grätzlhotel Neubau

Room 702, “The Fishmonger,” looked brand new and was very well equipped. The location is excellent, and you can easily walk into the city center. Our first arrival was a bit of a mess, though: it was pouring, there was no parking, and we stood outside trying to work out how to get the key. We had to call to get the code and solution. The first night was rough. Street noise woke us up every hour, so this street-facing room isn’t a good choice for light sleepers. Maybe the courtyard rooms are quieter. We’d ask for one of those next time, but unfortunately wouldn’t recommend this room.

We were really excited to find this place for one of our regular visits to Vienna, because it sounded like a great idea. Sadly, after one sleepless night in an excessively humid room, we had to leave as quickly as we could. We noticed as soon as we arrived in the late afternoon that the air felt stale. It was hard to tell if that came from the recent renovation or something else, and a room fragrance with six wooden sticks only made it stronger. The air conditioning was set to a comfortable Eskimo temperature. We tried turning it off, setting the separate heaters in the small rooms to comfortable levels, and leaving a fan running while we went out shopping and for food. At 17-18 degrees Celsius outside, the heater apparently thought it was too warm and wouldn’t switch on. We were exhausted after a long day, so we got ready for bed and planned to watch TV, but the whole bed felt unpleasantly damp, including the blanket, mattress, and pillows. We pulled on the bathrobes to warm up, but they were damp too. Then we found there was no remote control, so watching TV was out as well. We also had to carry all our valuables with us for safety because the safe was a “takeaway” model. The room door had been installed crookedly and wouldn’t lock, making it useless. The room was already visibly not very clean when we arrived. Looking closer, there was construction dust everywhere, small bits of concrete across the floor, dust under the bed, a loose toilet flush, and a shower fan that was too glued on. To be fair, the hotel understood the issue and refunded the unused night. Anything else would have been wrong. We’re convinced the room shouldn’t have been ready for guests yet. It needed professional drying first, if the dampness was still from the renovation and not caused by something more serious.

Such a beautiful and personal place to stay. We had a wonderful time and will definitely be back!

Handy spot near MQ.