Review: Andaz Vienna Am Belvedere

Stayed there a few months before COVID right after it opened. Had similar thoughts on the location but overall was a fan and it was easy enough to get to/from the touristy stuff.

The ritz-carton Vienna has a rooftop bar, but it’s outdoors only, no indoor space. Closer in than the andaz, with some lovely views at sunset but the Andaz one looks nicer and more usable year round.

Always like to read about Vienna. Jut four comments:

1. That area is all new construction brought about by the demolition of the old Sudbahnhof and the construction of the new Hauptbahnhof. So it is just developing an atmosphere.

2. In the third outdoor photo captioned "Andaz Vienna Aurora Rooftop Bar View, the brick building next to the greenery with the 5 story square building is the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum (Military Museum). One exhibit is the car in which Franz Ferdinand and his wife were riding in Sarajevo when he was assassinated (plus the uniform showing the bullet hole).

3. The very next photo - the white building midway up the photo against the left border with a reflecting pool in front of it is Schloss Belvedere. Build for Prinz Eugen (hence the name of the restaurant) of Savoy, he and the Polish King broke the Ottoman's siege of Vienna.

4. You give various means to get to the center of Vienna. Any Viennese would simply take the subway (U-1) from the Hauptbahnhof and three stops later you are next to St. Stephan's in the absolute middle of the city. A subway comes roughly every 4 minutes, and the trip itself would take no more than 10.

Granted I've only stayed at Andaz Mayakoba and Andaz Savannah, I've never known the Andaz to be a brand that has a complementary happy hour. Which other Andaz hotels provide this?

About the location. It is 2 minutes away from Schloss Belvedere (and gardens, and botanical garden) which is one of the main attractions of Vienna. And you can take the D tram, with the stop being 1 minute away from the hotel, which drops you off in the center within 10 minutes. So while it is not directly in the oldtown, you can get there VERY fast and easy. As mentioned by the other poster, there is also within 2 minutes the Military Museum which has some really interesting pieces of world history in it.

The area itself with the old red warehouse-looking buildings (called Arsenal) and Schweizergarten is quite beautiful at least in summer and nice for a stroll. It is nice to visit Kleinsteiermark restaurant where you feel like you're in a forest (again, in summer) and not a city and then after lunch walk around for half an hour. But of course the main sites (aside from Schloss Belvedere) are elsewhere.

Stayed at Andaz Vienna last spring for 5 nights and also at the Deluxe suite. Yes, it is not old city Vienna but we walked almost every day from the old city back to the hotel even though tram is plentiful. The walks, to us, were very pleasant. As mentioned on other post, there are enough things to see as well around the area including Austrian Military Museum and Schloss Belvedere which is quite massive. The boulevard leading back to the hotel, next to Belvedere, is also like the embassy row. We made a fun game trying to guess the countries on our walk back to the hotel. Down the hill at the end of that boulevard, there is a Russian soldier monument, a chateau like French embassy and a McDonald's which judged by the building it resides on, has got to be the prettiest Mc D in the world. Karlskirche is also not that far. Keep mentioning the location as a minus though, because we want to keep this hotel, with its super reasonable cash rates, for ourselves!

Off topic: Please do a review of Matild Palace and Parisi Udvar and compare. Both are across one another in Budapest, one is a Marriott Luxury Collection and the other is a Hyatt Unbound. We stayed at Matild Palace and was blown away, especially considering that it is a Marriott property.

I've stayed there three times as a Globalist, and they always give me a suite. Great property with great staff!

I did the same mistake when i travalled to Vienna. And i think because of this, Vienna is one of the place that i less liked between the places that i ever been before. That area is too far away from the old town and almost don't have markets or even restaurantes nearby. My ex wife taught me and I learned, location is the first thing to consider in any travel besides when you are going to a resort like in punta cana.

Is this new area of Vienna comparable to London's Shoreditch area? Both have an Andaz and are "new" cool urban areas known for artists, young people, and culture.

As nice as it looks, personally I'd find it very hard to not spend a little more to stay at the incredible Park Hyatt Vienna. I thought that was one of the best Park Hyatts I've ever stayed at. I suspect that's one of the reasons behind the low award category at the Andaz.

We did ate at Klein Steiermark. Good food, but a little pricey. We ate almost the same meal at Cafe Central, which is in the middle of the touristy area and spent almost the same amount. Still like the Belvedere are though. Location, like I mentioned on my comment, is really not a bother.

No, it's no hip area regarding to artits, young people an culture and probably never will be. This is more a kind of new business area developed after the tear down of the old "Südbahnhof" and developconstuction of the new main train station.

My wife and I found this to be an excellent use of a Cat 1-4 cert for a one night stay last April. We were arriving by train from Innsbruck with a ski bag so the proximity to the train station was a huge plus. We had no problem getting to and from the city center as there are several options for getting around. Our only regret was not booking a second night but we had an early flight out so opted to stay by the airport instead.

If you aren't afraid of public transportation, this place is in a wonderful location - across the street from the Vienna Central Station! Come on, Ben! 😉

Hmmm - a modified version of avocado toast. I guess you could call that progress?? 🙂

For my tastes the property blew the musty over rated but fair enough Park Hyatt Vienna out of the water
The Dining @ Andaz was superior and I prefer the accommodations by far.Best of all half the price of the Park Hyatt
Its an awesome property

Did you catch the train to/from the airport? I thought that the 16-minute "fast" airport train went to a different station in Vienna (Mitte?) My understanding was that the train to this station took a while longer, but is cheaper. Is that correct?

Correct. The CAT "fast" train departs from Wien Mitte but you can take the standard OBB trains from VIE to Hbf as well. I actually did this exact stay (Andaz) in April last year and from what I recall, it was around 30 mins door to door from my hotel room to VIE via OBB at Hbf. And you are correct - it's cheaper.

To be honest, staying in the central city in Vienna is a little overrated. It's as crowded and tourist-filled as the biggest European destinations. It's nice to get out of the middle. Being near Schloss Belvidere is a nice perq, and the proximity to the Hauptbahnhof means that you can be almost anywhere you want to be in Vienna in less than 15 minutes. You can be in Bratislava in 50 minutes too! Worst case scenario, it's only a 20 minute walk to the edge of the central city and places like the Naschmarkt--very doable on anything except the coldest winter day. There are quite a few nice, local restaurants on that walk. You won't be missing out on much unless you want a view of St. Stephens (with all the tourist traffic that comes with).

Alas, the happy hour is now gone at Andaz Vienna. I was told today they ended it a few weeks back and are contemplating some other event, which will be coming in the future. 🙁

Has anyone stayed there recently? Planning to visit in August and would appreciate any tips