New Hotel Developments in Vienna

Vienna is seeing an impressive increase in new hotels. According to TOPHOTELPROJECTS, there are currently 17 new pipeline projects in the Austrian capital.

The Ritz-Carlton Vienna was originally going to be a Shangri-La, but after some construction delays (so we hear), the Asian chain pulled back. Marriott International, parent company of Ritz-Carlton, grabbed the chance to add a luxury property to its portfolio. The hotel is now due to open sometime in Autumn by the historic “Schubertring Palais.” Project developer Bau Austria Immobilien (BAI) sold the hotel to the new Kazakhstani investor Venry Capital. The company director Timur Issatayev is private equity specialist and manages, according to “Die Presse”, an asset pool of approximately $3.5 billion. This year, Venry Capital already bought the Ritz-Carlton Moscow.

Another top hotel project in Vienna is the Kempinski Hotel at the Palais Hansen, which is currently under a major refurbishment. The hotel will open its doors in spring 2013 as the first Kempinski hotel in Vienna. When completed, it will have 153 rooms and suites as well as two restaurants, two bars, a fitness center, a Kempinski “The Spa”, various meeting and conference facilities as well as 17 exclusive residence apartments. The opening of the Palais Hansen Kempinski Vienna next year will mark the chain’s second property in Austria, along with the Kempinski Hotel “Das Tirol” in Jochberg near Kitzbühl.

The Four Seasons brand is also reportedly looking at Vienna. We're hearing rumors that a centrally located former court building will be rebuilt for round about $100 million for a late 2014 opening.

In total, there are more than 400 hotels in Vienna, ranging from budget to luxury, privately operated as well as branded, according to a recent report issued by Christie + Co. The report also says that "barely more than half" of all hotel rooms in Vienna are branded hotel rooms; the other half is under private management. The average room capacity of all hotels in Vienna amounts to 67 rooms. Of the city's 23 municipal districts, most hotels are concentrated in the 1st inner city district with approximately 4,800 hotel rooms, comprising nearly 17 percent of all available hotel rooms in Vienna. The neighboring districts (2nd through 9th; except Margareten), as well as Favoriten (10th district), Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus (15th district) and Donaustadt (22nd district) have more than 1,200 rooms on offer.