I just returned from Vienna and stayed at the Bristol and its sister hotel the Imperial. I thoughly enjoyed the stay at the Bristol--had great large room and the location was wonderful. Actually preferred to the Imperial (which was still great) -- the tradeoff is between palace like setting and an oldstyle Vienna hotel which is what the Bristol is. If i return to Vienna, will probably stay at the Bristol. You can get great rates if you look. Paid under under 190 euro a night through a deal at westinhotels.com--well worth the price.

We went to Vienna on 4th January for a four day break and stayed in this beautiful hotel. It is know as one of the three most luxurious hotels in Vienna along with the Imperial and the Grand and is in the most central part of Vienna. We had a gorgeous room looking out over the opera house. The decor is suitably sumptuous for the setting full of chandeliers and old style brocaded curtains.Heavenly beds are as comfortable as always and the bathrooms simple enough but clean and spacious. The mini bar was well stocked and there was a huge amount of wardrobe space for any ball gowns you might have brought with you! There were two small problems with the room. The first was the temperature-it was just too hot. The air conditioning didn't seem to work when we attempted to turn it down, even when assisted by a staff member from housekeeping. The second problem was that we could hear the occupants of the adjoining rooms intermittently. These weren't huge problems but for €400 a night you'd expect not to have them. The staff were excellent. Extremely obliging and friendly. We ate in Restaurant Sirk on our first night which was wonderful. Our waiter was very engaging and pleasant and assisted us with our scant knowledge of german. The food too was excellent. One drawback is that in Austria you can smoke virtually anywhere-and that includes restaurants and Restaurant Sirk is no exception. We also ate in the sublime Korso bei der Oper-an experience in itself. Again, wonderful staff and professional, exquisite service. But this comes at a price. Prepare to spend a minimum of €150 a head. The barman in the adjoining bar was a little uptight but it didn't take away from the overall experience. Overall the advice is this-if money is no object head to the Bristol for a taste of Viennese opulence and luxury. If going there means stretching your budget to its limits then the small imperfections may cause you disappointment.

My wife and I stayed here last month and it was a great experience. The location is perfect - right across the street from the Opera and close to everything. The tram stops right in front of the hotel and the subway entrance is about 20 feet from the front door. We walked and took the subway or tram to everything. If you go to Vienna, you want to stay inside the ring because you are within walking distance of most sights. The room was small but very nice and clean and more than ample since we didn't spend much time there. The bathroom was clean and it had a great shower!!! The staff was very helpful. I needed a transformer for my digital camera and they provided it free of charge. Also, we had trouble using the Austrian phonecard from the room and the man at the front desk used his cell phone to place the call. It is expensive but it is worth it for the location, the convenience and the comfort.

I stayed at the Hotel Bristol in the second leg of a three-leg tour of Central Europe I purchased with Virgin Vacations.

I very much recommend the Hotel Bristol. It's location makes the hotel great; it's on Kartner Ring, which makes up the Ringstrasse, which basically is a road alongside which is a string of beautiful, grand buildings that form a circle around the heart of old Vienna. You can walk to every site you would want to see in Vienna in under 15 minutes. Most sites are just a 5-minute walk (if you're a New Yorker and walk like I do).

Our room was HUGE. The foyer to our room was larger than American hotel rooms I've stayed in before. The bathroom was lavish, awash in granite and marble, and the bedroom was gigantic, with a crystal chandelier in the center, a wall of built-in cabinets for clothes, and two gigantic windows (one with a balcony). I will say that the decor is grand, but looking tired.

I would definitely stay at this hotel again, but only if it were through another package where I could get an awesome rate. I saw that the rack rate for our room (posted in the closet) was 603 euros a night. It's definitely not worth that much, but if you can get a deal, then take it. You won't regret it.