Pension Lerner of Hotel Pension Continental in Vienna
 

My husband and I are taking our first trip to Vienna at the beginning of April. We're on a budget and trying to keep accommodations to less than 85 Euro/night. I'm trying to decide between Pension Lerner (on Wipplingerstrasse-85 Euros) and the Hotel Pension Continental on Mariahilferstrasse at 80 Euros. I've read reviews on TA for both these hotels but I'm see-sawing back and forth on which is the best location. We're primarily interested in art museums--Leopold, Kunsthistoriches, Upper Belvedere--and prefer walking over transit or taxis. We'll be arriving via Westbahnhof and leaving via Sudbahnhof--does anyone have any recent experiences at either of these places or opinions on their neighborhoods?

I'm going to be a bit presumptuous. Have you written ahead to the Vienna tourist office or the Austrian tourist bureau to obtain all of their extremely informative information? This could help you with location of the two hotels and all the major attractions. Of course a good guidebook would also help, but the maps and information directly from Austria can be most informative. I hope you've done that.

Other than that, as a frequent visitor to Vienna but not knowing these pensions you named, I would pick the location of the Continental, all other things being equal. Good luck.

We stayed at Pension Lerner 3 years ago and did not care for it. We only stayed for one night even though we had booked for longer.

Reasons: It could have been cleaner; bed was uncomfortable; the ensuite bathroom setup was unpleasant; it had a general run down feel and appearance; the building it is in was dark and unpleasant. Breakfast was OK however.

We moved across the street to the Best Western Tigra and very much enjoyed that hotel. It had the best breakfast buffet of any hotel we have stayed at - the hot chocolate was better than that at the well known cafes. It cost more, but was worth it.

basingstoke, thanks for the info--that's a little discouraging. Another possibility that gets better reviews is the Eurostars Vienna on Ottakringerstrasse--but I know that's a lot further away and not central. Although it's the cheapest option at 73 Euros/night. I'm Canadian and the Euro is at about $1.60 (ouch!) so I am trying to keep the price down.

Wayne I've looked at the Vienna website and do have several guidebooks but it's hard to tell what the neighborhood is like just by looking at a map--

Go to www.booking.com and check out hotels for Vienna for your dates. I did a cursory look at dates in early April and they seem to have quite a few last minute bookings at some good hotels. A few are non-refundable offers, but others are not.

Thanks Bettyk. I have looked at booking.com and venere etc. I can't really find anything central (that includes breakfast--something that's important for us) for less than 85 Euros. We don't mind budget pensions but I'm just not positive whether it's better to be near Stephanplatz or closer to the museums--

While the Pension Lerner is in a more central city center location, for your purposes of museum visits ( Museum Quarter - Leopold ) Kunsthistorisches even the Belvedere, the Continental is better.
It is located on a major shopping street , convenient to restaurants and bus and UBahn.
Easy transfer from the Westbahnhof by foot or UBahn line U-3 to Neubaugasse station.
Generally I think you would find the Continental to be a nicer place too.

Thanks for the info molker--