Sans Souci: Where Hospitality Becomes an Art

Despite my lack of connection with Vienna, I will say that the city had one main redeeming quality, and that is the hotel I stayed at, Sans Souci. Sans Souci, which translates to “without worry”, is a perfect name for a place where everything is taken care of for you from the moment you exit the airport to the moment where you take off again.

Upon exiting Vienna International Airport, a gentleman was waiting for us with our last name on a sign and quickly offered to handle my mom and I’s luggage when we manifested ourselves. He escorted us to a luxurious and spacious van which granted, we paid for, but nonetheless, it’s never a bad thing to be picked up in such a way after a long plane journey.

Before we knew it, we were off on a quick journey to Sans Souci, located in a relatively quiet fork in the road away from the hustle and bustle of the touristy parts of Vienna. The building was beautiful and clean from the outside, but the interior decor was even more impressive, namely the incredible floral arrangements waiting for us in the center of the circular lobby.

While the kind lady at the front desk checked us in, we were offered a fresh towel and a drink of our choice to wash away the griminess of the airport. My drink of choice was of course the homemade ice tea, which is a surefire way to win me over. We were then offered to wait in the hotel's lounge area, which was even more stunning than the lobby.

It almost felt like we had entered an alternate world or a bar from a movie set tucked away on a charming street. I’m a strong believer that decor is essential to setting the tone in a hotel to the point where it can make or break the experience. Of course, cleanliness and good service are essentials that are difficult to overlook when travelling, but decor is the cherry on top. Decor is the element that transports you to a different dimension as soon as you step foot into the lobby, and Sans Souci does it extremely well.

After our moment of rest, a man called Daniel escorted us to our room, explaining every detail along the way and making sure everything was set up just right for us in the room. We had a suite for three people so they had set up an extra single bed for us, and it was surprisingly very comfortable.

Two elements that stood out to me right away were the dyson hair dryer with a note letting us know to call the front desk for extra hair styling attachments and the pillow menu (yes, a menu) allowing us to order extra pillows, of varying types. There are multiple hotels in the world with beautiful decor and clean bed sheets, but hotels that seemingly think of every detail are harder to come by. These are the elements that make a difference in your stay and that you remember long after.

We opted to have breakfast at the hotel every day and it was a pleasure to do so because the restaurant was just as charming as the rest of the premises. There was both a small buffet and an à la carte menu available, the latter offering mostly egg-based dishes. I’m an omelette person through and through so I had one every single day of my stay, and I loved that you could select your own toppings similarly to how you would at an omelette station, without seeing the cooking part.

Finding a good hotel is relatively easy, but finding an excellent hotel can be challenging and I always feel a sense of relief when arriving to places like Sans Souci, where every element of your stay couldn’t be more perfect. Hospitality is truly an art and Sans Souci has mastered it.