This Viennese Palace Simply Obtained a New, Trendy Makeover — and Now You Can Keep There

Vienna shouldn’t be quick on palatial — actually — resorts, and it has gone by a spate of splashy luxurious openings over the past 5 years, bringing manufacturers like Rosewood and Anantara to hitch stalwarts like Lodge Imperial and Lodge Sacher Wien. However on the finish of 2023, a boutique resort quietly opened inside a pair of the town’s beloved palaces that had taken years to revive.

The positively stunning Almanac Palais Vienna is the third property from the Almanac hospitality group (the opposite two are in Barcelona and Prague). It represented one thing of a homecoming for the homeowners, the Haselbacher household from Austria, which is probably why they spent so a few years making certain the 1871 buildings had been correctly preserved. The unique neo-Baroque facades and heritage marble doorways hark again to the glamor of the unique Palais, constructed for 2 of the town’s most distinguished businessmen: the German-Austrian industrialist Hugo Henckel von Donnersmarck and the textile magnet Baron Friedrich von Leitenberger.

Award-winning Chilean designer Jaime Beriestain was tasked with the property’s restoration, reworking the historic palais into the grand resort steeped in Viennese heritage. Whereas the façade stays intact, interiors evoke a refined magnificence with a palette of wealthy woods, creamy beiges, and silver and gold hues; sculptural accents; and a rotating assortment of work and images by up-and-coming native artists.

When my household and I entered the hovering marble foyer contained in the resort’s glass-covered atrium, we had been immediately wowed. The design option to protect the historic molding and nonetheless put up a contemporary, painted display is an attention-grabbing selection, and it really works, setting the stage for the resort’s identification as a historic landmark and a hub of up to date artwork. The foyer is so spacious and minimalist that I immediately feared my youngsters operating with abandon by it, crashing into the fashionable sculptures on show in partnership with Galerie bei der Albertina Zetter, however fortunately, they had been too exhausted from our red-eye flight to do a lot harm.

The resort’s ardour for artwork is obvious all through and is cemented with its newest assortment, additionally completed with Galerie bei der Albertina Zetter. The all-Austrian artwork assortment comprises works by greats, together with Gustav Klimt and Hermann Nitsch, and it’s the first time a piece by Klimt will ever be on show in a resort. The drawing, Klimt’s “Sitzende Dame von vorne (Seated Woman Face-On, 1912-1914),” is contained in the Palais Suite.

I beloved beginning every morning with a espresso from the ground-floor third-wave espresso store Elias after which becoming a member of my household to linger over scrumptious breakfasts contained in the ethereal Donnersmarkt Restaurant earlier than heading out to discover the town for the day. Upon return, we headed downstairs to the spa’s Indoor pool, considerably of a rarity within the metropolis, to loosen up in, and the art-inflected bar was ultimate for a pre-dinner drink. All in all, Almanac Palais Vienna is a superb trendy addition to the town’s burgeoning resort roster, bringing it an increasing number of to Europe’s forefront of metropolis locations past Paris and London.

This is my evaluation of Almanac Palais Vienna.

The Rooms

Since I used to be touring with my husband and two youngsters, we booked two adjoining rooms. We arrived early within the morning, after taking the red-eye from New York to Vienna, so our rooms weren’t fairly prepared, however after a few hours on the on-site espresso store and within the park, one among them was prepared for us to relaxation in.

After we walked into the primary room, it was so giant — with a sitting space and king mattress — that I assumed it have to be for the grownups. Little did I do know that after we would see the second room, a collection, I’d really feel ridiculous for believing the primary room was giant. The suite simply spanned greater than 1,500 sq. toes, with a mattress so giant I feel it could have been two kings pushed collectively. My husband and I joked that we may sleep on it horizontally and nonetheless have loads of further room; there was a big sitting space and a separate toilet and closet. The ceiling was a bit low — I realized that because the flooring went up, the ceilings received decrease — however since neither of us could be very tall and so they had clearly compensated with extra horizontal house, we had been thrilled. Each rooms appeared down on the resort’s inside atrium foyer and obtained daylight from the opening above.

The resort has 111 rooms, of which 80 are suites, offering spacious lodging in a metropolis the place that may be scarce. Whereas different components of the constructing have preserved neo-Baroque particulars, the rooms are undeniably trendy. Ceilings and a few partitions characteristic antiqued gold mirrors, and behind the cream-colored leather-based headboard is a wooden backing wall engraved with a round sample. Grey couches are curvy with mod-patterned accent pillows, and the minibar includes a shiny crimson countertop. Loos are lined in Austrian white marble with gold accents, and the remaining have gold handles, sconces, lamps, and doorways for a luxe, however not over-the-top, poshness.

Meals and Drink

On the bottom flooring with an outside space in heat climate, Donnersmarkt Restaurant & Bar is about inside a vivid and colourful eating room with a large-scale trendy mural alongside one wall of Vienna’s natural world. The menu options plant-forward Alpine delicacies, like celery confit with a chervil and pistachio béarnaise sauce and oven-roasted and marinated native pumpkin with black radish, honey, and black aioli. The wine record has a neighborhood focus, with a collection of biodynamic and natural bottles from vineyards within the hills of Vienna. The Donnersmarkt Bar had a showpiece round gold bar and maroon velvet seating accented by trendy work on the partitions by artist-in-residence Martin Lukáč.

Vienna has a severe espresso and café tradition with quite a lot of historical past, so any new espresso store has to impress. Fortunately, the on-site Elias Espresso Store has no hassle doing so, with its gleaming white tile, hovering ceilings, and minimalist design. It serves third-wave espresso and native pastries.

Actions and Experiences

In 2024, the resort began providing a number of month-to-month workshops with native specialists. These embrace a gua sha and face yoga workshop, a floral association class, and a four-hour artwork remedy session with licensed holistic artwork therapist and Create Artwork Remedy founder Petra Krassnitzer. The classes promote the stream of power and stimulate sensory perceptions by a combination of meditation and inventive workout routines, equivalent to kneading clay, portray on a canvas, or writing.

The resort additionally has a number of gallery and museum partnerships. One is with the Belvedere Museum, permitting all resort friends to get pleasure from a complimentary entrance at Belvedere 21, the museum’s modern artwork constructing, and friends of the Vienna Artwork Suite can even get pleasure from a complimentary entrance to Higher and Decrease Belvedere, the museum’s different two sections. Visitors can even get pleasure from unique after-hours guided excursions of Galerie bei der Albertina, which is inaugurating its new exhibition house, Zetter Initiatives.

The Spa

Vienna has a showering tradition courting again almost 2,000 years, and the resort’s underground two-floor wellness sanctuary pays tribute to that. Open simply to friends, the gorgeous marble-clad oasis has a glowing 45-foot indoor thermal pool, plus spa and sauna services and a totally geared up fitness center.

Signature remedies embrace the Viennese Carry & Glow Ritual, a facial utilizing a mixture of gua sha and cryo-massage strategies, together with botanical skincare merchandise. {Couples} can e-book a nighttime spa expertise, the place they’ll have the pool, sauna, and steam room all to themselves for 3 hours, together with a {couples} therapeutic massage, glowing wine, particular treats, flowers, and two embroidered robes.

Accessibility

Almanac has 4 accessible rooms within the resort: two Almanac Rooms, one Almanac Deluxe, and one Junior Suite. All of them characteristic a large entrance to the lavatory and to the room, emergency cords and buttons, and an open sink within the toilet.

Location

The resort is correct on Vienna’s famously elegant Ringstrasse and simply throughout the road from Stadtpark, one of many metropolis’s authentic public parks. It’s inside strolling distance from native landmarks just like the Vienna State Opera Home and the Museum of Utilized Arts (The MAK).

Find out how to Get the Most Worth Out of Your Keep

Almanac Palais Vienna is a part of the Visa Signature Luxurious Lodge Assortment. Visa cardholders who e-book by the gathering’s web site will obtain an computerized room improve on arrival if accessible, complimentary breakfast for 2, a $25 meals and beverage credit score, late checkout when accessible, and VIP visitor standing.