Palais Hansen Kempinski Vienna is officially open in a building designed as a hotel for the 1873 World Exhibition.
That hotel, originally designed by Theophil Edvard von Hansen and Heinrich Förster, never opened its doors to guests; this is the first time the building is being used as originally intended.
Vienna-based architect Boris Podrecca, Austrian Atelier Hayde Architekten and designer Jean-Claude Laville led two and a half years of restoration and interior construction.
Palais Hansen Kempinski Vienna has 152 guestrooms and suites, as well as 17 private residential apartments.
The lobby is designed to serve as an extended living room, and the Lobby Lounge & Bar serves Viennese afternoon tea.
Die Küche (“The Kitchen”) has a casual, farmers market atmosphere and offers breakfast and a dinner menu inspired by traditional food. Head Chef Philipp Vogel and his team man two live cooking stations without Die Küche. Edvard, named for the hotel’s original architect, specializes in seasonal fare with local produce. Henri Lou, a bar, is named after the female writer Lou Andreas-Salomé and is led by a female bar manager and a female bar keeper.
The mezzanine level includes Kempinski The Spa, with six treatment rooms, saunas, a steam room, a hydropool, and a gym. The Spa has an Ottoman-inspired décor.
The mezzanine also houses six function rooms with natural daylight. The 3,020-sq-ft (280-sq-m) ballroom features modern chandeliers, a column-lined foyer, and a separate entrance.