Review: The Ritz-Carlton Vienna

Published Jan 24 2025, 8:57 AM, Updated Jan 24 2025, 9:08 AMThe Ritz-Carlton Vienna is a slice of American charm set in palatial Austrian buildings on the treelined ring road surrounding Vienna’s old town. It has a spa, a decent-sized pool, which is big enough to swim lengths in, a popular rooftop bar with views across Vienna, and an Italian and a steak restaurant. In terms of facilities, this hotel ticks most, if not all, of the boxes.

Location

The Ritz-Carlton Vienna is very well located on Schubertring, around a 5-minute walk from the main shopping street of Vienna, and is an easy walk to most of Vienna’s central palaces and gardens.

The hotel is housed in a huge building that lines a cobbled side street running parallel to the Ringstrasse, the circular boulevard that forms a ring around the center of Vienna.

This Ritz-Carlton can be found two blocks up from the Hotel Imperial Vienna, part of Marriott’s Luxury Collection, and a few blocks in the opposite direction, the Marriott Vienna. McDonalds is just a block away, which is useful if you’re traveling with kids.

Vienna airport is outside the city, and you can taxi or train into the center. The City Airport Train (CAT) from Vienna Airport to Wien Mitte only takes 16 minutes, so it is worth considering for a cost-effective transfer. The hotel is a 20-minute walk or 5-minute taxi ride from this station.

Style & Character

The Ritz-Carlton Vienna is a modern hotel. The interiors are luxurious, with plenty of marble. The rooms are modern in decor and are a nice size, but the decor is not noteworthy. It feels very Ritz-Carton rather than very Vienna and offers the comfortable level of luxury and great beds that all Ritz-Carlton hotels enjoy.

The foyer is split-level with lots of marble and fun artwork. A grand set of stairs takes you down to the reception area. This area is spacious and airy, and the warmth of the well-trained staff is obvious from the moment you step into the building.

Much like Four Seasons hotels, Ritz-Carlton staff do their best to care about your stay and are always on hand to carry your cases and direct you to whatever you need. Even though this hotel is huge, many of the staff remembered my name, which was impressive.

Perhaps the most charismatic and popular part of the hotel is its youthful and fun rooftop bar, which is a great place to hang out on a warm evening and has views across the whole of Vienna. It has quite the party atmosphere, with locals celebrating birthdays and anniversaries as well as hotel guests. You can’t beat the fizzy atmosphere in the summer.

We also tried their club lounge, which I have reviewed in more detail separately and which can be found on the top floor in a cozy long room set in the eaves of the building. There are big angled skylights set into the ceiling and running across the room, letting in plenty of natural light.

This club lounge is decent, with plenty of private sections so you can sit and enjoy the complimentary food and beverage offered in your own space, but the food is heavy on meat, and as a vegetarian, I found it difficult to create a meal in the evening. This lounge would have been a dream if I had been a meat eater, as the main hot dishes on the evening we stayed were Veal Schnitzels, meatballs, and beef tartare.

I noticed on checking in that you can upgrade to add the lounge in for €120 EUR. This seems like a good deal, and if you eat meat, I think you would be thrilled with the food offerings.

Service & Facilities

This Ritz-Carlton has all the facilities you could want. A big spa, a decent-sized pool, and a gym are all in the basement.

This pool area is one of the best in Vienna (the Park Hyatt Vienna also has a good pool). The pool size is impressive at 18 meters long and 1.4 meters deep. It also plays underwater music, and plenty of loungers flank this underground pool if you want to relax.

These loungers are a nice place to relax after a day of sightseeing, so I’d reccomend heading down to this spa area at the end of your day.

Rooms

Our room was 212, and it had three windows. All the windows look out onto the local area and tramlines that score the cobbled streets in Vienna.

It was spacious, with bright and uplifting artwork on the walls and the large bathroom had grey and black marble tiling, worktops, and Diptyque bath amenities. This is the same brand as many Four Seasons hotels use, but Ritz’s fragrance is less memorable.

Food & Drink

There’s a popular rooftop bar at this Ritz-Carlton with views across Vienna and a second lively bar downstairs, which plays fun music and spills out onto the pavement outside.

The steak restaurant “Distrikt” is a fun space with high ceilings and big windows, and you can eat inside or outside on a decked terrace. An Italian restaurant can be found adjoining the foyer, and both restaurants had a great atmosphere and were busy during our stay.

The breakfast here is extensive and offered in the Steak restaurant. The staff here are warm, kind, and open to chatting. They bother to remember your name and regularly hover to check you have everything you need.

American guests, in particular, seemed to enjoy the chit-chat offered by the breakfast staff as they offered their own perceptions of the city and where they recommended visiting, as well as taking an interest in each guest’s story. Being British, we rather shy away from conversation, but we did appreciate the warmth and care offered by the staff during breakfast.

The breakfast room had an outdoor and indoor area, so you could enjoy the street life. Inside, the room was air-conditioned, and pop tunes played in the background.

The buffet and a la carte menu are included (except the champagne and caviar dishes). The buffet has a generous spread of cheeses, cold cuts, berries, salad, cereal, Bircher Muesli, bread, and pastries. The a la carte was mainly for egg dishes, pancakes, and oatmeal porridge. Specialty coffees, fresh orange juice, sparkling and still water are also offered in generous quantities.

This is a very good breakfast with plenty of choices, and it is included for free if you book via our luxury travel concierge (along with prioritized room upgrades, hotel credit, and a welcome amenity). Ritz-Carlton hotels don’t offer free breakfast to Platinum and higher members of Marriott Bonvoy, so it’s worth booking via one of our agents as the breakfast is great here.

Conclusion

The Ritz-Carlton Vienna offers a modern setting, an American feel, and the best club lounge in Vienna. The staff throughout the hotel are particularly noteworthy as they go out of their way to be interested in your stay and were super helpful.

While the hotel’s interior doesn’t feel particularly Viennese (Hotel Imperial, which is also part of the Marriott Bonvoy group, two blocks away, drips in ornate vienese charm if this is what you are looking for), this Ritz-Carlton’s club lounge, large pool and spa, rooftop bar, additional bar, and two restaurants means that it boasts more facilities than any other luxury hotel in Vienna.

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