Four Continents and 37,000 Miles in Two Weeks: Le Meridien Vienna

You think that's severe for warning labels on cigarettes? Try them down under. Gruesome pictures and all. Moving to plain packaging too...

Room looks awesome.

Ben, my family & I stayed at Le Meridien last summer and we very much agree that this is quite a nice property (FTers concur.)

I'm inclined to disagree, though, about booking an Executive room. We booked on C&P (a steal at $60+4000 pts/night); my wife & I ended up in what I believe was a Deluxe, while my two sons shared an Executive with twin beds. The latter was certainly bigger (40 sq m, according to the hotel website), but we found the Deluxe (35 sq m) more than adequate for two people and almost identically furnished.

One aspect you haven't mentioned is this hotel's excellent central location on the Ringstrasse. With the Innere Stadt across the street, the tram lines directly in front of the hotel, and the U-bahn entrance a block away, we found this an ideal location for exploring the city.

Also, the Ottakringer Helles in the free minibar is a tasty local brew.

We've stayed at the Meridian and the Steigenberger Hotel Wein, and both offered free minibar access. My wife and I have wondered if this was a common feature of Vienna hotels, or just luck?

Also, the concierge at the Meridian was one of the most helpful and informative we've run across.

I have noticed the free mini-bar in a few other hotels. In Dusseldorf both the Four Points and Sheraton had similar mini-bars.

While SPG floors have the same floorplans as other floors, I believe there are other amenities such as free bottled water or upgraded bath products at certain properties that are only given out on these SPG floors.

And a bowl of apples in the hallway...

Thanks for the review. I have a 5 night stay, on points, at the Le Meridien coming up in September. So many other reviews made the hotel seem a bit 'quirky' for my prefs. I have always stayed at the Hilton Plaza in the past and I was almost ready to cancel out of the Le Meridien an go back to the Hilton. I rest much easier now. I'm once again looking forward to my stay.

Vienna is one of my favorite cities in the world. It's also a great SPG city with the Le Meridien, the Hotel Bristol, and above all, the Imperial Hotel. If you return, you might want to try the Imperial next time. It's a little more expensive than the Le Meridien (although when we went it wasn't significant) but from my experience, they treat SPG Plats really well and if you book it using an FHR rate you usually get a double bonus for being SPG Plat and FHR. We booked a standard room and were upgraded to a junior suite. To this day its one of my favorite hotels I have ever stayed in. The breakfast buffet (free with FHR) was amazing and the service was fantastic. It features nice old world touches like grand staircases, chandeliers in rooms, old-fashioned keys that you leave with the front desk when you leave, but it still has all the modern conveniences you need in a hotel.

@ beltway -- There's no doubt cash and points is a better deal, though my comment was more directed at a situation where cash and points isn't available, which is often the case. Then the 1,000 point premium is worthwhile, in my opinion. Otherwise I agree that cash and points is a much better deal.

Vienna is a great city and I have been there many times but there is a lot more to Austria than Vienna. If you ever go back there you need to give yourself a few extra days for getting in to the mountains. Google Upper Austria and Hallstatt or Grossglockner, High Alpine road. Austria has many of the scenery that Switzerland is famous for at a cheaper cost.

nice. i stayed at the executive suite there a month ago. nice you enjoyed it.

You will always find nice surprise when you open any drawers in a hotel room no matter what kind of hotel it is. Normally I don't use any drawers, but one time out of curiosity, I opened one and found a pair of dirty socks in W Times Square