Hotel Altstadt in Vienna

One of our Terrific Tips

Here a Warhol, there a Leibovitz and a genuine Niki de Saint Phalle, and only a few steps away a work by the British art duo Gilbert & George. Strolling through the Hotel Altstadt Vienna, you sometimes feel like you are actually in an art gallery.

On one hand this has to do with owner Otto Ernst Wiesenthal's passion for collecting art, and his willingness to present some of the works in the hotel. But some of the exhibited art is also on loan from various Vienna museums. This is no wonder, as the hotel's Red Salon often serves as the venue for private art previews and other cultural events.

And art does not stop at the doorways of the forty-two individually furnished rooms and suites. One also finds contemporary art on the walls of the private guest rooms and unusual lighting elements on the ceilings. Particularly worth experiencing are the nine erotically elegant rooms and suites designed by the celebrated Italian architect Matteo Thun, who used extravagant chandeliers, dark wood floors and red velvet furniture to create an atmosphere reminiscent of the early twentieth century. This is all inspired by the memory of Josephine Mutzenbacher, Vienna's most famous courtesan.

Music-lovers, on the other hand, may prefer to stay in the Bösendorfer suite, complete with its own grand piano, while honeymooners will be drawn to the White suite, and fresh-air freaks to the 120-square-metre rooftop garden of the Auersperg Garden suite. Individuality has a high priority at the Hotel Altstadt in Vienna - which made the "Condé Nast Traveller Gold List" as one of Europe's top 50 hotels in 2009 and 2010 - as does hospitality and perfect service!

www.altstadt.at