This Viennese Palace Simply Acquired a New, Fashionable Makeover — and Now You Can Keep There

Vienna will not be brief on palatial — actually — accommodations, and it has gone by way of a spate of splashy luxurious openings during the last 5 years, bringing manufacturers like Rosewood and Anantara to hitch stalwarts like Lodge Imperial and Lodge Sacher Wien. However on the finish of 2023, a boutique lodge quietly opened inside a pair of town’s beloved palaces that had taken years to revive.

The positively lovely Almanac Palais Vienna is the third property from the Almanac hospitality group (the opposite two are in Barcelona and Prague). It represented one thing of a homecoming for the house owners, the Haselbacher household from Austria, which is maybe why they spent so a few years making certain the 1871 buildings have been correctly preserved. The unique neo-Baroque facades and heritage marble doorways hark again to the glamor of the unique Palais, constructed for 2 of town’s most outstanding businessmen: the German-Austrian industrialist Hugo Henckel von Donnersmarck and the textile magnet Baron Friedrich von Leitenberger.

Award-winning Chilean designer Jaime Beriestain was tasked with the property’s restoration, remodeling the historic palais into the grand lodge steeped in Viennese heritage. Whereas the façade stays intact, interiors evoke a refined magnificence with a palette of wealthy woods, creamy beiges, and silver and gold hues; sculptural accents; and a rotating assortment of work and images by up-and-coming native artists.

When my household and I entered the hovering marble foyer contained in the lodge’s glass-covered atrium, we have been immediately wowed. The design option to protect the historic molding and nonetheless put up a contemporary, painted display is an fascinating selection, and it really works, setting the stage for the lodge’s identification as a historic landmark and a hub of latest artwork. The foyer is so spacious and minimalist that I immediately feared my kids working with abandon by way of it, crashing into the trendy sculptures on show in partnership with Galerie bei der Albertina Zetter, however fortunately, they have been too exhausted from our red-eye flight to do a lot harm.

The lodge’s ardour for artwork is clear all through and is cemented with its newest assortment, additionally finished with Galerie bei der Albertina Zetter. The all-Austrian artwork assortment accommodates works by greats, together with Gustav Klimt and Hermann Nitsch, and it’s the first time a piece by Klimt will ever be on show in a lodge. The drawing, Klimt’s “Sitzende Dame von vorne (Seated Woman Face-On, 1912-1914),” is contained in the Palais Suite.

I liked beginning every morning with a espresso from the ground-floor third-wave espresso store Elias after which becoming a member of my household to linger over scrumptious breakfasts contained in the ethereal Donnersmarkt Restaurant earlier than heading out to discover town for the day. Upon return, we headed downstairs to the spa’s Indoor pool, considerably of a rarity within the metropolis, to loosen up in, and the art-inflected bar was supreme for a pre-dinner drink. All in all, Almanac Palais Vienna is a superb fashionable addition to town’s burgeoning lodge roster, bringing it an increasing number of to Europe’s forefront of metropolis locations past Paris and London.

This is my overview of Almanac Palais Vienna.

The Rooms

Since I used to be touring with my husband and two youngsters, we booked two adjoining rooms. We arrived early within the morning, after taking the red-eye from New York to Vienna, so our rooms weren’t fairly prepared, however after a few hours on the on-site espresso store and within the park, one in every of them was prepared for us to relaxation in.

After we walked into the primary room, it was so giant — with a sitting space and king mattress — that I assumed it should be for the grownups. Little did I do know that after we would see the second room, a collection, I’d really feel ridiculous for believing the primary room was giant. The suite simply spanned greater than 1,500 sq. toes, with a mattress so giant I believe it might have been two kings pushed collectively. My husband and I joked that we might sleep on it horizontally and nonetheless have loads of additional room; there was a big sitting space and a separate toilet and closet. The ceiling was a bit low — I realized that because the flooring went up, the ceilings bought decrease — however since neither of us could be very tall they usually had clearly compensated with extra horizontal area, we have been thrilled. Each rooms seemed down on the lodge’s interior atrium foyer and acquired daylight from the opening above.

The lodge has 111 rooms, of which 80 are suites, offering spacious lodging in a metropolis the place that may be scarce. Whereas different components of the constructing have preserved neo-Baroque particulars, the rooms are undeniably fashionable. Ceilings and a few partitions function antiqued gold mirrors, and behind the cream-colored leather-based headboard is a wooden backing wall engraved with a round sample. Grey couches are curvy with mod-patterned accent pillows, and the minibar incorporates a shiny crimson countertop. Bogs are coated in Austrian white marble with gold accents, and the remainder have gold handles, sconces, lamps, and doorways for a luxe, however not over-the-top, poshness.

Meals and Drink

On the bottom ground with an out of doors space in heat climate, Donnersmarkt Restaurant & Bar is ready inside a brilliant and colourful eating room with a large-scale fashionable mural alongside one wall of Vienna’s wildlife. The menu options plant-forward Alpine delicacies, like celery confit with a chervil and pistachio béarnaise sauce and oven-roasted and marinated native pumpkin with black radish, honey, and black aioli. The wine listing has a neighborhood focus, with a collection of biodynamic and natural bottles from vineyards within the hills of Vienna. The Donnersmarkt Bar had a showpiece round gold bar and maroon velvet seating accented by fashionable work on the partitions by artist-in-residence Martin Lukáč.

Vienna has a severe espresso and café tradition with plenty of historical past, so any new espresso store has to impress. Fortunately, the on-site Elias Espresso Store has no bother doing so, with its gleaming white tile, hovering ceilings, and minimalist design. It serves third-wave espresso and native pastries.

Actions and Experiences

In 2024, the lodge began providing a number of month-to-month workshops with native consultants. These embody a gua sha and face yoga workshop, a floral association class, and a four-hour artwork remedy session with licensed holistic artwork therapist and Create Artwork Remedy founder Petra Krassnitzer. The classes promote the circulation of power and stimulate sensory perceptions by way of a combination of meditation and artistic workout routines, corresponding to kneading clay, portray on a canvas, or writing.

The lodge additionally has a number of gallery and museum partnerships. One is with the Belvedere Museum, permitting all lodge company to take pleasure in a complimentary entrance at Belvedere 21, the museum’s up to date artwork constructing, and company of the Vienna Artwork Suite also can take pleasure in a complimentary entrance to Higher and Decrease Belvedere, the museum’s different two sections. Visitors also can take pleasure in unique after-hours guided excursions of Galerie bei der Albertina, which is inaugurating its new exhibition area, Zetter Tasks.

The Spa

Vienna has a showering tradition courting again almost 2,000 years, and the lodge’s underground two-floor wellness sanctuary pays tribute to that. Open simply to company, the gorgeous marble-clad oasis has a glowing 45-foot indoor thermal pool, plus spa and sauna amenities and a totally geared up health club.

Signature therapies embody the Viennese Raise & Glow Ritual, a facial utilizing a mix of gua sha and cryo-massage methods, together with botanical skincare merchandise. {Couples} can e-book a nighttime spa expertise, the place they’ll have the pool, sauna, and steam room all to themselves for 3 hours, together with a {couples} therapeutic massage, glowing wine, particular treats, flowers, and two embroidered robes.

Accessibility

Almanac has 4 accessible rooms within the lodge: two Almanac Rooms, one Almanac Deluxe, and one Junior Suite. All of them function a large entrance to the lavatory and to the room, emergency cords and buttons, and an open sink within the toilet.

Location

The lodge is correct on Vienna’s famously elegant Ringstrasse and simply throughout the road from Stadtpark, one of many metropolis’s unique public parks. It’s inside strolling distance from native landmarks just like the Vienna State Opera Home and the Museum of Utilized Arts (The MAK).

Easy methods to Get the Most Worth Out of Your Keep

Almanac Palais Vienna is a part of the Visa Signature Luxurious Lodge Assortment. Visa cardholders who e-book by way of the gathering’s web site will obtain an computerized room improve on arrival if obtainable, complimentary breakfast for 2, a $25 meals and beverage credit score, late checkout when obtainable, and VIP visitor standing.