away from the Museumsquartier and a short walk from the Ring, is a real gift. With solid decor, a bounteous breakfast spread, and a fine bar, there is also a sauna and fitness room downstairs. Every hip cafe in Neubau is just out back, and the shopping mile of Mariahilferstraße is three blocks away. You could spend days here and never hit the Ring.
