A key player in the recent transformation of Viennese nightlife and dining, Bernd Schlacher has brought his Midas touch to the hotel scene with Hotel MOTTO, a high-concept boutique beauty in the Austrian capital’s swinging 6th district.
It’s a big risk, styling a hotel around a highly contrived central conceit. Vienna-meets-1920s-Paris is the big idea here, and Hotel MOTTO commits to every detail. So it’s no small tribute to its execution, and to the judgement and taste of its creator, Vienna dining and nightlife mogul Bernd Schlacher, that his first foray into hotels, in the heart of the boho-riche 6th district (where else?), pulls off the gamble with je ne sais quoi to spare.
From the lobby’s vintage fashion illustration-style murals by Italian artist Andrea Ferrola and antique chandeliers bought at auction from Paris’ shuttered Ritz Hotel to the elegant boudoir chic of the gorgeous guestrooms, the interior design misses zero opportunities to whip up a glamorous, coquettish and ever-so-slightly decadent ambience. ‘Bienvenue Lovers, Entrez,’ coo the room key cards in a romantic typeface. ‘Je veux’, echo the cutely packaged condoms and lube in the vanity kit.
The demure, pale-pastel tones of the luxurious, parquet-floored rooms (there are 85, plus six suites) are warmly spiced with rich patterns vintage and modern on rugs, bedheads and fabric wall panels, drawing heavily on the heritage designs of venerable Viennese textiles house Backhausen. Custom-designed patterned tiles are judiciously used throughout, adding pep to the compact, slickly designed and very sexy bathrooms as well as the lobby floor and landings around the gorgeous, oval six-storey central stairwell. Even the staff uniforms – designed by the Styrian couturier and one-time Vivienne Westwood intern Lena Hoschek – get in on the act, echoing some of the interiors’ print patterns.
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| While you’re Out There |
| Viennese LGBTQ+ nightlife is at its most progressive and creative at the scruffy, friendly Marea Alta Bar on nearby Gumpendorfer Straße. First founded as a support space for lesbian immigrants, it draws a young, gloriously mixed crowd who mingle with cocktails on the ground floor and carouse at anarchic drag shows, karaoke sessions and discos in the dive bar-esque basement. |
Schlacher’s vision stirs in a frisson of punk-rock chic too, peppering the building with edgy artworks, and scenting the air with a hint of naughty. No sooner have you let the lobby’s romantic aesthetics give you a coy first cuddle, than you’re confronted by the huge, primitive mask sculpture in Pepto-Bismol pink by contemporary Viennese artist Franz West at the foot of the stairs. Elsewhere, graffiti-style phrases by Serbian artist Sasha Knezevic are scrawled on mirrors and the huge windows of some of the eight Art Deluxe guest rooms, whose location-specific featured works change regularly. There’s a nod too to Schlacher’s queer sensibility in the elegiac photographic work on display by Mexican artist Victoria Barmak.
And all chimes beautifully with the immaculate, pared-back restoration of the handsome 17th-century building which, once the family home of composer and waltz wiz Johann Strauss, has over the centuries acquired elements of Renaissance, Baroque and Viennese Artisan Craft styles.
A more recent acquisition is the bold new double-height bar and restaurant space that crowns the hotel. The work of local architect Arkan Zeytinoglu, Chez Bernard is a modern, structural dome in glass and steel flooded with daylight and hung, above a central island bar, with lush trailing plants. Here, punchily executed modern Austrian fare with French and Mediterranean influences is served by friendly, stylish young staff – ‘Je ne regrette rien’, confide their T-shirts – showcasing local produce. And the Palm-Springs-channelling roof terrace bar, wrapped in panoramic views across the city’s spires and rooftops and serviced by local DJs, is one of the hottest perches in town on a summer evening. Hotel MOTTO also has a small fitness room, steam room and sauna on site, and it offers deals that let guests use the nearby Box Gym Coop as well as a yoga and meditation studio.
Delicious breads and French-style pastries come from the hotel’s own organic bakery, which has a charming old-world shopfront on the ground floor. And this is just one of the property’s expressions of support for sustainability and local sourcing. Most of the furniture was made by small local manufacturers, and the exclusive in-room organic skincare products are from the venerable – established 1886 – Viennese brand Saint Charles.
Photography by Oliver Jiszda and courtesy of Hotel MOTTO
