Review: Hotel De France, Vienna 2015

We knew that the hotel is located near to both the metro and tram station, though thanks to my stupidity we managed to head in the wrong direction. It took a few turns and 15 minutes before a sudden realisation that the hotel was only steps away.

The associate welcomed us at the reception. As we arrived from an overnight train and were hoping to grab some rest before exploring the city, we requested for an early check in at 10am. The associate checked the room availability and gave us an early check in, which we really appreciated. Wifi vouchers were also given to us at check-in.

The bellman delivered our luggage and escorted us to our room, which was on the second floor (or third floor in non-European lingo). 

Close to the entrance was the bathroom area, featuring a shower with two shower heads. The toilet was separately located opposite the bathroom.

The ceiling was really high, which coupled with the large windows provided ample natural lighting.

The beds were comfortable, though certainly not the standards at Marriott or Avista, which was reasonable given the price we paid.

Feeling refreshed after a quick nap, we left the hotel to explore Vienna. Location wise, the hotel is really located in the heart of Vienna, only a 5 minutes brisk walk to the Central Cafe and 10 minutes by foot to the Imperial Apartments at the Hofburg Palace. Then again, Vienna is a really small city and most of the major attractions can be covered on foot.

It was a pain however, to access the Internet at the hotel. The connection was intermittent, and the surfing speed was really really slow. We were trying to search for the famous Viennese schnitzel and it took us nearly 20 minutes.

The breakfast selection was nothing compared to what you would have expected in Asia, but impressive for an European property.

The cold smoked salmon and cold cuts was also reasonably good, though the salmon was a little too salty than I would have liked it to be.

It's worth noting that sparkling wine was served at breakfast. In addition, they have a egg counter where you could order omelettes and sunny side ups, although the counter was not staffed for nearly half of the time (if not more) when we were in the restaurant. Again this was sub-par to an Asian hotel of similar price range, though given the much higher cost of labour in Europe perhaps we ought to give them credit for setting up such a counter in the first place.

We checked out of the hotel after breakfast and the associate at the reception proactively offered to deposit the luggage for us so that we can travel on a light load. While most hotels provide such service, it's really gracious for the associate to take the initiative and make the offer.

Overall, it was a reasonably good hotel and have generally delivered what would be expected of a property at this price range.