The Big Six: Modern Viennese hotels

Hotel Lamée, Innere Stadt

The Austrian capital does old-world glamour well. It positively swells with historic landmarks, many of which have been converted into hotels. But look beyond, and a new breed of quirkier, more modern hotel is emerging. The latest is the Hotel Lamée, which opens in the city centre this week. Owner Martin Lenikus, with the help of BEHF architects, has taken a 1930s building and transformed it into a design-led beauty, with flirty modern interiors, a two-storey café and a roof garden.

Hotel Lamée, Rotenturmstrasse 15, Innere Stadt (00 43 1 532 22 40; hotellamee.com; designhotels.com). Doubles from €188, room only.

Hotel Altstadt, Spittelberg

Bright colours abound in this century-old patrician’s house turned playful hotel. Step within and you’ll spot an intriguing array of paintings, photography and sculptures, gathered along the road by the hotel’s globetrotting owner (and keen art collector) Otto E Wiesenthal. Stay in the White Suite (for Barcelona chairs), the Bösendorfer Suite (for a grand piano) or the Suite Privée (for oversized tripod lamps). Downstairs, the Red Salon is the place to repair in front of warm fires for free afternoon tea and homemade cakes.

Altstadt, Kirchengasse 41, Spittelberg (00 43 1 522 66 66; altstadt.at). Doubles start at €145, including breakfast.

The Ring, Ringstrasse

The Ring is a hotel of two halves. Refined rooms upstairs, with coffee-coloured furnishings, stuccoed ceilings and pretty flowers. An award-winning restaurant below, with vivid acid shades, Warhol prints and a vast vodka bar. The seventh-floor spa restores the equilibrium, with Molton Brown products, a high-spec gym and sauna that gazes out across the city’s jumbled skyline. Opposite, the Vienna State Opera and the Ringstrasse – a circular road that wraps its arm around the capital – wait to entertain.

The Ring, Kaerntner Ring 8, Ringstrasse (00 43 1 22 122; theringhotel.com). Doubles start at €289, room only.

Hotel Daniel, Landstrasse

This cool, urban escape opened in Vienna last year. In the main building, the industrial-style rooms all have walk-in rainshowers, swinging canvas hammocks, dangling Conran lamps and deep double beds. Outside, hidden within the herb garden, there’s a heated 1950s Airstream, with a huge bathtub, bunk-style bed and a flat-screen television. Look up, and you’ll notice a strange boat sculpture by Erwin Wurm hanging off the roof, which is also home to an on-site beehive.

Hotel Daniel, Landstrasser Gürtel 5, Landstrasse (00 43 1 90 131 0; hoteldaniel.com). Doubles start at €92, room only.

DO & CO, Innere Stadt

This hotel gets top marks for location: straight across from St Stephan’s Cathedral, with rooms that aren’t exactly shy about showing off the view. The round, glass-fronted building looks out at all angles to its more mature neighbour, with floor-to-ceiling windows in the restaurant and a 360-degree bar. The 44 wedge-shaped suites have bedspreads that echo the patterned roof of St Stephan’s, posh Jacuzzi tubs, Etro smellies and Bang & Olufsen televisions.

DO & CO Hotel, Stephansplatz 12, Innere Stadt (00 43 1 24 188; doco.com). Doubles start at €225, room only.

25hours, MuseumsQuartier

Roll up, roll up – the circus has come to town. From the husk of a 1970s youth hostel comes this theatrically themed hotel that tips its hat at performance venues in the MuseumsQuartier, with sword-swallowers, clowns and acrobats painted on the walls. The latest outpost from the 25hours group – which has hotels in Hamburg and Frankfurt – is a riot of colourful quirks, with travelling trunks, showbiz mirrors and the Dachboden bar.

25hours, Lerchenfelder Strasse 1‑3, MuseumsQuartier (00 43 1 521 510; 25hours-hotels.com). Doubles start at €130, room only.