A few weeks ago, I stayed at the Andaz Vienna. The Andaz is an interesting brand within the Hyatt chain. It often has quirky design elements and one signature element is the free minibar in the room. Depending on how that’s stocked, this free minibar can be a very pleasant addition to the experience. Please read my review below of the Andaz in Vienna.
Location
The Andaz Vienna is a 10 minutes walk from the Vienna main Train Station (Hauptbahnhof) as well as the Schloss Belvedere. The Schloss Belvedere is a must-see especially since it provides a great view towards the city of Vienna.
The main train Station can be easily reached by train from the airport. There is a direct train every half hour. The best way the reach the old town of Vienna from the Andaz is by tram (line D). Four to five stops (roughly 10 minutes) and you’ll find yourself in the heart of Vienna. So, the Andaz Vienna is not located in the old town of Vienna itself. But the fact that it’s very close to the main train station and only a few tram stops away from downtown, makes it still a very convenient location.
Hotel Room Rate & Points
The Andaz Vienna is a category 3 hotel. This means the standard number of points required for a free night is 12,000 (off-peak 9,000 and peak 15,000). This could make it interesting to use points to book a room. If you want to know whether it makes sense to book a room with points and eventually buy points, please see my blog on this topic. You can also use this link to purchase points and you can immediately see if there is a points promotion. To logon, you’ll need your World of Hyatt ID, first name, last name, and registered Email.
For this specific stay, I used a 1-4 category free night award which was about to expire. Considering the cash rate was more than 200 Euro for a one night stay, I thought that was a solid use of my free night award.
Room
There was a very pleasant surprise at check-in, when I was told I was upgraded to a suite, thanks to my Globalist status. The suite has a small living room with a desk which proved perfect to get some work done during this stay. I liked the interior design with the herringbone wooden floor and tall ceilings.
The big king bed in the bedroom was really comfortable and again, the design fitted perfectly with the Vienna European style. Bathroom wasn’t too big but there was a separate shower and bath. All in all, the perfect room to relax after exploring Vienna and get some work done.
The contents of the mini-bar – complementary with Andaz – was very minimal; 2 small bottles of water (one still, one sparkling), an apple juice (sparkling), and a small chocolate bar. I’ve seen a better selection at other Andaz hotels…
Restaurants & Breakfast
The Andaz Vienna has one main restaurant where also breakfast is served. There is also a rooftop bar which also serves a small selection of food. When I visited the Andaz Vienna, the weather was fantastic and the outdoor rooftop bar was completely full. It seemed the rooftop bar was more catered towards office workers having a drink after work, than hotel guests. I didn’t really feel welcome in this place and was almost ignored by the serving staff.
The restaurant next to the reception certainly wasn’t visited by frequent Vienna visitors nor by hotel guests for that matter because it was completely deserted when I had a look inside. Not surprising in my opinion because the menu consisted only out of a few options and neither of these looked very attractive to me.
Breakfast at the Andaz Vienna offers a buffet as well as some a-la-carte options. After just coming back from Asia, it’s always difficult getting used to the European (and American) hotel breakfasts simply because these are a lot more limited. But I did like the fact that they had some Austrian (cake) specialities – which were a bit heavy for breakfast but tasted great!
Conclusion
I originally had set my eyes on the Park Hyatt Vienna, when I planned my stay in Vienna. I also have a one night award for a category 1-7 hotel which is about to expire, and since the Park Hyatt Vienna is a category 7 hotel, that would have been the perfect redemption. However, the Park Hyatt Vienna didn’t have availability so I decided to check out the Andaz Vienna instead. And this actually worked out a lot better simply because of the convenient location next to the train station. I also like it when a hotel is a bit further away from the busy city center, while the city center can still be easily reached. The Andaz Vienna ticked all these boxes.
If the weather is great, the rooftop bar is a nice place to hang-out, if you are able to secure a spot and can get the attention of the servers… From a dining perspective, I would recommend eating outside. There are some dining options close to the hotel, and the center is only a 10 minute tram ride away.
After my stay at the Andaz Vienna, I took a flight with the national carrier of Austria; Austrian Airlines. I flew business class from Vienna to Shanghai. An excellent experience with food and drinks (especially the coffee menu!) as the highlight! Please have a look at my review I posted on my Youtube Channel. And don’t forget to like and subscribe!
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