Whenever I am looking for a hotel for any of my trips, I also take a little bit longer to search for the right hotel as I have a certain taste that I seemed to have developed since I started travel blogging – has this happened to anyone else?
Although I’d LOVE to be able to stay in luxurious hotels where ever I go, I much prefer the quirky hotels that are both full of character and super affordable. Whether it’s a hotel with walls covered in graffiti, a photo booth in the reception or murals in the bedrooms – I’m there.
While looking for a hotel for the final night of my trip to Vienna, I was starting to feel a little bit stuck for options as pretty much everything was out of my price budget or was already fully booked. Shortly after my search I remembered that there was a 25 Hours Hotel in Museums Quarter and it pretty much looked like my dream hotel.
I popped them an email over before booking and they said they’d be delighted to work with me in return for a review, and so me and Ashton booked the final night of our press trip with the idea we would spend the final day before our flight enjoying the hotel.
25 Hours Vienna: The Welcome
When we arrived at the hotel we knew that our room wouldn’t be ready so early, so we asked if we could leave our bags in reception. Of course this was allowed and after a bit of a faff trying to get my credit card to work for the room deposit, we left our things and headed on our way to the zoo.
Not expecting snow AT ALL, we ended up getting soaked on our day out at the zoo and when we arrived back at the hotel we received the most warm welcome. The person behind the desk immediately remembered our names and she called one of the girls who worked in sales out to come and introduce herself to us too, which is when they told us that they had been able to upgrade us into one of the best rooms in the hotel – the panorama suite.
I was absolutely blown over by their generosity as we had originally been booked to stay in the M room, which is one of their standard sized rooms. Instead we were put on the 8th floor in a room which I can only describe as the biggest hotel room I have ever stayed in, but more on that later…
25 Hours Vienna: The Staff
As mentioned above, the staff were amazing throughout the whole stay. We ended up asking them a million and one different questions throughout our stay and they were even kind enough to give us a turn down service in the morning so that we could photograph the room in daylight. It’s the little things that make a stay perfect, isn’t it?
25 Hours Vienna: The Decor
There are many different 25 Hours Hotels across Europe, each of which has a different ‘theme’ when it comes to the decor. For Vienna, that theme was The Circus.
Now, as the BIGGEST The Greatest Showman fans this hotel was literally perfect for both me and Ashton as practically everything was giving us major PT Barnum vibes. The reception was like a mysterium of all things wierd and wonderful, with circus posters covering walls, bikes stuck onto railings and a table that reminded me of a seesaw. There was even a VERY comfortable chair that had been coverted into a working swing.
There was also a massive wall of camera flashing as you entered into the hotel, which would have been perfect for an outfit post now that I think of it. Ah, hindsight you beautiful thing.
ALSO, everything was so well branding – from the postcards dotted around the hotel to the takeaway coffee cups. It made the marketing geek inside of my very very happy.
25 Hours Vienna: The Room
Okay, so where do I start?
When we found out we were in one of the best rooms in the hotel we couldn’t have run upstairs any faster. We were INCREDIBLY excited and literally had no idea what to expect when we walked in. I opened the door and the first thing I could see was a long corridor with a kitchen, leading to a desk, so I thought ” Oh, it must be around the corner then”. Nope, there was another corridor with a long sofa and some bookshelves, leading to what looked like a lounge.
Then I spotted it.
FLOOR TO CEILING WINDOWS.
I think floor to ceiling windows have always been a dream of mine to have in a hotel room and Vienna looked so beautiful all lit up in the dark down below. It honestly couldn’t have been more perfect.
Until I spotted the bed, which was placed in front of a mural that couldn’t have been more ‘The Greatest Showman’ if it tried. The detail that must have gone into each and every room I have seen online must have been phenomenal, as the mural was incredibly detailed and so so stunning. It’s making me want to have my own mural behind my bed when I move house next month…
In all our excitement it took us a while to realise that the bathroom led right back through into the first corridor, making this possibly one of the biggest hotel rooms I’ve ever stayed in. It was incredible.
Once we had got settled in our room we started to notice other little things including:
- We had a speaker we could connect our phone too (and you bet we did to blast This is Me and Never Enough as loud as we could).
- The taps had signs on that encouraged you to turn the water off while you were brushing your teeth to help save on water.
- The hotel had left me a little gift, including a pack of postcards, some pencils and a few other bits and pieces.
- The soaps and body wash that were in the bathroom smelt amazing and I wish I could have taken some home with me from the hotel kiosk, but unfortunately I only had cabin luggage.
- When we woke up we opened the curtains and there was an actual winter wonderland outside our room. The view was incredible, I could have stared at it all day if I had the chance.
- The TV stand was made out of suitcases, which looked awesome.
Okay, enough gushing about the room and onto the food.
25 Hours Vienna: The Resturant and Rooftop Bar
Before we arrived at the hotel we had already planned to eat there as we had heard they had an incredible pizza restaurant called 1500 Foodmakers.
We went downstairs to the restaurant at around 8pm and it was already jam packed when we arrived, which had to mean it was good right? Despite it being busy we were seated right away and within minutes we had already ordered our drinks and pizza. Ashton her usual mozzarella and I had a napoli sausage pizza (my favourite when ordering a thin Italian style pizza).
The food was INCREDIBLE and it may be within my top five favourite pizzas of all times (the one from Iggy Pizza is still my favourite but this was still pretty damn good.) We didn’t stay too long as we wanted other people to have a chance to sit and eat, so after paying we went up to the rooftop bar.
We’d been planning on going up to here for months as apparently it has one of the best views of Vienna, however by the time we got there it was so packed we couldn’t have even got a table inside, let alone on the roof. I think though, that does all the talking for us as this is certainly a hot spot in Vienna, even those that are not hotel guests!
25 Hours Vienna: The Breakfast
We had breakfast included in our booking so of course we planned to make the most of it and honestly, it was so so worth it. I *think* dare I day it, it was the best hotel breakfast I have had (so far).
When we were seated they asked if we’d like anything making fresh, so Ashton ordered an omelette, but I decided to go for the buffet instead as it looking incredible. I think I ended up eating my body weight in continental breakfast including sausages, eggs, bacon, croissants, pain au chocolate and freshly baked breads.
But do you want to know the best bit?
They served an alcoholic rose wine as part of the buffet. I’ve NEVER seen that before but I think it should be compulsory with every single continental breakfast moving forward.
25 Hours Vienna: The Mermaid Cave
On the very bottom floor of the 25 Hours Vienna hotel there was a place called the mermaid cave.
Unsure what to expect, but knowing it was a spa of sorts, we planned to spend the afternoon before our flight there. As you first walked in there were lots of hanging/swinging chairs which I was too scared to sit in for fear I’d break them, but it turns out they’re pretty sturdy.
Through one of the doors there was an absolutely stunning room which was *pretty much* outside and as it was snowing we decided it was a bit too cold to sit out in our swimming costumes. It had a mosaic wall with a colourful mermaid pattern, then lots of lounge chairs for you to lie on and take in the sun. Directly opposite you could watch people in the gym (or join in if that’s your kind of thing).
The mermaids cave also had a steam room and a sauna, neither of which we could get to work but I am pretty sure we were doing it wrong. Nonetheless, I imagine if we had figured it out they would have been VERY relaxing, especially before our flight.
I was convinced that there was a pool there but after walking around every possible corner, we soon realised there wasn’t and so we decided to sit with our feet in the foot spas for a bit before heading back upstairs to pack.
I think mermaid cave was such a nice touch to have, and definitely added to the overall quirkiness of the hotel.
25 Hours Vienna: The Location
25 Hours Vienna is located in Museums Quarter, one of the most popular areas in the city. We were minutes away from Volkstheatre metro station (when we finally found the right way to go) and no more than five minutes away from some of the best museums in the city. Had we been there longer I would have had a bit more of an explore of the area, but as we only had one night and half a day before our flight we didn’t get much of a chance to walk around the area.
I already know that I want to stay in pretty much ALL of the 25 Hours Hotels at some point after this one incredible experience, so I guess I better get planning my next trip, huh?
Kirsty Leanne
xoxo
