Vienna
Austria


The Experience

Imperial, indeed. Set among the 19th-century buildings of Vienna's Ring Boulevard, this deliriously grand European edifice -- an 1863 palace converted into a hotel just 10 years later -- is awash in marble, wood paneling and silk, bas-reliefs and frescoes, and literally dripping crystal chandeliers. The public rooms seem to echo with the footsteps of bygone dignitaries, symphony conductors and temperamental opera stars. You can still see them climbing the grand staircase, which rises to a marble nude framed by Ionic columns, over which hangs an oil portrait of a nobleman -- all carefully calibrated to make your jaw drop.

The Rooms

If your ideal hotel is an Ian Schrager-via-Philippe Starck, this is not for you. Even 270-square-feet standard rooms are drenched in a turn-of-the-century sensibility, adorned with chandeliers and heavy velvet curtains, with Belle Epoque settees and chairs in rich contrasting fabrics. Then there are the suites, which range up to more than 1,700 square feet and are as sumptuously decorated as the apartments that nobles occupied in the imperial palace. Here foyers open onto large rooms with soaring ceilings, rococo moldings, walls covered in silk, oil portraits in gilt frames and chandelier after chandelier -- even in the bathrooms. And in the even more extravagant royal suites, you practically need binoculars to watch TV.

The Service

Service is efficient and polite, but the front desk can turn cold and imperious in response to complaints (although the Viennese are a bit aloof by American standards, and this can easily be misinterpreted). But you'll find the concierges can do anything from securing last-minute opera tickets or admission to the Opera Ball, to getting you reservations at Vienna's growing list of good restaurants.

The Highlights

The dining room at the Imperial is decorated in dark wood paneling, coffered ceilings and high-backed armchairs. You'll probably also want to include the nearby sister Hotel Bristol for a meal at Corso -- one of Vienna's best -- for Austrian cuisine reinterpreted through contemporary gourmet standards. Of course, each café in Vienna has its own signature chocolate cake, and the Imperial torte is perennially at the top. Take your coffee and torte with a backdrop of piano music, gaze up at the marble and gilt and be confident you're having the quintessential Viennese experience.

-- Laurel Delp

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