I will be in Vienna for 4 nights in October and I am looking for THE MOST CENTRALLY located hotel. I have some difficulty walking so it's important for me to be in the center and as close as possible to sights. I know that I will need to take taxis, buses and trams and that would be fine. Subways are very difficult due to steps. I am looking at the Le Meridien, Sacher, Ambassador & Bristol.
Thanks very much for your help.
June

Of those, the Bristol is closest to a subway stop and also a tram stop. You should be able to use the subways in Vienna because most stations have escalators and/or elevators.

Thanks for that info. I didn't know that about the subways. Do you know where the Meridien is? So, far I've found the best rate there.
June

LeMeridien is located on the Ring just a short distance from the Opera and the Bristol. It is also near to museums and the Winter Palace complex.
Either hotel a good choice , but Bristol has subway ( U-1 and U-4), streetcar ( #1,2,J, and D) and bus ( 3A)connection at the door. You must walk about 200 metres at the LeMeridien, but an easy flat walk in nice surroundings.

Just to add something about access- all Subways ( u-bahn ) that I know of have either an escalator or an elevator.
You may have to look a little for the elevator but good signage exists( sign is a box with an up arrow) usually found with other directional signs.

Newer streetcars have access doors
almost at ground level. The older cars have two or three steps.
Usually the bus is able to lower its level to almost to the curb level to assist . Exit by the bus near near the driver and he will do this for you as it is not done automatically at each stop.
Please note that handicapped seating is designated at each door in all transport.
It will have decals indicating this seat on the wall. If seat is occupied , just ask person to move. They must.

The Bristol location is excellent,not to say that other nearby hotels don't have equally-good locations. I stayed there in 2004. It's not a modern hotel, very olde worlde, public areas are very grand, nothing is shabby, but a little old-fashioned looking. Bathrooms modern but not state-of-the-art. My room had no view, but it was very spacious.

HI - I see you're looking at relatively pricey hotels. I have one that is less expensive, if you're interested. It's Hotel Austria Wien, Fleischmarkt 20,. www.hotelaustria-wien.at. It's smack in the center on a quiet side street. Around the corner is a taxi stand and 2-3 blocks away is the Ringstrasse tram and the underground (subway stop "Schwedenplatz&quot. It's a three star hotel, a little old, but very clean with a large breakfast buffet. Personnel at reception were very nice and helpful (it's family run, I believe). Definitely not the Sacher Hotel, but very good deal for room size and location.
Good luck!

The Hotel Kaiserin Elisabeth is a four-star hotel in a fantastic location around the corner from the Stephansdom, on a relatively quiet side street. And, less than a block from the front door, is an underground station (didn't notice an alternative to the stairwell, though). It's a wonderful 'completely Viennese' boutique hotel that's sparkling clean with good service and a great breakfast buffet. We stayed there last June in their family room, which we found very spacious. Nice, big, relatively new bathrooms, too. Highly recommend it. If you search this forum you will find lots of people also recommend it.
http://www.abnet.at/hotel/vienna/elisabeth/

Make sure you take a walking stick- old vienna has some cobble streets which are a bit less than flat and smooth. As for buses. I found the first step a little high on the older buses but they give you excellent access to the center. The bus/metro tourist office in the karlsplatz station has a fine large map of the entire system with a complete diagram of the bus routes and their connections to metro. I would vote for the Bristol-new tram lines taking you to the museums which are mostly on the ring road plus metro to Stephansdom.