What I Liked
- I booked a good price at the Holiday Inn Vienna — especially for the location.
- Excellent view from my 21st floor room
- Well located for Vienna City attractions
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It’s all about the view! The Holiday Inn Vienna is a 22 story tower, with terrific views of Vienna. I stayed here for two nights, and was pleased with my visit. I got a room on the 21st floor with a lovely view. The hotel is also well located to view the sites in Vienna. It’s just outside the centre. Most attractions are not far away via public transport.
The price at Holiday Inn Vienna was the first thing that got my attention. €230 for two nights in a family room, for four of us. I booked ten months ahead on a refundable rate — and that early commitment paid off.
The Holiday Inn Vienna rooms are where expectations need managing. Twenty square metres. Not a typo. There's a double bed, a sofa bed, a wardrobe, and a desk — all miniature-sized. My wife and kids took the bed. I slept on the sofa. The windows don't open either, which is probably wise at that height.
One small gripe about the Holiday Inn Vienna check-in: I'm IHG Platinum, so the hotel upgraded me to the 21st floor before arrival. But the check-in agent forgot to offer my welcome gift — a choice of 600 IHG points or a free drink. I debated going back to ask for it. Decided against it. A €5 gift wasn't worth interrupting a family holiday over.
Getting from Vienna Airport to the hotel cost me €55 in a taxi — considerably more than I was expecting. If you want to sidestep that kind of surprise on your next airport transfer, Welcome Picks for 5* rated taxi service is worth checking out before you travel — they provide airport transfers at fair, transparent prices.
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I stayed two nights at the Holiday Inn Vienna, paying €230 for a family room. This was a pretty good deal. I stayed as a family of four.
My flight arrived at 11pm. So I checked in after midnight on the 1st night. I didn’t want to spend too much money, but I wanted to stay at a decent location. I booked the Holiday Inn Vienna 10 months in advance, with a refundable rate.
Vienna isn't the cheapest European capital. But two nights in a family room for €230 is hard to argue with.
€115 a night. Four of us. Under €30 each, per night.
I booked ten months ahead on a refundable rate. Both of those decisions paid off.
I checked in after midnight. The hotel was ready, and nobody made a fuss about the hour.
Book your stay at the Holiday Inn Vienna South here
If you're reading Holiday Inn Vienna City reviews to work out whether to book — here's the practical bit. The refundable rate is the move. I locked mine in 10 months out and the price never shifted. €230 for two nights in a family room works out to €115 a night. For a family trip, that kind of predictability is worth booking early for.
The Holiday Inn Vienna South sits around 10 miles from the airport, in a part of the city that's more functional than atmospheric. The immediate area is suburban — a 22-story tower, a mall next door, commercial buildings for company. That mall does earn its keep, though: there's a supermarket and a booth where you can pick up train tickets, which makes the rest of the trip considerably easier.
From there, Schönbrunn Palace is 30 minutes by train, and it's genuinely worth the journey — the palace itself, the Vienna Zoo (the oldest in the world), a maze, and walks that go on longer than you'd expect. To be honest, one day wasn't enough. St Stephen's Cathedral and Vienna City Hall are also 30 minutes by public transport from the Holiday Inn Vienna South. You're not in the heart of Vienna, but the connections are solid once you get moving.
Getting to and from the airport is where this hotel can catch you out. I took a City Taxi on arrival and paid €55 — the online estimate had said €25. That gap stings when you're still dragging your suitcase through arrivals. Pre-booking a transfer is the smarter play: I'd use Welcome Pickups next time, which locks in a fixed price before you travel and has a driver waiting at arrivals — no meter running in the wrong direction while the driver takes the scenic route. The service holds a 4.9? Trustpilot rating from over 45,000 rides and covers Vienna without any bother. Yes, it costs more than the U-Bahn, but after my taxi experience, I'll take "confirmed price" over "optimistic estimate" every time.
If you want to compare what's available before committing, GetTransfer.com pulls in quotes from licensed drivers and private transfer companies across the city, so you know exactly what you're paying before you hand over a card. It's particularly useful if you're travelling as a group and want to split a larger vehicle.
Vienna and Budapest pair naturally on a Central European trip. If you're staying at the Holiday Inn Vienna and Budapest is on your list, I've reviewed the InterContinental Budapest, right on the Danube. Worth a read before you book.
The Holiday Inn Vienna South won't win any prizes for its neighbourhood — but for sightseeing, it works. The rail connections put most of Vienna's big draws inside 30 minutes, and the supermarket in the adjacent mall means you can stock up before a day out without paying hotel prices for a bottle of water.
Best free Activity
Vienna's first district is the kind of place that rewards aimless wandering. If you're staying at the Holiday Inn Vienna, start at Stephansplatz and head down any street from there. St Stephen's Cathedral is free to enter. The Ringstrasse circles the old town with an imperial building at almost every turn. No guide needed. No ticket required. Just comfortable shoes.
Best of Vienna: Historic Centre Walking Tour
If you'd rather have someone tell you what you're actually looking at, book your spot here. From USD88, rated 4.9* from 1,885 reviews. A two-hour expert-led walk through the historic centre — more expensive than most walking tours in Vienna, but 1,885 reviewers can't all be wrong.
Vienna: Skip-the-Line Schönbrunn Palace & Gardens Tour
Schönbrunn is 30 minutes from the hotel by train, and I'll say it plainly: one day is not enough. Book the skip-the-line tour here from USD64 — rated 4.6* from 1,041 reviews. You get the palace, the gardens, and a guide who actually explains the Habsburg history rather than leaving you to squint at information boards. Budget more time than you think once you're inside the grounds.
Guided Walking Tour of Vienna City Center Highlights
The most affordable of the three. You can book here from USD30 — rated 4.7* from 219 reviews. Covers the centre highlights without the premium price tag. Fewer reviews than tour one, but the rating holds up.
The Holiday Inn Vienna is a located in a massive tower. It has the following features:
The hotel is pretty light on facilities. It’s just a base to visit Vienna. You probably won’t spend much time here.
The key selling point is the view. The view from the 22nd floor is excellent. Vienna is a low-lying city, and you can basically see the whole city.
I checked in at midnight and was pretty tired when I arrived. The check-in agent mentioned my platinum status. However, he forgot to offer a welcome gift. This is normally a choice of a welcome drink, or 600 IHG points.
I considered going back to ask for the gift. Ultimately, I couldn’t be bothered. The gift was worth €5–10. Better for me to enjoy the vacation with my family.
The Holiday Inn Vienna has a business centre on the ground floor. This is basically just a couple of computers in individual booths. The booths are pretty nice, with a cool design.
The main restaurant is on the 22nd floor. The restaurant is open all day. They have a buffet breakfast in the morning. And a modern European menu for the rest of the day.
I didn’t get to visit the restaurant. My room rate didn’t include breakfast. I didn’t fancy paying for the buffet breakfast. I’m vegetarian, so there’s not much I can eat.
The design of the hotel is very much cookie-cutter. Modern, functional and clean. There are probably 1,000 other 4* hotels around the world that look exactly the same.
Holiday Inn sits in IHG's Essentials tier — one rung below Crowne Plaza, and well below the InterContinental Edinburgh level. Vienna South is a textbook example of the formula: standardised, reliable, priced accordingly. The brand dates back to 1952, when Kemmons Wilson opened the original Holiday Inn in Memphis, Tennessee, with a pitch of consistent, family-friendly accommodation at a predictable price. Seventy-something years on, that brief hasn't changed much.
I got an email from Holiday Inn Vienna, the day before arrival. They informed me that I had been upgraded, due to my IHG Platinum status. They moved me to a room on the 21st floor.
Another benefit of being an IHG Platinum is the welcome gift. This is a choice of 600 IHG points or a free drink. The guy at check-in forgot to offer it to me. This is only the 2nd time this has happened to me.
If you're building towards IHG Platinum and want to see what the benefits look like at a proper upper-tier property, my Intercontinental Madrid review covers exactly that — suite, Club Lounge and all.
I stayed in a family room at the Holiday Inn Vienna on the 21st floor. Given that the hotel only has 22 floors, this was an excellent upgrade. The room had uninterrupted views of the city.
The windows didn’t open. Probably a good thing!
I stayed in a family room, as there were four of us. There was a double bed and a sofa bed. My wife and two kids slept in the bed. I slept on the sofa.
There was a TV, a desk, a cabinet and a wardrobe.
The room was definitely on the small side. It was 20 square metres. The bed was small, the desk was small, the wardrobe was small. Everything was miniature-sized!
My family has squeezed into many small hotel rooms around the world. This room was fine for our two-night stay!
The room décor was modern and functional. Lots of light wood tones and grey coloured furniture. Exactly what I expect from a Holiday Inn. All of the furniture was in excellent condition.
I was pleased with the Holiday Inn Vienna. The hotel is well located and has great views of the city. I also paid a low price. There’s also a mall next door, to stock up on supplies.
The number that sticks with me from the Holiday Inn Vienna is €230 for four people across two nights. For a family trip to a European capital, that's genuinely difficult to argue with — and I booked a refundable rate, which made the decision even easier.
If you're holding IHG Platinum status, this is a sensible Vienna base. The pre-arrival upgrade to the 21st floor costs nothing but delivers a lot — the view is the single best thing about the hotel, and being near the top of a 22-storey tower is exactly the right place to experience it. If you need space, or you want cobblestones and café terraces outside your door, the Holiday Inn Vienna isn't your match. A 20-square-metre room and a shopping mall next door are what you're working with here. Know that going in, and the Holiday Inn Vienna is fine. Better than fine, actually, for the price.
If Vienna has put you in the mood for European city breaks, I've also reviewed the Intercontinental Amsterdam — a completely different proposition in terms of design and location, and one I genuinely loved.
If you've been reading Holiday Inn Vienna City reviews trying to decide whether to book — here's the short version: it's a solid mid-range base. Not a luxury hotel, not a boutique experience, but the Holiday Inn Vienna delivers where it counts: clean rooms, IHG points earning, and a location that keeps Vienna accessible.