I am heading to Vienna and Salzburg next spring. Can anyone suggest charming hotels in for less than $125/night? I would prefer to be in the center of town, and definitely do not want a hotel that is a version of an american chain. Any suggestions about good things to do would be appreciated, particularly if my mom would like it too. Thanks,

Hi Sandy - <BR> <BR>I can highly recommend the Pension Christina in Vienna. Nice 3 star hotel, friendly people, nice good sized room, and very conveniently located in the center of town right around the corner from Schwedensplatz, where there is a streetcar and subway stop. <BR> <BR>I also liked the Goldenen Ente in Salzburg. Our room was kind of strange, but the ambiance, atmospheric restaurant, and the wonderful location a block from the cathedral made up for it. <BR> <BR>Both these places are lower than $125 a night, so use the extra money to splurge on pastry. <BR> <BR>Have a great trip.

The Gasthotel Zur goldenen Ente (the golden Duck) is as described. One caution: Rick Steves has discovered the place and will probably recommend it, if he hasn't already. And I think we know what that means. <BR>Our room was ok, but not great. At least the place is on Goldgasse right in the middle of the old town within spitting distance of Mozart's statue. <BR>So it has character. <BR>There is no reception area; you check in at the bar. <BR>The man who runs the show, Robert Dürnle, is very good at his job. He works long and hard. I liked him because he is friendly and efficient at his work and besides, he is very accommodating about arranging tours (even if he did arrange that ikky Sound of Music Tour I took) and calling for taxies. <BR>The food is good without being pretentious. Dürnle is a chef by training, (He won a silver medal in international competition a few years ago.)but right now he does more planning, ordering, and managing than cooking. The included breakfast is more than adequate. You can stuff yourself with good quality food! We ate there several times. The first time because we got in late and we lacked the urge to look farther. We found out that the food was quite good, so we ate there by choice the next few times. Try the creme caramel desert. It rivals many of the deserts I had in Paris, except for a tiramisu at Musee d'Orsay, which was world class. <BR>

Bob, as always I find your comments most interesting. Regarding the Zur goldenen Ente in Salzburg, yes, Rick Steves first recommended this hotel five years or more ago in both his book and video. That is how we found it and have stayed there three times over the past five years. I agree with your comments that the rooms are o.k., but the location and food made it all worthwhile. Your comments on the chef were very interesting, in fact, Rick Steves featured him and the hotel in his Salzburg video. I don't know if I would describe the Sound of Music Tour as ikky, but not high on my list of must things to see. We always like to recommend the Abbey in nearby Melk as a must see when in that area. The town of Melk itself is nothing special but we did stay overnight at the Hotel Stadt Melk which served the meal of a lifetime.

Last November, I stayed at the Hotel Amadeus (http://www.hotelamadeus.at/englisch/index.html) and had a very nice stay. The rooms are either facing a peaceful church and cemetery or the street side. The staff spoke limited English and were very nice. Our double room was spacious and cozy. I believe the rates at that time of year were approx US$60/2pp/breakfast.

The Hotel Elephant in Salzburg is about perfect, very nice, central and reasonable (around $125-150 double, as I recall). It belongs to Best Western so you could book through them if you wish. I stayed at the Pension Museum in Vienna which was also great and very reasonable, about $100 a double. It was a four-star pension, the highest rating. Be aware that pensions are not rated the same as hotels, they have different criteria and categories; they are one star different approximately so a four-star pension is about the same as a three-star hotel. My four-star pension was fine which is why I'm recommending it, but it was not deluxe as you might think from that rating. It was only a few yards from the Volksopera metro stop which was very convenient, and the major museums and palace were within walking distance; it was in the 7th district, which is still very central but I preferred it to the main district, 1, where most of the main hotels are. That's also why you get slightly better rates where I stayed, it's near good restaurants and an artsy neighborhood.