Permanent Honeymoon

Hotel Imperial - Vienna, Austria Europe

When we went to Vienna to visit Juliana’s cousin, we were booked at the Hotel Bristol in the center of the city. But we really wanted to be at the Hotel Imperial. The Hotel Imperial is world-renowned as an elegant and luxurious destination for visitors to the city of Beethoven and Freud. As we checked in at the Bristol, we immediately knew that there was a problem. At the registration desk, the attendant and the manager stepped into the back and began an intense discussion in German. It seems that they didn’t have our reservation at the Bristol. Bad news.

The good news, however, was that they decided to book us in a suite at their sister hotel – the Hotel Imperial. We were thrilled. Unfortunately, when we got to the “suite” we found it was a simple room with an alcove closet and a large bathroom. Not our definition of a “suite” for sure. Oh well. So, Juliana decided to take a shower after our short, crowded flight from Florence to Vienna. While she was in the shower, a maid came through the wall – literally. She apologized, but told me in her marginal English that she had to open the “salon” for us. So, she opened the door on the wall opposite the bed and I discovered that the salon was more like a ballroom. Thirty feet by fifteen feet with twenty-foot ceilings, the salon was unbelievable. With antique paintings of Austrian royalty, the salon completed our suite. I called to Juliana, “I’ll be in the salon!”

Needless to say, the Hotel Imperial was impeccable. We had a wonderful time there, but didn’t eat in the restaurant because of dinner plans with Juliana’s cousin. The Hotel Imperial is located on Ring Zero of Vienna – actually the very center of town. After a day in our “suite” we had to vacate the second morning to make room for the leader of an African nation (really, it’s true). The Hotel Imperial is everything we hoped it would be and we thank the management of the Bristol for making room (and lots of it) at the Imperial.