Hollmann Beletage

As stated on this lodging's website: “Robert Hollmann, the inventor of the Beletage, hates hotels. He dreads breakfast buffets, stilted smiles, egg-laying batteries, rooms without charm, and bog-standard insults to the eye.” Along with an idiosyncratic grasp of English, the eccentric Mr. Hollmann strives to make his ‘hotel’ as un-hotel-like as possible and succeeds. Beginning with the naming scheme, where the hotel is referred to simply as ‘The House’ and the lobby is known as a living room, this homey feeling is extended to the rooms, where warm orange and red tones forge a lush atmosphere and perfectly worn parquet flooring provides an authentic old-world Viennese foundation to the décor. Housed in a Gründerzeit (19th c.) building in the historic 1st district, the Beletage has only 25 rooms, divided into ‘Rezidenz’, ‘Beletage’, and ‘Mezzanine, as well as a special ‘Suite Séparée’, a repurposed apartment formerly belonging to Mr. Hollmann himself – a boon for those who want to really feel like they have a home in Vienna for their stay.

Breakfast is an extension of the classic Viennese morning meal, with regional pastries and homemade jams, and unmissable apple porridge. Every evening at 8 pm, the legendary Vienna-set film “The Third Man” plays in the house cinema, while board games and even a piano in the living room will keep any variety of travelers entertained. After 10 pm the reception is moved to a closed bar, and all signs of this being a hotel vanish in the night.