The Guesthouse Vienna

The Guesthouse Vienna

Home, honesty and heritage is the mantra of The Guesthouse Vienna, Design Hotels™ newest member to hit the Austrian capital. The hotel – situated in the Innere Stadt, the city's 1st district – is a spacious ode to modern Viennese design, while being unfussy and downright homey. The 35 rooms and four suites have been outfitted by Sir Terence Conran and his design studio Conran & Partners. Here, Vienna is not only outside your window, it resides within, from the bentwood chairs emblematic of the Viennese modern design movement to the restaurant menu featuring Austrian classics.
www.designhotels.com/hotels/austria/vienna/theguesthouse- vienna

Architecture & Design

Local architect Arkan Zeytinoglu converted the former 1950s student dormitory into an upscale boutique hotel while maintaining the building's structure, and giving it a new face for the times. One of Zeytinoglu's modern design features was to install pop-out windows on the building's front, providing a calm perch from which to take in the city below.

Ensuring the interiors of the building match the sophisticated surroundings, the hotel engaged the services of British design firm Conran & Partners. With a mixture of light woods, soft furnishing and ambient lighting, wellthought-out rooms and public spaces are very much grounded in their hometown of Vienna. Sofas and chairs with clean lines and simple, elegant forms by Wittmann are modelled after Austrian design classics from Friedrich Kiesler and Oswald Haerdtl, and give the spaces a sense of the typical cozy yet sophisticated Viennese atmosphere.

Ensuring guests are well catered for, all rooms are equipped with an espresso machine, a mini bar and a wine fridge with complimentary soft drinks, wine and beer. For those who desire an elevated view of the city, Suite 802 is the perfect fit, offering exceptional panoramic views across the neighborhood from its private roof garden.

Café Meets Brasserie

The hotel's wholesome philosophy easily extends from guestrooms to the hotel's eatery. At the Brasserie & Bakery, Oswald Haerdtl's clean-lined, elegant furniture creates a distinctive but informal flair. The choice of awardwinning local bakery Gragger & Cie to run the show is also in keeping with the home, honesty and heritage philosophy. Using high-quality seasonal ingredients from the surrounding region, the chefs have created a menu that is light and uncomplicated with attention paid to tradition – and unexpected surprises. Alongside a classic Wiener Schnitzel, one might find a marinated duck breast with beetroot gnocchi. Even the coffee served is a special roast and made exclusively for the hotel by Naber Kaffee. But the star of the show is definitely the baked goods for which Gragger & Cie are known all over the city. Taking his cue from French baking legend Lionel Poilâne, Helmut Gragger uses 18th-century baking practices: only natural sourdough, wood-fired ovens, no preservatives, no unnecessary rushing of the process. Everything is made daily with meticulous care and patience.

Location and Rates

The Guesthouse Vienna is located in the city's 1st district, neighboring the historic Vienna State Opera. Home to more than 60 museums, including the Albertina – boasting one of the world's largest and most important print collections – the central city location has everything that Vienna is most famous for: music, history and culture.

Rates from 230 EUR.