Grand Wien Hotel Vienna - 维也纳

The location is close to the Kartnerstrasse/Graben area (the main shopping area) and even has a shopping galleria backing onto the rear of the hotel (accessible via the ground and the first floor).

The hotel location is fantastic on the ring road, not far from the train station (Express trains) to the airport, and close to good restaurants, the opera, and the centre of the city.

The rooms were amazing, the lobby awe-inspiring and the location was great for seeing Vienna.

Almost right outside the hotel is the Karlplatz entrance to the Viennese Underground and there is no lack of taxis available as static and passing availability meant there was no loss of time waiting for a cab to pass by.

We arrived on the 23rd December and had to take a taxi from the airport due to luggage loss and so missed the planned chauffeured limo.

It was a five-star experience--lovely room with great bed, sitting area, nice sized bathroom with lots of water pressure and hot water--and beautifully maintained public areas.

The bathroom was also sumptuous, with a separate room for the toilet and bidet, and double sinks in both bathrooms.

As I was traveling with my spouse, my son, and my mother, I had requested a room with a King bed adjacent to a room with two double beds.

We had booked an exclusive room with a kingsized bed.

We had the deluxe room with a king size bed which, while not as large as the executive, still had plenty of room.

The food is very good: I had dinner at the Japanese restaurant and the buffet - expensive at 30€ - for breakfast.

Yes, the bar area is smokey as are all the restaurants in Vienna.

There are two gourmet restaurants on the top floor; we had dinner at the Japanese restaurant.

We enjoyed drinks in the lovely bar and a very nice dinner in the restaurant "Le Ciel" post-opera (the State Opera is quite close and was an easy walk home even in frigid November winds).

We did not eat breakfast at the hotel, but lunch and dinner was great!

Except for one receptionist at the front desk, all of the staff was extremely friendly and helpful.

The service was top notch all around from concierge to room service.

The english is impeccable from the front desk to the wait staff in the restaurants.

The only negative was that my Jacuzzi was not working when I checked in, but housekeeping was quickly able to fix that.

If you go at Christmas even better - the Christmas tree they have in the lobby is awsome.

That having been said, I've not found many even 5 star hotels in Europe to have great fitness facilities.

I didn't bring my laptop but the business center has 4 computers with high speed access which was free.

Bathrooms are marble, large, and very clean.

The room was lovely, clean and with some superb electronic gizmos to augment your experience.

Unfortunately we forgot to switch off the automatic 'do not disturb' sign when we left the room on our first day so the maid didn't come in to clean, but that was our fault.

Overall, the external beauty of the hotel which extends to the rather clean and welcoming lobby is not represented by the standard of the rooms and amenities.