My husband and I are visiting our son in Vienna for a week at the end of October. Since our son lives near the Schonbrunn, we are looking for a hotel in that general area, probably in the 3-star range. The website for the Lucia Hotel in that area seems promising; does anyone have any comment on it or recommendations for another? Thanks for any help!

I stayed at the Lucia last week and have stayed there in the past--if you mean the Lucia on Hütteldorferstrasse. The Lucia is a reasonably priced--not fancy--hotel. It's very clean and comfortable and staff are helpful.

The U-Bahn (subway) is so good in Vienna that in a sense you're not very far from anywhere else. As a matter of fact, I took the U-Bahn to Schönbrunn last week. It requires two changes of train, but it's very easy to get there. The hotel will give you a U-Bahn map and you can see for yourself. I did notice on the U-Bahn map that the stop nearest the Lucia (the Johnstrasse stop) seems to be fairly close to the Schönbrunn stop, though there's not a direct line between the two. I wonder how far that would be in a taxi.

jentrav

In 2002 my husband had a meeting at the Parkhotel and we stayed there. it was so convenient that I was able to wander the park and take the metro into the city while he worked.

It is old but classy. I have no idea what its star rating or prices may be but it may be worth a look.
www.austria-trend.at/Parkhotel-Schoenbrunn/en/

Have a great trip.

You could consider staying near the Westbahnhof. We stayed there back in April 2009. We took the Traim #58 (starts at Westbahnhof and heads out west) to Schonbrunn. It only takes 10 minutes and drops us off right at the main entrance of the Palace, so it may be more convenient than the U-bahn depending on where your son lives.

We found Westbahnhof area to be safe, and very convenient in terms of using public transport. To get into the old town area from Westbahnhof, it's a 7-min ride on the U3 line. The U3 runs every 3 minutes during rush hour, 5 minutes during non rush our, 7 minutes late at night. It never took us more than 10-15 minutes to get to anywhere in the city.

Why doesn't your son recommend a hotel?

Schonbrunn Palace, its park, zoo etc. cover a very large area and recommending a hotel on the wrong side really does not assist you.

The Park Hotel Schonbrunn is conveniently located near to an entrance to the Schonbrunn Park, also near good transport, the U-4 Ubahn line station Hietzing and numerous street car lines - this is the Vienna 13th district and offers good selection of restaurants and some shopping. but if he lives on the opposite side that towrd the city center- it is thus not convenient.

In my opinion the recommendation of YK regarding the Westbahnhof area is good depending on your wishes as it is central to transport , transfers to / from the airport by transfer bus and offers numerous hotels to pick from. This area as mentioned convenient for quick trips into city center and tourist sightseeing.

hsve you got your son's address?

if you google it on google maps you can then search for nearby hotels, transport etc.

molker and yk make good points about transport - the nearest hotel might not be the cost convenient from a transoirt point of view and you won't be spending all the time with your son, presumably.

I don't know about your ages, but if either of you are over 60, you will qualify for great discounts on your sightseeing. so DON'T get a vienna card for your stay, [which gives some discounts for sightseeing,] but get a transport card, as the discounts aren't cumulative, and the retired persons ones are better!

we loved Vienna and I'm sure you will love it too and the transport system is a particular pleasure.

I found the bus easier to take from /to Schonbrunn so as not to have to make changes on the U Bahn with my mother.

As mentioned, that area is gigantic and to be on the "wrong" side would not be convenient at all.