Our Editor Marja Leena spent a weekend in Vienna, in one of Europe’s cultural capitals staying in the hub of it at the luxury five star Hilton Vienna Park. The hotel overlooks the Stadtpark, one of the many green and pleasant parks in the city. So, what’s Vienna like as a leisure, and meetings and events destination?
Hilton Vienna Park is the perfect hotel for exploring the city with its enviable location, and more importantly, it’s one of the most welcoming and comfortable large hotels I’ve stayed at. The ambiance created by the mindful design of their recent refurbishment, completed in 2019, combined with very helpful, authentic and efficient staff is a winning formula for city breaks, business travellers and, of course for event and meeting organisers.
Hilton Vienna Park is an easy destination to reach from London
On arrival at Vienna airport, only a short two and a half hour flight from London, we hopped on the CAT express train that took us to the centre of town in 16 minutes. Our stop was only a few minutes walk from the hotel, an unmissable landmark that was build in 1975 by the ring road and the river Wienfluss.
We checked into an Executive Suite on the 13th floor and were truly blown away by the stunning views over the city, taking in the Ferris wheel at Prate Park and Kursalon in the Stadtpark , but couldn’t quite see the Johan Strauss and Franz Schubert monuments though which we went to see on our stroll through the park. The suite would be perfect for a much longer stay than our one night with its generous size sitting room and bedroom, set out for both relaxing and working. As an added bonus, all executive room and suite stays come with access to the newly opened Executive Club where you can enjoy drinks, snacks and breakfast in a smaller, less busy place. There is also a secluded roof terrace for warmer weather months. The Executive Club is perfect for breakfast meetings and private discussions after a day of attending an event at one of the multitude of meetings rooms and event spaces available at the hotel.
Sustainability is taken seriously at Hilton Vienna Park
One thing that was evident immediately was that sustainability was not just a slogan on their marketing materials and signage. Sustainability is taken seriously in both the supplies in the rooms and in the ingredient choices at the bar and the restaurant. No single use plastic bottles, nor straws are available, instead we were encouraged, as are all event attendees too, to drink the fantastic Viennese tap water which is actually high quality spring water from nearby mountains.
We learned that 100% of the electricity used in the hotel is waterpower generated and the windows have solar foil to reduce energy waste. Water conservation is reduced with the installation of high-quality water restricting shower heads, keeping linen and towel changes to minimum is strongly encourages too. All organic waste is recycled for Biogas production and some easier swaps have been made such as 100% recycled, recyclable napkins, beverages served in glassware (no PET or plastic), full-size amenities rather than small plastic bottles, and event paper laundry bags in-rooms.
The plentiful and impressive events and meetings spaces
Ursula Struensee, Marketing and PR Manager for the Austrian cluster of Hilton Hotels kindly showed us around the hotel. We took in one of the impressive large conference and ball rooms, The Grand Klimt Hall with a banquet capacity fro 430 people. decorated in the Viennese Secession, their Art Nouveau style. We also saw a couple of smaller meeting rooms, all with windows creating a connection to the outside from this large events venue.
The events floor is well designed with a central foyer area which is used for breaks, networking and taking time out of the events schedule. There is also a convenient co-working space for those needing to check their emails.
It was time to explore the city
If you love grand Baroque architecture, then Vienna is a must destination for you. There is plenty of modern design and Art Nouveau buildings too. The beautiful palaces and cultural buildings are everywhere in the city centre and can easily be visited and admired on a walking tour. We were grateful for our tour guide Ilse, from the Vienna Tourism Board, for her incredible knowledgeable and insightful guided tour. We learned so much of this former imperial city and the ruling family of Habsburgs who were one of the sovereign dynasties of Europe from the 15th to 20th century.
When in Vienna do also enjoy the café culture. We stopped at the oldest known coffee house, Café Frauenhubert, where Mozart and Beethoven enjoyed their daily coffee. They both lived in the city most of their lives. And stopped by Hotel Sacher for the obligatory Sacher Tort and Melange.
Staying in for a drink and dinner at Hilton Vienna Park
Back at the hotel after a good 20,000+ steps later, it was definitely time for cocktails at the hotel’s popular Selleny’s bar. They master interesting and super tasty cocktails adding flavour with local produce such as wild berries and Almdudler, a softdrink you’ll know if you’ve ever skied in Austria.
We dined at the hotel’s Lenz restaurant, built around the concept of social dining. The menu offers a great selection of the best local produce from game, fish and farmed meat and wild, foraged mushrooms and herbs. Vegan and vegetarians are equally well catered for and the wine pairing suggestions of Austrian wine went down very well too. Austria has plenty of small vineyard, many are bio certified and produce exception wine. Sadly, we don’t have a lot of it available in the UK, perhaps it’s too good for export. So, when you are next in Austria, forget the French wines and let the local wines seduce you.
More about Hilton Vienna Park
Hilton Vienna Park (www.hilton.com/en/hotels/viehitw-hilton-vienna-park/) is a design-led, sustainability-focused venue, welcoming guests from all over the world to experience an authentic and mindful stay, alongside standout meeting, event and conference facilities in an incredible location – only a short flight from London, UK. Hilton Vienna Park stands proud as Europe’s largest downtown full-service meetings and events hotel, with its 3,500m2 of event space and 663 rooms.
The careful selection of the best local suppliers is also a key pillar within the hotels sustainability efforts. The aim is to keep transport routes short, to focus on using local, seasonal and organic products and to select the highest quality of ingredients and products for the guests. The hotel also just launched a partnership with ‘The Green Mountain’ to offer guests plant-based meat alternatives, taking a step further in its sustainability and animal welfare approach. Hilton Vienna Park does not even hesitate to involve guests and MICE groups with activities centred around nature and organic products such as planting herbs and spices on the urban rooftop garden, which are then used by the chef.
To support its customers in reducing the carbon footprint of their meetings and events Hilton Vienna Park is also offering a carbon offset program for all events taking place at the hotel by facilitating carbon credits through the partners at South Pole at no cost to the organizers.
Travel with Purpose – Hilton’s Environmental, Social and Governance strategy
As the world returns to travel, doing so sustainably and responsibly has never been more important. With growing impacts from climate change and the rising demand for sustainable hospitality options, Hilton is evolving its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) commitments, to help preserve the destinations where it operates. Four years ago, Hilton launched “Travel with Purpose”, an ambitious strategy aimed at cutting its environmental footprint in half and doubling its investment in social impact by 2030 through responsible hospitality across the value chain. These goals have just been reviewed this year to include more ambitious environmental targets and new social goals to help drive more sustainable operations.
In June 2022, Hilton’s strengthened its greenhouse gas emissions goals – which aim to cut emissions intensity by 75% in its managed hotels and by 56% in franchised properties by 2030 – and these have been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), a global body enabling businesses to set emissions reductions targets that are in line with the latest climate science. Hilton also announced a new commitment to venture capital fund Fifth Wall’s Climate Tech Fund which aims to decarbonise the $10.5 trillion real estate industry thanks to investments in software, hardware, renewable energy, energy storage, smart buildings, and carbon sequestration technologies.
“Travel with Purpose” has made Hilton the first major hotel company to institute science-based, specific, and measurable targets to reduce its carbon emissions and commit to sending zero soap to landfills. The company has also been named as one of the most influential on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for five consecutive years.
Hilton Vienna Park – a sustainability focussed, design-led destination for all business meetings and events.
Images: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Nf-Lpbl7WilZNWCI27tCF-eovV5EOtp0?usp=sharing
Room prices for corporate groups start from 195€ inc. breakfast per room/night
Daily Delegate Rates start from 105€ (full day)
Venue Details
Main website: https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/viehitw-hilton-vienna-park/
