Hotel Lucia

The Hotel Lucia is owned by the Simulevski family, who bought the building in 1998 and proceeded to renovate until 2000, when the hotel opened its doors with 14 rooms. Today, it has 54 rooms and the family has continued to update rooms and other parts of the hotel over the years. The exterior has a classic style with light-pink walls, while the lobby is bright and has shiny white floors, black and red leather chairs and couches, and chic wooden features. The breakfast room has a similarly modern vibe, with dark-wood tables, lime-green placemats, and chairs with cream-colored padding. However, it’s the charming patio that takes the cake as the best space of this property. It has a patio set and cozy woven chairs and a couch, all surrounded by colorful potted plants and trees on a deck of pink and cream tiles. Though it’s a basic hotel with few features, most public spaces are lovely and the price is right for the hotel’s clientele, who tend to be vacationing couples and families. 

Hotel Lucia is located in an area with plenty of dining options, between Schonbrunn Palace (a 27-minute walk away) and the main city center (a 35-minute walk). The Weiner Stadthalle convention center is only a 16-minute walk from the property. It's a bit of a hike to the attractions in the city center. Thankfully, it just takes three minutes on foot to reach a U-Bahn station or a tram stop, and it takes about 15 minutes to reach the Museum Quarter and 19 minutes to reach Hofburg Palace via the U-Bahn. Vienna International Airport is around a half-hour drive away.

While public spaces are generally up to date, guest rooms can disappoint as they vary from dated and simple to modern and sleek. The dated rooms are bland overall, with green carpet, basic  blond wood furniture, and red-and-yellow striped curtains. There's little to no adornment here. By contrast, updated rooms have an urban gray color scheme, with ash-colored wooden furniture, black headboards, gray curtains and carpet. They're also decorated with splashy wall murals of historic Viennese architecture. All rooms have desks and flat-screen TVs, but they lack coffee- and tea-making facilities. Triple Rooms add pullout sofas. Air-conditioning should be installed by the end of 2017, but until then, guests can request fans. The rooms' simple white-tiled bathrooms have small showers, hairdryers, and toiletries. 

Hotel Lucia’s main amenity is its breakfast buffet, which is included in most room rates (though “room-only” options do exist). The buffet includes eggs, meats, cheeses, pastries, and Viennese-style coffee, served each morning in a cozy breakfast room. Other than that, there’s not much in the way of amenities -- no restaurant, gym, or meeting rooms. The hotel does, however, provide free tea in the lobby, plus coffee, alcoholic drinks, and sodas for a small fee. There is free Wi-Fi throughout, and a public computer is available in the lobby. A parking garage with limited spaces is a nice perk, though it costs a fee. Take note that kids under age six stay for free, while those between the ages of six and 12 stay for half the price.