Happy Holidays, fellow fodorites! I need some help finding a hotel in Vienna near the Westbahnoff station (within a reasonable walking distance but not across the street). My daughter is studying abroad in Vienna and requires an overnight stay on January 7. She is meeting the other students in her group on the 8th at the Westbahnoff station but will be arriving on the 7th. I've never been to Vienna (yet!) and would like to find a nice hotel for her to spend her first night, one that is within a reasonable walking distance of this station, less than a mile away, ideally. I have read that the area in the immediate vicinity of the train station might not be the best for a young woman traveling alone. Can anyone recommend any hotels several blocks away? I would really appreciate any suggestions! Thanks so much!

She doesn't need to stay near the station. Vienna's subway system is fabulous, and the Westbahnhof is reachable within 10-15 minutes from just about anywhere in the city center. Ticket machines have an English button. I would choose riding the subway a few stops over walking.

Here's a system map for the U-Bahn. Westbahnhof station is slightly southwest of the center of the map where the U-6 and U-3 lines meet.

http://www.urbanrail.net/eu/vie/wien.htm

Thanks you so much for the map and your suggestion, Jean. I will look into it. We were just hoping to keep things as simple as possible and avoid having to deal with the subway with her luggage. Would you suggest avoiding the hotels that are in the immediate vicinity of the Westbahnhof station?

Is there usually a lot of snow on the ground at this time of year, and are the sidewalks usually clear? I'm from Chicago and we see a wide range of snow accumulation across the city and I've often wondered if tourists had trouble handling their luggage on the downtown sidewalks.

Thanks again, Jean --- really appreciate your suggestions!
Karen

I agree with Jean. There are plenty of hotels near the train station, but the area is not attractive. I would encourage her to find a nice place inside the center of the city.

Unless she has a ton of luggage, it shouldn't be much of a problem on the subway. A taxi ride will cost about 12 - 15 Euro if luggage is a major issue.

I don't think snow would be much of an issue.

Nothing wrong with the area directly by the Vienna westbahnhof.

Why drag your luggage if you do not need to.

Hotlels include 2 Mercures - a good middle class chain of hotelds here

www.mercure.com

Mercure hotel names - the Westbahnhof and Europaplatz.

Both clean and functional- not too expensive

Directly across the street from the Westbahnhof
Fürstenhof

www.hotel-fuerstenhof.com

an older hotel but well maintained

not far away Flemmings - but further than the oters perhaps 250 meters-

www.flemmings-hotels.org

several others too -
Thus a good choice - obviously if this ws such a bad area - this many hotels woulf not be able to exist.

Be forewarned - much renovation work now in the train station - tracks - boarding and departing is no problem but a little alteration to waya to the trains perhaps

Thanks for your help, molker and Dutch. I;m going to check out the hotels close to the train station first since she will be in Vienna for less than 24 hours before her group heads south to Styria for a 3-day retreat. After that she will be living in Vienna for 5 months, so we might just opt for convenience this time. But I will keep all of your suggestions in mind as I work on booking a hotel room for her.

Would you have any suggestions for where to stay when we go there in May?

Thanks again!

Most tourists staying for several days prefer something close to the city center - the First District - this area major sightseeing, good restaurants. shopping etc.
Hotles in all price ranges

Vienna style

Kaiserin Elisabeth
Romisher kaiser
Konig von Ungarn

all are super located and very good hotels.

les expensive pensions in center

Pension Suzanne
Pension Pertschy
Pension Nossek

Deluxe with highr prices

Of course you may wish to stay near your daughter -
most student accomodation will be outside of the central district

The Grand
Sacher
Imperial
LeMeredien
Ring.

Would concur with Molker.
When she will have 5 months in Vienna, I see no reason to make a big fuss for a hotel for the first 24hrs.

I've recently stayed at the Mercure Westbahnhof. It's 100 yards from the entrace to the station, and a good hotel and has quiet rooms not facing the streets. If she wants to avoid high charges for breakfast, there are also cafes in the station.

If your daughter will arrive by plane, there is a direct bus from the airport to the western railway station which will stop literally a stone's throw away from the Mercure Westbahnhof.

kk2 - I agree - if she is returning to Vienna, then a hotel close to the station is fine. Nothing really wrong with the area, just not very charming.

Molker, thanks so much for the hotel suggestions for our family visit in May; I can see I have more homework to do and am very grateful for your guidance.

Thanks Moker, Dutch, and Cowboy1968 for sharing your experience about the hotels near Westbahnhof; it really helps give me a better perspective. My daughter was a bit concerned about whether the area around the train station might not be safe for her if she wants to take a brief walk the evening she arrives. We've been through a few such stations in Italy. The direct bus from the airport to the Westbahnhof is a real plus! Thanks for letting me know about this. I will share all of these suggestions with her and I know she will also appeciate your help.

Has anyone staying at the Intercityhotel Wien? That also seems close to the station, maybe around the corner?

Have not stayed at the Intercity Hotel in Vienna, but if I remember correctly, I should be 1/4 mile or less from the station in Mariahilfer street. It's also a 3* chain hotel, so I would not expect any nasty surprises.

It's one thing to say that the Westbahnhof area is safe to stay in, and another to say that it's a "nice" area for an evening stroll.

In January, it will be dark around 5pm or so, and stores will close by 6.30 - 7 pm. It may simply be a bit boring to walk in that area..

But it's only a short, cheap ride to Stephansplatz, where she can have a nice stroll through the historic heart of Vienna.. and which is especially nice after dark IMO.

Hello there!
I am living in Vienna...and I would like to inform you that right now the Westbahnhof is under refurbishment, so it's quite a mess there. Better to know in advance than arriving and not understanding whats going on
The area around Westbahnhof is in general safe! There is a kind of red light district, and also junkies hanging around (but nothing to be scared about). I have been living there for a couple of years. The hotels mentioned above are all good! Though rooms might have windows towards the noisy street!

and one more thing:
tell her about this café:
http://vienna.spottedbylocals.com/by...na/caf-westend
it's around the corner of the westbahnhof and I think it's just the best place to breath in Vienna's athmosphere while eating a yummy Sacher cake

mangiacrauti - isn't yummy sacher an oxymoron?

Dutch, I had Sacher torte which I quite enjoyed.

I'm always disappointed when I eat Sacher Torte; especially when I had it at the Hotel Sacher. I would much prefer the Bienenstich (Bee Sting Cake) or the Marzipan Torte. My favorites were the powder sugary pastries at the Cafe Hawellka (sp?)

mangiacrauti-- thank you so much for the information! I'm so glad that I ended up booking the InterCityHotel Wien, which I did before seeing your post. You are referring to the station being under construction as opposed to the hotel, correct? If there's more than one way to enter the station, would there be a better entrance to use given the construction?

oooh, everyone's discussion of those tortes is making my mouth water! I will have to wait until we visit in May, but I'll be sure to tell my daughter about the cafe.

Thank you all so very much!

The InterCity hotel is fine, it's a decent chain. I think they give free local public transporation passes to guests for the duration of their stay, a nice feature.
A friend of mine stays there on occasional week-end trips from Basel and she says the hotel is basic but ok, the main thing to be aware of is that the entrance isn't on Mariahelfestrasse (sp?), it's on a side street.