6 Best Hotels in District 1/Innere Stadt, Vienna

Smack behind the Albertina and the Staatsoper, this authentically Austrian boutique hotel is an absolutely delightful addition to the Vienna lodging scene, with fabulous views of the heart of the Innere Stadt. The interior design, by Sir Terence Conran, is at once sleek and warm, intimate and airy, and all touches, including the simple but stunning wide-planked unfinished hardwood floors, were created by Austrian craftsmen and -women; photographs adorning the walls of the rooms and corridors are real works by Austrian photographers. Broad windows provide fine views, and bay-window seating is a nice touch. Large soaking tubs are a plus, as is the complimentary minibar. The duplex suite comes with a private rooftop terrace. The café bakes its own pastries and roasts its own coffee and the brasserie serves international fare in a casual setting.

Behind the hotel's Art Nouveau facade, London interior designer Maria Vafiadis has paid tribute to Viennese Art Deco, and the result is überstylish yet comfortable. Smack in the middle of the lobby is an eye-catching glass-enclosed vault; the property used to be a bank and the big bucks were stashed here, but today it serves as a wine cellar. You can enjoy a glass of wine in the elegant marble-and-wood wine bar beside an enormous open fireplace. Rooms are full of streamlined, sedate furnishings. The location is unbeatable: step out of the hotel and you're in front of the famed Café Central, and just down the cobblestone street is the Hofburg Palace.

Franz Lehár, Marlene Dietrich, the Infanta Isabel of Spain, and Mick Jagger are just a few of the celebrities who have stayed at this old dowager (from 1866). The lobby is small but grand, and the high-ceiling guest rooms, differing only in size, are uniformly decorated with pale-yellow-striped wallpaper, deep-blue carpets, and faux Empire furniture. Unless you want the excitement of a direct view onto the lively pedestrian Kärntnerstrasse, ask for one of the quieter rooms on the Neuer Markt side.

You aren't likely to find a better location than this serene hotel, which sits directly across from the front entrance of St. Stephen's Cathedral. This is the best spot in Vienna from which to admire the church's steeples, and the array of people hurrying through the square. Parquet flooring, light-oak furniture paired with dark-brown leather, light-color walls, and triple-glazed windows make this a hotel with flair.

The supercool "art and tech" lobby here, adorned with Mies van der Rohe–style sofas and ottomans and nouvelle fluorescent-light panels, is a fine introduction to a stylish and pampering stay in the heart of the city. Guest rooms have glass headboards, contemporary vases, and other cutting-edge items, and cloudlike mattresses, and roomy showers (with three massaging jets) pour on the luxe. Some rooms also have clawfoot tubs. Outside, visual excitements continue, as the tranquil, soundproofed rooms offer views of the Hofburg, Burggarten, and Ring.

A family-run establishment on the upper floors of a 19th-century apartment building, the Nossek lies at the heart of Vienna's pedestrian and shopping area. Rooms have high ceilings and are eclectically but comfortably furnished; those on the street side have a view of the Graben. Mozart worked on The Abduction from the Seraglio while he lived at this location in the early 1780s, but the current building is from much later.