Vienna’s Newest Hotel Has an Underground Spa With the City’s Largest Swimming Pool

For all its architectural and cultural grandeur, Vienna has by no means had a lot range of locations to remain. The capital has lengthy relied on a handful of storied establishments, whereas its culinary scene modernized round them. That’s a part of what makes the arrival of Mandarin Oriental Vienna, the group’s first outpost in Austria, so vital. Greater than a decade within the making, this landmark transformation of an Alfred Keller-designed courthouse, constructed within the early Twentieth century, indicators a brand new period of hospitality for the Austrian capital.

Set on a quiet nook throughout the Ringstrasse, a grand round boulevard integral to town’s UNESCO-listed historic heart, the lodge is much less palatial than its luxurious neighbors, however no much less elegant or historic. The truth is, its best asset, as I found over the course of my three-day keep, is its extra residential, discreet type that retains visitors near all of the motion—a five-to-ten-minute stroll to St. Stephen’s Cathedral, The Vienna State Opera, and the Goldenes Quartier, recognized for its luxurious outlets and pedestrian methods—however at a nice take away from the vacationer crush.

It’s a great dwelling base for the traveler who prefers the sensation of a design-forward pied-à-terre that honors the atmosphere in refined methods. Right here, the London-based inside design agency Goddard Littlefair references early Twentieth-century Vienna and units a classy tone proper from the entryway with a sculptural chandelier evoking the pop of a Champagne cork. “It’s the primary second of making a way of pleasure and shock in a constructing as soon as recognized for self-discipline,” says Jo Littlefair, co-founder and director of Goddard Littlefair. That continues into the intimate reception space, the place a hand-beaded embroidery, loosely impressed by Klimt, glimmers behind the desk as a style of the modern, semi-abstract artworks (predominantly by ladies) all through the lodge.

The artwork choice enhances the colour palette in frequent areas and rooms: dusty pink, mineral gray, and sky blue, juxtaposed with patterned textiles impressed by the graphic vocabulary of the Vienna secession artists corresponding to Koloman Moser and Josef Hoffmann. These had been all deliberate selections to melt the artwork nouveau-esque constructing’s strict strains and squared-off angles.

That mix of outdated and new, together with fastidiously preserved heritage particulars—from the listed staircase and thick columns to the wall finishes—continues into the subterranean spa and health space, excavated from scratch. When the dig staff discovered skeletal stays, development halted. It turned out they had been from the Roman Empire. “Vienna is a really outdated metropolis; it was initially known as Vindobona. So in every single place you dig right here, you will discover one thing,” explains Katja Graf, the lodge’s director of economic technique. “By the archaeological discovery, although, we realized that there was a monastery on this web site at the moment.”

Vestiges of the previous are certainly omnipresent and an enormous a part of what makes Vienna so interesting to guests. However on my ultimate morning, sinking deeper into mattress with a double espresso in hand, I wasn’t eager about empires or archaeology. I used to be marveling as an alternative on the skill to create a way of place that felt each rooted on this metropolis’s extraordinary heritage and completely of this second.

Listed here are among the highlights of my keep.

The Rooms

The lodge has 138 rooms and suites, spanning 4 flooring. Given the constructing’s configuration and historic nature, the designers had the difficult activity of navigating mounted ceiling heights, window placements, and irregularly formed rooms. They made all of it work by incorporating a comfortable shade palette, herringbone wood flooring, bespoke furnishings, and views overlooking a quiet internal courtyard or the road.

Many suites, like the brilliant, one-bedroom Deluxe suite I settled into, characteristic round works above the mattress and geometric work within the sitting room. Others embrace summary work with golden accents by the Austrian combined media artist Barbara Piller. All bogs characteristic black-and-white stone mosaic flooring, marble counter tops, and a painted piano-key sample that runs the size of the cornice (an identical therapy was painted by hand all through a number of frequent areas on the bottom ground), and are available stocked with Diptyque facilities. Among the many bonuses within the suites are Bose Bluetooth audio system, yoga mats, and Dyson hairdryers.

Meals and Drink

The lodge’s social and culinary focus is the huge coated courtyard, with a skylight, the place an all-day café, an izakaya and bar eatery, a brasserie, and fine-dining expertise coexist in refined separation. Thomas Seifried, who spent the final 9 years working as the manager chef for Eric Ripert’s restaurant Blue at The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman, oversees the meals program and brings a mixture of French methods, international components, and a penchant for seafood-heavy cooking to Le Sept, a tasting menu expertise.

After a trio of amuse-bouches, together with sea bream ceviche atop ajoblanco with slivers of jalapeño and grapes; a wild mushroom cappuccino, and yellow fin tuna tartare with mandarins, I gave the chef and his wonderful sommelier, Christopher Oswald, carte blanche for the rest of the meal. Among the many highlights had been seared hamachi drizzled with a kimchi emulsion; artichoke carried out in paper-thin slices and topped with a beneficiant spoonful of contemporary truffle risotto (which got here paired with a barolo for which the restaurant has the only real allocation in Austria), and slow-cooked wild salmon from the Faroe Islands. Oswald shared that he needed to disrupt the standard Austrian wine checklist by incorporating smaller, pure wine growers, together with some who produce in Vienna’s twenty third district, the place there are over 1,700 acres of vineyards.

The all-day café nook is its reply to the Viennese coffeehouse custom, however in hiring skilled specialty espresso barista Michael Evangelinakis, the imaginative and prescient was to supply one thing extra. “Some visitors will likely be content material with the Julius Meinl espresso provided in-room and served within the restaurant; it’s very simple to drink,” Evangelinakis says. “However for individuals who have expertise with specialty espresso or are curious, they will come right here.”

On a slick-looking Marzocco Modbar espresso station, he and his staff will pull exact pictures of the Haus Espresso from Wildkaffee as they stroll you thru the brewing course of, provide a whole tasting flight, and talk about why double pictures provide higher extraction for espresso.

Company can join on-site motion lessons, go for a guided hike by means of the Viennese woods, or head to the twenty third district for wine tasting at considered one of over 140 wineries that function inside metropolis limits. There’s additionally Vienna’s man-made Danube Island, accessible by U-Bahn (subway), with 13 miles of leisure house for boating, biking, working, and extra. For every part else, the lodge concierge could make tailor-made suggestions. Lastly, there’s additionally a large 24-hour health heart.

The Spa

The subterranean spa with seven therapy rooms and a 43-foot swimming pool, the most important in a Viennese lodge, completes the property’s mission of supplying quiet, relaxation, and rest to visitors.

One other standout characteristic is its signature therapy—the Music and Motion therapeutic massage, which mixes botanical oil with choreographed gestures that work in concord with a playlist of compositions by Mozart, Haydn, Schubert, and Strauss. It was greater than enjoyable; it was a welcome change from the standard ambient and new-age soundtrack of many spas.

Different therapies will embrace motion and sound, incorporating gong baths and waltz-inspired bodywork, and the Clever Motion program, which emphasizes higher posture and mobility.

Accessibility and Sustainability

The doorway and all public areas are accessible. 5 of the room classes are tailored for lowered mobility wants and are accessible by elevator.

Tips on how to Guide

Mandarin Oriental Vienna is a part of the Fan of M.O. program, which provides frequent visitors quite a lot of privileges for stays booked straight with Mandarin Oriental, from eating and spa credit to entry to member-only occasions and cultural experiences.

Nightly charges at Mandarin Oriental Vienna begin from $690.

Each T+L lodge evaluation is written by an editor or reporter who has stayed on the property, and every lodge chosen aligns with our core values.