We stayed at Renate’s City Apartment for one month. It seems to be a historical building that has been modernized and the flat itself is in very good condition. It is spacious with room for everything. There are two very small/shallow steps to enter the building which present no problem for large luggage pieces and there is small but adequate lift for getting you to the flat. There is one large room that consists of kitchen, with good space for cooking and a good sized stand- up fridge with freezer; a dining area suitable for four people; living room space with two easy chairs and 2 seat sofa and a cable TV. At the end of the room is a large alcove with what looks like a convertible bed and desk. There is good lighting throughout the house. In the bedroom the large bed is comfortable there is a small dresser and large clothes wardrobe for your things. There are 1.5 bathrooms with good water pressure and plenty of hot water. In the master bath there is a small washing machine. I was surprised that it had such a good capacity for clothes. There is a drying rack available. There is Wi-Fi which works well in the large living area, WI-FI in the bedroom is touch and go. Renate always got back to me on any minor issue that I had. She is a lovely woman. I noticed that several other guests mentioned the church bells. It is true they are loud in the main living area but they do not ring every hour. Basically 7 am and at 6pm. I really never heard them in the morning because I closed the door to the bedroom and living area- no problems. I was mostly out at 6 pm but when I was there the bells seemed to ring for less than 30 seconds- again no problem for us. They only down-side that I could find was there were no special touches to the apartment. No welcome basket, no coffee/tea, spices or other food products that in my experience that guests leave behind for others and that I regularly see in AIRBNB establishments. It is just a nice amenity when one travels large distances and arrives tired to be able to have a cup of something.
The flat is ideally located. We are an older couple and we walked absolutely everywhere. There was no point to us buying a transit cared. Individual fares for the metro, buses and trolley are relatively cheap. We only needed to use public transport for the Schobrunn Palace and places on the outskirts of Vienna. I should say there is a trolley a few steps from the flat, buses abound, the metro is a ten minute walk and the main train station of Vienna is a 20 minute brisk walk away- coming to the flat from the station is a down hill walk) The cultural center/sites is basically a 15 to 20 minute walk with plenty of interesting shops/restaurants/street food in-between. The flat really couldn’t have been better located to get the feel of neighborhood yet convenient to everything else. There are supermarkets all around with a Billa just two blocks away moving towards the center of town. Other reviewers have mentioned a basic bakery and South-East Asian restaurant located on the ground level of the building. Likewise, steps away however is Riva, a very popular and genuine Neapolitan pizza restaurant. Further away (20 minute walk on Wiedner Hauphstrasse ) is Rudy’s Beisl, an Austrian comfort food restaurant. It is a tiny (two people can’t fit in the aisle easily at the same time), welcoming restaurant that only locals go to. It was really a lovely quintessential Austrian experience. A ten minute walk away is the Naschmarkt a sprawling market that covers several blocks where you can find absolutely everything from meat, seafood, spices, fresh middle eastern food products, fresh pasta (should you choose they will cook it for you (you select the sauce type) to take home), cheese, fruits, vegetables, sweets. There are small restaurants with outside eating areas. On the weekends it gets even bigger when a flea market is added. If you go pay attention to the buildings that line the street of the market and you will see some very interesting highly decorated buildings built in the 19th century by well known art nouveau artists. Check out Karlplatz which is a less than ten minute walk from the flat and consider getting evening tickets to music concerts held in the church there. The concerts are basically one hour long held in the magnificent Karl’s Church, the music is good and blankets are distributed in cool weather to take off the chill.
My husband and I travel quite a bit and I would tell you this is a wonderful place to stay. I don’t think its location could be better in terms of the of cultural sites, the vast variety of restaurant’s, legendary coffee houses , transportation etc. I would certainly want to stay at Renate’s flat again when I return to Vienna. It was truly a trouble free positive experience.