Hotel Sacher Vienna

The most famous hotel in Vienna, directly behind the State Opera, and still the city's byword for old-world grandeur.

Eduard Sacher, son of the confectioner who created the Sachertorte, opened it in 1876. After his death his widow Anna Sacher ran it for decades with legendary authority — cigar in hand, French bulldogs at her feet — and made its private dining rooms the discreet meeting place of archdukes, aristocrats and diplomats. The hotel went through hard times after her death in 1930 and was taken over in 1934 by the Gürtler family, who still own it, along with its sister hotel in Salzburg.

The style is unapologetically traditional: red and gold, silk wallpapers, antiques and oil paintings in the corridors, and rooms that range from compact classic doubles to large suites looking across to the Opera. The house has several restaurants and bars, among them the Rote Bar and the Blaue Bar, and of course the Café Sacher with its torte. The location is as central as it gets: the Opera, the Albertina, Kärntner Strasse and the Ring are all within a couple of minutes on foot.

Honest note: you pay for the name and the history as well as the comfort, and rates rise sharply around the Opera Ball and New Year. The public areas are busy with café visitors by day. If classic Vienna is what you came for, few hotels deliver it more completely. Compare areas and alternatives: where to stay in Vienna; all hotels: stay.