This apartment is everything its listing promises, only better. The pictures have the usual doctoring, which in this case somewhat diminishes the coziness of the place. It’s hardly small or cramped, and it’s far more aesthetically refined and comfortable than the photos imply. The flooring, for example, was either high quality oak or such a good laminate that I couldn’t tell the difference, and I’m quite sensitive to these things. The coffee-table rug has also been changed to a darker one, which grounds the salon better than what’s shown in the photos. One practical detail to know about the apartment is that the fridge, which is built into a cupboard, does NOT include a freezer section, which may be important to some guests. The building and it accesses, along with the apartment itself, are all remarkably well-executed architecturally. By happenstance I met the owner (he delegates leasing to a service), who is a bit of an Anglophile as you might guess from the pictures, but what is missing is how well the place is decorated, where everything is at some risk with guests always coming and going. In terms of service, he was terrific when a glitch emerged with the TV, responding to my little problem on a Saturday morning with alacrity.

Getting back to this business of pictures, like many others this listing includes a number of generic city scenes following those of the apartment itself, which weren’t particularly helpful. However, this apartment’s building is within a row of structures across the street (correction: boulevard) from that block-long edifice shown in the picture at the bottom of the portfolio offered, all of which sport the same underlying baroque bones. That big palace-like structure is one of these Grand European hotels with rack rates of probably 500 Euros a night, should their typical guest even think to ask. The building with this apartment demonstrates a decidedly more raucous rococo styling than the hotel and is far scruffier, but that’s more a testament to its character and nothing to be ashamed of. The owner picked-up on the area’s architectural leitmotif in his decorating choices, due to some combination of education and intuitive good taste, with an obvious enthusiasm for Asia showing-up in an eclectic blend of oriental accessories.

The location, on the ring boulevard that defines the old part of the city, couldn’t be leafier insofar as the grand history it suggests, or the discreet taste and equanimity of having arrived that accompanies the immediate neighborhood. That the apartment is steps away from the local branch of McKinsey & Company specializing in economic and social policy work, and a short walk from various governmental offices handling Austria’s representation within the European Commission, tells you all you really need to know. All that said, the building’s residents (which includes homes and offices) do not come-off as a bunch of swells: those I met were totally approachable middle-class pensioners and mid-range lawyers. Local street level tenants include a spinning studio and a heating & A/C service business, so the area is refreshingly mixed.

The bottom line is that the net quality and value of this apartment is well above that of the typical Airbnb safe-house, at least when speaking of life during a time of covid. Or perhaps this is simply what’s appropriate in Vienna for real and aspiring players without an expense account, as well as anyone else used to the finer things but footing their own bill.