Hotels: Palaces in the City

Hotel Sacher

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Before the constrution of the Ringstrasse, Vienna was seriously lacking in accommodations for the traveler. Obviously, having only two hotels to service an entire city, opposed to London's 200, was nothing short of pathetic. With the destruction of old Vienna's fortifications and the creation the Ringstrasse, Vienna finally gave birth to a collection of urban "palaces" which were the watering holes ofthe aristocracy. Hotels like the 300 room National Hotel were masterpieces of architecture and engineering. The National included an 8 burner steam system that pumped water to every floor of the structure, as well as an underground icehouse. Also on the Ringstrasse is the Imperial Hotel, a converted palace, which was "the favourite hostelry of crowned heads, their heirs apparent, and ambassadors." These ultra-luxurious hotels which catered to the cream of European society contributed in bringing together one of the greatest concentrations of wealth and power every afternoon between 3 and 5 for the Ringstrasse Corso. The Corso was nothing more than an afternoon gathering of the rich and powerful, but it worked wonders for Vienna's ability to attract tourists. It gave the city a real sense of international stature, which succeeded in bringing it up to par with London and Paris.