Two pros and four cons mean that the Zeitgeist earns 3 stars rather than 4.
The pros:
(1) The hotel is a five minute walk from the Hauptbahnhof, the main train station, where the airport trains run frequently. In Austria there's just no reason to rent a car. The trains are marvelous and they go everywhere.
(2) Our room, a king suite, was comfortable, quiet, well-lit, and clean, and it had a mini-fridge that worked well.
The cons:
(1) The neighborhood around the hotel is rather plain and we did not see any appealing restaurants close by. It's a 10-minute walk to the U1 stop and then another 10-minute ride to the central part of Vienna. Next time we'll stay closer to the central ring but outside of the main tourist areas, perhaps in Neubau.
(2) The breakfast is expensive, 25 Euros per person, and the breakfast room was very, very crowded, even in late September. You can walk to the grocery store a one minute walk down the street, Billa, and pick up breakfast things very cheaply. Or, alternatively, if you are out and about, look for a bakery and stock up for breakfast. We can recommend Öfferl Bio-Bäckerei, which is on Mariahilfer Straße. There are coffee and tea makers in the room. So, really, there's no reason to absorb that exorbitant charge for an OK breakfast where one is elbow to elbow with other people. Billa is closed on Sundays.
(3) We asked to have the breakfast charged removed for our last morning at the hotel because we had an early departure. We made this request the afternoon before we departed and the clerk said, OK. But on the morning of our departure, a different clerk said, no, you can't reverse that charge, which amounted to 50 Euros for the two of us.
(4) As far as we could tell, there is only one elevator. One evening there was a line of perhaps 15 people to take the elevator. We used the stairs, which are well lit and better than in most US hotels. But if you have heavy bags and are on an upper floor, you may have to queue for the elevator. read more