Opened in 2022, Rosewood Vienna puts a fresh spin on the cultural heritage of the Austrian capital’s venerated old town while wrapping its guests – and the dressed-up locals it magnetises to its dining and drinking spaces – in slickly delivered indulgence and style.
There’s an elegant understatement to arriving at Rosewood Vienna. While the building’s main neoclassical façade gazes down on the luxury boutique-lined street Tuchlauben in the heart of the historic First District, guests enter through a discreet porch opposite the ornate Baroque Peterskirche Catholic church on sedate, shopfront-free Petersplatz. At the end of a checkerboard-tiled passageway, a double-height, glass-roofed modern atrium with a striking central light installation gives a first hint of the glamour lying ahead, before new arrivals are welcomed into a serene, airy salon to check in, over bubbles, in cosy velvet armchairs.
A relaxed, residential atmosphere, even in the awe-inspiring heritage buildings the hotel group has a knack for acquiring, is a Rosewood hallmark. Another is an adroitly crafted sense of place, and here, too, Rosewood Vienna delivers big.
Unveiled in 2022, a quietly spectacular renovation by Viennese architects A2K and BEHF knits together four blocks of former bank offices dating back to the 1830s, with interiors by London-based Alexander Waterworth, whose portfolio includes Soho Farmhouse in the UK’s Cotswolds. Eschewing nostalgic imperial grandeur – although several of the city’s most ostentatious historical landmarks are so close many of the hotel’s 103 rooms and suites have front-row views – the beautifully judged aesthetic takes a more original approach to conjuring Vienna’s spirit (if, incidentally, you’re in the market for a suite, the three one-bedroom Hofburg suites to our minds rival even the presidential suite for wow factor, due to showstopping sightlines that beam the palatial home of those bling-happy Hapsburgs right to your bed).
Woven throughout the building’s gracious neoclassical proportions are references to the city’s progressive fin de siècle art movements – Secession, Jugendstil, Art Deco – which subtly spice a restrained colour palette that maximises the abundant natural light. The reception salon’s burnished gold ceiling evokes Klimt. Rooms’ and suites’ handsome, marble-and-walnut cocktail cabinets and bathroom dressers sport sexy Deco curves. Muted pops of burnt orange, forest green and teal in velvet sofas, chairs and bedheads add sensuous warmth, and lampshades, sheer curtains and chairs feature gorgeous graphic patterns sourced from the 1850-1910 archives of Viennese artisan textile house Backhausen. Art curation at Rosewood Vienna, by Paris-based consultancy Atelier 27, cannily muddles retro pieces with a pinch of contemporary cheek. And imperial show-offery is even allowed a little, witty look-in, in the gorgeous Salon Aurelie, a Viennese coffee-house-in-miniature whose whimsical botanical murals, inspired by Schönbrunn Palace’s monumental art-nouveau Palmenhaus hothouse, were painstakingly hand-painted over two months by local artist Marie Hartig (we warmly recommend a post museum-hopping or shopping drop-in for champagne and a slice of fresh-baked Gugelhupf).
| Perfect for | Fly into | Right on time |
| The Sophisticate | VIE | GMT +1 |
| While you’re Out There |
| Progressive, plant-forward cuisine has muscled in between schnitzels and strudels in recent years, contributing, alongside new international influences, to a dramatic diversification of the city’s dining scene. We had it both ways at the First District’s refined, sustainability-driven Wrenkh, which serves a delicious oyster mushroom schnitzel, among other delicately prepared dishes on the ‘veg-centric’ menu, in sleek, canteen-chic surroundings. The young chefs, brothers Karl and Leo Wrenkh, also share their skills and secrets at regular half-day courses at their nearby Kochsalon. |
Up on the roof, the opulence gets a little more gloves-off in two new and thoroughly modern glass and steel storeys housing the Neue Hoheit restaurant and bar, with fun, post-Deco interior design by achingly cool Viennese studio Kroenland. Serving European brasserie fare with a core of elevated Austrian classics, the restaurant is a gorgeous, buzzy space, its charming al fresco terrace arranged around a mature pine tree and looking onto an ever-so-slightly racy mural by Viennese street art don KRANF. And as the EU’s highest-producing nation in organic farming, Austria proves itself an exceptional asset for Rosewood’s brand-wide ‘Partners in Provenance’ programme, which tailors menus around the best locally available ingredients. The Austrian dry-aged beef ribeye, we (pescatarians) were told, is exceptional. The lobster rolls and krautfleckerl (Austrian pasta with caramelised cabbage) we can heartily vouch for ourselves.
The fifth- and sixth-floor Asaya spa, with sauna, steam bath and ‘experience shower’, offers an extensive treatment menu including massages incorporating traditional Austrian natural remedies and techniques, and bespoke, fascia-focused beauty treatments created in partnership with world-renowned stem-cell Svengali Augustinus Bader. It’s hard though to imagine a more healing experience than simply gazing through the relaxation room’s floor-to-ceiling windows at Peterskirche’s huge, so-close-you-could-reach-out green copper dome.
And the signature experiences don’t stop there. Take an afternoon ‘Meet the Vintner’ VIP tour to discover the shockingly good vineyards on the outskirts of the city, or go full-fine-dining with the Neue Hoheit’s paired 4-Course Carte Blanche Menu, designed by Executive Chef Matthias Mezera, who returned to his hometown for the role after launching his career at Hotel Adlon Kempinski in Berlin. Or really spread your wings and plan a two- or three-centre tour taking in other central Europe destinations and Rosewood properties.
For our money, another Rosewood hallmark is the infusion of every aspect of a stay with a sense of grown-up indulgence, down in large part to a service style that expertly balances attention to detail with a dash of genial informality. And never did we unwind more than during another curated guest experience – the seventh-floor Neue Hoheit Bar’s learning-by-boozing cultural journey, The Taste of Austria for Two. Famous city-wide for its unparalleled views, the bar is a huge draw for in-the-know Viennese, and the bubbly, diverse clientele gathering that evening were suitably convivial company as mixologists served our choices from the bar’s nine signature cocktails, each custom-designed to spotlight artisanal spirits and botanicals from one of Austria’s provinces. Prost!
Photography courtesy of Rosewood Hotels & Resorts
