I will be redeeming Starwood points for a hotel stay in Vienna and my choices are the Bristol or Imperial. Both seem to get excellent reviews. Is one a better choice? Imperial will cost me a few more points but not a significant difference.<BR><BR>Also, any recommended daytrips from Vienna by train? We will have already visited Melk earlier in the trip and our trip will be in the first part of December. Thanks.

Both are fine hotels. Bristol would be my choice for great location, fine dining, old world ambiance. Take the train to Saltzburg. Search this site for what to do. Great day trip!

Patty, the Bristol is nice, I wouldn't hesitate. It might not have as much old world charm as some of the other hotels, but if you got points use them. (I did).<BR><BR>A comment on the day trip to Salzburg: I think that might be too far for a day trip and you would spend all day on the train. I would stick on some of the sights close to Vienna.

The restaurant Korso in the Hotel Bristol is excellent - Old World elegance and incredible food.

You might want to go to Bratislava, Slovakia (one hour train ride). It is small, interesting and has a Christmas market in the town square. You add another country and the prices are much less than Vienna.<BR>If you could get to the wine area, you would enjoy nice local wines with good food. We went to Krems by train but were on a bus for the trip to the castle and the wine area. <BR>The Vienna Woods area is nice and you could enjoy the wines and cafe ambiance.<BR>Be sure to go the Christmas market at the Rathaus (city hall) in Vienna.

Imperial is definitely the grander of the two. Any royalty, Wacko Jacko etc stay there. Location wise - they are pretty close to each other, perhaps Bristol marginally more convenient if you want to be 200 metres closer to Opera House - but both are on the Ring (road). Whenever I walk into the Bristol I always think it stinks of mustiness, irrespective of rep, so I would go for the Imperial. Both hotels have very highly regarded restaurants.<BR>Linda is a Bratislava fan I think, I am not, but if you have more than 5 days go check it out yourself, but do not go Saturday (everything shut at 12pm) or Sunday (though lots shut in Vienna then as well!). If you have done the Wachau i.e Krems and Melk), then I would suggest Baden for a day trip - very pretty park around the casino, recently renovated roman baths if you like spas and easy to get to by train (about 30-40 minutes). There is a tram as well but that gets a bit tedious as it closer to an hour.

Thanks for the responses so far! I forgot to mention we will have already visited Salzburg earlier in the trip too. And our two free days for a possible outing outside of Vienna fall on a Saturday and Sunday, so I guess Bratislava is out. I will do a search on Krems and Baden. Is one or the other a better choice in December?<BR><BR>Nick,<BR>When you say lots shut in Vienna on Sunday, do you mean shops, attractions, museums, restaurants??? This will be my first time in Vienna.<BR><BR>Is it safe to assume that the first part of December is too early for skiing?

What about Sopron as a day trip? It's just over an hour away by train.

Quite a lot of restaurants are shut on Sunday (not the Viennese cafes though), but enough are open for it not to be a problem. Virtually all shops are closed - except odd tourist shop and at main stations. Museums are for the most part open - I have never gone to one closed.<BR>I have asked my colleagues about Sopron as I have thought of going and they say it is a bit of a dump. People go there partly to do cheap shopping and especially for dentists - Austria is more expensive, and dentists do not have a great rep here.<BR>You may get skiing up in the mountains, but closer to Vienna, yes probably. Semmering is closest to Vienna - only driven through it, pretty countryside but did not think much of the town. Skiing there is OK for beginners, but not overly challenging if you are any good.