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

Four Continents and 37,000 Miles in Two Weeks

More from this series:

• Four Continents and 37,000 Miles in Two Weeks: Introduction
• Four Continents and 37,000 Miles in Two Weeks: United First Class Tampa to Washington to Los Angeles, United Red Carpet Club Washington Dulles, Lufthansa Senator Lounge Washington Dulles
• Four Continents and 37,000 Miles in Two Weeks: Holiday Inn Express Los Angeles Airport
• Four Continents and 37,000 Miles in Two Weeks: reLAX Lounge LAX
• Four Continents and 37,000 Miles in Two Weeks: Star Alliance Lounge Los Angeles, Singapore Airlines Business Class Los Angeles to Tokyo to Singapore, ANA Business Class Lounge Tokyo
• Four Continents and 37,000 Miles in Two Weeks: Singapore Airlines Silver Kris Lounge Terminal 3, a Day at Singapore Changi Airport, Singapore Airlines Business Class Singapore to Kuala Lumpur
• Four Continents and 37,000 Miles in Two Weeks: InterContinental Kuala Lumpur
• Four Continents and 37,000 Miles in Two Weeks: Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur
• Four Continents and 37,000 Miles in Two Weeks: Exploring Kuala Lumpur
• Four Continents and 37,000 Miles in Two Weeks: Plaza Premium Lounge Kuala Lumpur, Sri Lankan Business Class Kuala Lumpur to Singapore
• Four Continents and 37,000 Miles in Two Weeks: Marina Bay Sands Singapore
• Four Continents and 37,000 Miles in Two Weeks: Exploring Singapore
• Four Continents and 37,000 Miles in Two Weeks: Qantas First Class Lounge Singapore, Qantas A380 First Class Singapore to Sydney
• Four Continents and 37,000 Miles in Two Weeks: Holiday Inn Sydney Airport
• Four Continents and 37,000 Miles in Two Weeks: Exploring Sydney
• Four Continents and 37,000 Miles in Two Weeks: Qantas Business Class Lounge Sydney, Qantas Business Class Sydney to Melbourne
• Four Continents and 37,000 Miles in Two Weeks: Park Hyatt Melbourne
• Four Continents and 37,000 Miles in Two Weeks: Exploring Melbourne
• Four Continents and 37,000 Miles in Two Weeks: Qantas First Class Lounge Melbourne
• Four Continents and 37,000 Miles in Two Weeks: Qantas A380 First Class Melbourne to Singapore
• Four Continents and 37,000 Miles in Two Weeks: Qantas A380 First Class Singapore to London
• Four Continents and 37,000 Miles in Two Weeks: British Airways First Class Lounge London, British Airways Club Europe London to Vienna
• Four Continents and 37,000 Miles in Two Weeks: Le Meridien Vienna
• Four Continents and 37,000 Miles in Two Weeks: Exploring Vienna
• Four Continents and 37,000 Miles in Two Weeks: Austrian Business Class Lounge Vienna, British Midland Business Class Vienna to London, Great British Lounge London
• Four Continents and 37,000 Miles in Two Weeks: Star Alliance Lounge London, Air New Zealand Business Premier London to Los Angeles
• Four Continents and 37,000 Miles in Two Weeks: Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles
• Four Continents and 37,000 Miles in Two Weeks: Andaz West Hollywood
• Four Continents and 37,000 Miles in Two Weeks: Conclusion

After about a 20-minute walk from the train station I arrived at the Le Meridien, just shortly before noon.

Le Meridien Vienna

Le Meridien Vienna

Hotel entrance

The lobby of the hotel was fairly modest if not a bit funky, so my expectations of the hotel were low to begin with. I proceeded to check-in where I was warmly greeted (by European standards).

Lobby

Lobby

This is probably a good time to note that I had reserved an executive room using points for my one night stay. While the normal “rate” is 10,000 points per night, I booked too late, so they only had executive rooms available, which cost 11,000 points per night.

Anyway, the agent informed me that my room had been checked out of already and housekeeping was just working on it, so it would probably be an hour or so. I asked what kind of a room it would be, and she informed me I was assigned an executive room. I asked if they had any Platinum room upgrades available, to which the agent responded that I had already been upgraded. I explained that I had actually booked an executive room, to which she responded that the room was very nice.

Fair enough, my intent wasn’t to “push my luck.” I’m just new to Starwood and trying to figure out the best approach to take for securing upgrades., since I’ve read of a lot of different approaches online. The thing that makes Starwood Platinum less valuable than Hyatt Diamond or InterContinental Royal Ambassador, in my book, is that you have nothing to “fall back on” if your upgrade doesn’t clear. At Hyatt I would get club lounge access, and if they don’t have a club lounge, I would get restaurant breakfast.

This hotel didn’t have a club lounge and they don’t offer Platinum members free breakfast or any other amenities, so the only thing I got out of being a Platinum member is free internet.

I wanted to explore the city though first was in desperate need of a shower, so I used the Wi-Fi in the lobby while my room was being prepared. Within about 45 minutes my room was ready and I was given keys to my room on the 7th floor, 745.

Elevators

Here’s another thing that cracks me up about Starwood. They love to have “Starwood floors,” which I suppose are designed to make you feel special. Usually they would be the rooms on high floors so they at least come with a good view, though at this hotel, the “Starwood floors” were the 3rd and 4th floors. Out of curiosity I couldn’t help but ask the front desk agent what was different about them, to which she responded “nothing.”

So at this hotel if you get an “upgrade” to a room on the “Starwood floor,” you’re really getting one of the rooms on the lowest floors.

SPG floors

As soon as I got to my room, though, I couldn’t have been happier with the hotel. It was easily one of the nicest “executive rooms” I’ve ever been in. At the entrance was a small living room with desk, small sofa, and comfortable chair.

Hallway

Room entrance

Bed

Sitting area

Sitting area

The bed was also very comfortable.

The bathroom featured a separate tub and shower. While I only used the shower, it had excellent water pressure and temperature control.

Shower and toilet

Sink and tub

Tub

Bath amenities

My favorite part of the room had to be the balcony. I’m not usually one for being outdoors, though it was probably the most gorgeous day weather-wise in the history of the world. It was one of those sunny days where you’re neither warm nor cold, with a gentle breeze.

Balcony

View from balcony

The other cool aspect of the room was that it had a minibar that is free for all guests, including two large bottles of water (still and sparkling), Coke, Diet Coke, apple juice, and orange juice.

Minibar

Floorplan

I spent the afternoon exploring Vienna (stay tuned for the next installment for that) and thought it was awesome that they placed some chocolate wafer cookies along with a welcome letter in my room. I had selected the 500 points as my Platinum amenity, so I guess this was just a little bonus.

Chocolate wafers

The only (small) fault I found in the room is that there was an empty carton of cigarettes in the desk drawer.

Gotta love the warning labels in Europe

By the time I left I really, really loved this hotel. I’ll take it a step further – I’m almost happy I didn’t get a further upgrade, because I thought the executive room was the perfect size for me traveling alone, and also very nicely decorated. While I like suites when traveling with others, it can become a chore to turn off a dozen different light switches to get the room dark at night.

So yes, I’d return to this hotel in a heartbeat. And even more so, I’d return to Vienna, which is now one of my favorite cities. If you don’t have status and plan on booking this hotel with points, I suggest booking an executive room, as I was really pleased with it. As a Platinum member I’d probably just book a standard room and hope for an upgrade to an executive room (or maybe even a further upgrade).