Hi, My husband and I will be going to Vienna, Halstatt, and Salzburg by train April 29 through May 5 before flying from Munich to London Heathrow to catch our flight home to Costa Rica. We are both 77 and still get around pretty well. We would however like to be near stations to get to the things we would like to see in each place. I would rather not pay more than $325 a night or even less would be great if the accommodations are clean and in a central location. Thanks for your recommendations.

Have you checked booking.com?

Yes, I have, but was hoping for some recommendations from anyone who has stayed in hotels in those towns. That has helped me in the past on other trips.

We stayed in Hotel Austria in Vienna, a charming 3-star hotel in a great location, with an amazing breakfast buffet. The staff was warm, welcoming and very helpful. It’s not luxury but it’s very comfortable and convenient.
https://www.hotelaustria-wien.at/en/hotel/

After seeing a recommendation here on Fodors I stayed at Hotel Austria in Dec 2023.
I was disappointed. Room was musty, in desperate need of paint and minor repairs. Breakfast was great but staff was inefficient at best. Reception bordered on rude. Location is good but I would look for an alternative.

Thank you for the heads up, goingthere2. Hoping someone has some experience and recommendations. We always have booking.com though. ,

I’d call it “dated” though we found the room clean and comfortable, but certainly not luxury. However, I couldn’t disagree more about the reception- we had the best interactions, they were warm, engaging and very helpful. Breakfast was great.

If you want more luxury, though, I agree, go elsewhere.

thank you for your replies ,progol. I don't care about luxury... just clean and near some of the main sights in Vienna.
Wondering if anyone on here has stayed at 25HourHotel in Vienna. It looks like fun.

We lived in Vienna for many years, so I can not comment specifically on a hotel stay. (On those occasions we have returned, our lodging of choice is the Grand Hotel Wien, which is a fab splurge if your budget allows.) For the time of your travel, the 25HoursHotel looks fine in terms of safety and location. The area may be a little quiet at night. For the same-ish money I might suggest the Mailburger Hof. Ruby Lissi looks fun, as well, and is better located. Or perhaps Alma Boutique? Schwedenplatz can be lively at night, but that might be to your benefit in the evenings.

Thank you so much fourfortravel! I will be checking out those hotels and appreciate your imput . I was looking at 25HoursHotel because I saw it was close to the Kunsthistorisches Museum after seeing your comments about it some other posts about Vienna.

All depends on budget but for Vienna, anything in the Innere Stadt (1st district) is the way to go. I stayed a couple times at Hotel Bristol and it had the best location IMO. However, it has become a bit dated and I don't think it's worth the price. Just looked it up and it is closed for renovation which makes sense.

Anything around that location and deeper into the 1st district is great. If you need to be outside the 1st for budgetary reasons, I would stick to hotels close to a metro which is fantastic in Vienna. Anything that gets you quickly to that Hotel area is great.

For Salzburg, staying in the old town is the way to go. I stayed at Hotel Goldener Hirsch and had an amazing location. Look for anything around there or that side of the river. That hotel is good but not worth the price. I also stayed at the Sheraton Grand and the hotel was really nice. Great service and bar but location is not as good as it's a 20 minute walk into the old town. That's the farthest from the old town I would stay IMO.

It has been a few years but in Hallstatt we stayed at Seehotel Grüner Baum; get a lake view room as the rooms facing the square get to be awakened to the church bells each morning.

https://www.gruenerbaum.cc/en/

Again, a few years ago, we stayed at the Bristol but it's across the river from the old town, however, not a bad walk at all. From the pictures on the website, it looks like it's been refurbished, so, quite a bit more posh than when we stayed... as I expect the price would also be now.

https://www.bristol-salzburg.at/en/rooms-suites.html

Thank for your information, Travel To Eat. I would rather not pay more than $300 per night if possible. It's been 5 years since we were in Europe and it does seem nicer hotels are $300 and UP! Our most recent trips have been to Colombia and Peru where prices are low to very low.
Did you say Hotel Goldener Hirsch was not that great, but in the best location?

Hotel Goldener Hirsch was a nice hotel but not at all worth the price. I would not pay more than 60% of what they charge. However, location is unbeatable. Anything around it and on that side of the river is best because it is the heart of the pld town.

Same with the Vienna hotel. Look up location on Google and look for hotels around it in your budget. If you want you can post hotels you are interested in and I will give you input on location.

We stayed here last September
https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Hotel...th-Vienna.html

Hotel Kaiserin Elisabeth is in a really good location, rooms are a good size, breakfast good too.

Thank you, Millie 2112. I looked them up, but not available for my dates unfortunately.
Anyone know House of Ble? They have a wonderful rating on booking....they are in InterStadt (sp)
OR Mint Naschmarket Premium apartments. Address is 6 Girardigasse, 06,Mariahilf

Thank you Travel To Eat. I am new to Fodors , so could you see the 2 places I found on Booking.... in my reply to millie2112 and let me know if you know them?
The apartments interested me as we will be coming off of a week trip on Danube RiverCruise and I will need to wash clothes!

Ahh, retired! My turn to ask you a question! What is the cruise you’re taking? I’m mulling over a Danube cruise for next year so would love to know which one you’re taking.

The location for House of Ble is better. It is a bit more centrally located and will require less walking.

I can't comment on the actual apartments though as I am not familiar with them but based on pictures and reviews, nothing to worry about. If you use Google Earth, you will see a lot of graffiti opposite the second place but am sure it does not mean anything. Vienna is the safest place I have been to in Europe.

I stayed at the Kaiserin Elisabeth in Vienna for several years in a row. Plus points: comfortable, reasonably priced, knowledgeable staff, located a stone's throw from St. Stephen's (from some rooms you can see the roof of the cathedral), pleasant stay overall. We took my parents there for their 50th wedding anniversary and they enjoyed it very much (they stayed in superior room). Areas for improvement: the decor is deliberately traditional but could still benefit from a bit of upgrading (ditto for the technology) and breakfast was mehhh for a four-star hotel.

Neither negative nor positive: they seem to always be painting somewhere in the hotel. Understandable for an older building, but I stayed there about 10 times total and they were painting something, somewhere, every single time.