Hotel Imperial, a Luxury Collection Hotel

Rooms and decor

The 138 rooms and suites mix a Neo-Baroque look with contemporary comfort — silks, white-and-gold painted furniture, and carved woodwork from Austrian craftsmen. The headline room is the Sisi Suite, a 200-square-metre set named after Empress Elisabeth, with its own dressing room, sitting room and private balcony. It is one of the most-booked suites in Vienna, and guests say it makes you feel like an actual Austrian emperor. Be aware the standard rooms are noticeably smaller, so the gap between a base room and a suite here is real.

Food and amenities

Café Imperial is known locally as the Wohnzimmer der Wiener — the living room of Vienna. Its signature is the Imperial Torte, a square, dense chocolate cake that has been served since 1873. Butler service follows the Luxury Collection standard and covers whatever you need, and the hotel runs an Imperial Morning tour that walks you through the palace's history. There is a spa on site as well.

Location and getting there

Hotel Imperial sits on Kärntner Ring, part of the famous Ringstrasse. It is a 5-minute walk to the State Opera and Musikverein, and about 10 minutes to the Kunsthistorisches Museum. U-Bahn lines U1, U2 and U4 stop at Karlsplatz nearby, which makes it easy to combine culture and shopping in one base.

Things to know before booking

This is a Luxury Collection palace and it is priced like one: rooms start at $430 a night and the top suites run to around $5,700. The standard rooms are smaller than you would expect inside a palace, so if size matters, step up to a suite. The mood is formal and old-world rather than casual and modern — worth knowing if a relaxed, contemporary feel is what you're after.

Our take

Hotel Imperial is the pick if you want to sleep inside a real Viennese palace with Luxury Collection service and the highest score on this list. The building, the staircase and the Sisi Suite carry the experience, and Café Imperial gives you a reason to come down each morning. Pay for a suite if you can, ask for the Ringstrasse side, and you are about as close to imperial Vienna as a hotel gets.