Whether for elegant shopping or hotels, Vienna Austria has become a hot spot in Europe. Hotels of all categories have been transforming and mushrooming for a while, with more and better places to sleep, at (still) reasonable prices. That makes the choice a little harder, and more people are looking for the most popular hotels in town. But does that reasonably narrow your search? The answer is no, as probably a third of all local hotels and B&Bs rank among the top 10 on different sites, and in different categories. That is still well above 100!
While screening a few of the top ranked hotel and general online travel guides, one trend was quite obvious: While travel guides' choices, such as by Fodor's and Frommers generally favour the grand established luxury hotels in Vienna, for example Hotel Imperial, Hotel Sacher, Hotel Bristol and Grand Hotel Wien, traveller ratings on sites like TripAdvisor and the likes show a preference for small and fairly new boutique design hotels. The top three popular places on TripAdvisor are the following small four star hotels in Vienna: Hotel Hollmann Beletage, Das Tyrol Small Luxury Hotel, and the Altstadt VIenna. Recently, a traveller survey by HolidayCheck, the largest German-language travel comparison portal, ranked local boutique hotel Stadthalle as Austria's most popular hotel in the German speaking world.
Popularity is not a question of price, but of perception of cost/quality. This explains why three star hotels such as Hotel Fabrik get the same ratings as luxury temples like Grand Hotel Wien (ratings seen at hotels.com).
So, where should you start searching, and what should you be looking for when choosing a (Vienna) hotel that many others like, too? My top five tips:
1. Be aware that every hotel rating is subjective. And there are as many hotel ratings available as probably half of all hotels in Vienna.
2. Decide which hotel comparison or travel site you like. If you like small, personal places, for example, you may want to get advice from a small personal travel site that shares your travel tastes.
3. Look at the quantity of traveller ratings, not just the quality. Some hotel ratings are based on as little as two reviews, and some on 200. In addition, do bear in mind that new places simply don't have as many ratings yet.
4. Read the most recent reviews. Some travellers discover weaknesses at a place that may not really matter to you.
5. Choosing a popular place means reducing your risk of disappointment. Weigh popularity against other qualities that may matter to you: An insider tip, for example, is per se not popular.
Note: The observations of hotel trends provided above are purely qualitative and non exhaustive, and are not based on a representative sample.
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