The Best Spa Hotels to Book in Vienna, Austria

This historic urban retreat is just 20 minutes from both the city centre and the airport, offering a more relaxed experience of Viennese life and culture. Head to Danube Island to find peaceful swimming spots and scenic walking paths favoured by locals, or explore the other direction to the lively Prater amusement park, home to thrilling rides and its famous giant Ferris wheel. Afterward, unwind at the hotel’s Wellness Centre, where you can enjoy a refreshing swim in the outdoor pool and relax in one of the three saunas, all with stunning views of the Danube, leaving you recharged for the next day.

The Palais Hansen offers classic accommodation in a palace dating from 1873, which reopened as a five-star Kempinski in 2013. Highlights of the spa and wellness centre include a high-tech gym, mixed and women-only saunas, a soothingly lit plunge pool and seasonally inspired treatments such as the Summer Bliss massage and the Winter Clear Out scrub. Enjoy Michelin-star Alpine-Mediterranean cuisine at Restaurant Edvard or a slice of Kempinski’s daily-baked apple strudel with vanilla ice cream in the Lobby Lounge & Bar.

SO/ Vienna’s modern, five-star rooms come in two sizes and have views of either Vienna’s iconic ferris wheel or the colourful roof of St Stephen’s Cathedral. Its on-site spa is free for guests and features a steam room, hammam, gym and jacuzzi. Massages are also available. Up on the roof, Das LOFT restaurant and bar has 360-degree views of Vienna: surprise yourself by choosing the Taste of LOFT, a four-course feast put together by the chef, with matching wines selected by the sommelier.

Steam while overlooking the Karlskirche (Vienna’s finest Baroque church) at the Ring, a palatial five-star with a top-floor spa. Also available are rose-petal foot massages, anti-ageing treatments and a well-equipped gym. When suitably relaxed, start your evening at the At Eight bar with cocktails and bites by acclaimed chef Alexandru Simon, then head out for some entertainment. On your doorstep are the State Opera and, on the hotel’s other side, the equally impressive Musikverein concert hall (both five minutes on foot).

Vienna’s stately Hotel Herrenhof is just 250m (800ft) from the Hofburg Palace and a four-minute walk to the Goldenes Quartier’s fashion houses. Hit the gym, where you’ll find cross trainers and gymnastics equipment, then unwind in a Finnish sauna or take a lounger in a very zen chill-out room. Food and drink is courtesy of classy Béla Béla Restaurant, where the menu takes its inspiration from 18 Mediterranean countries, and Béla’s Wohnzimmer bar, a revamped version of historic literary hangout Café Herrenhof.

When it opened in 1870, the lavish Grand Hotel Wien amazed guests with steam-powered elevators and a telegraph office; it became even more popular in 1894, when waltz maestro Johann Strauss II chose it as his stage for jubilee celebrations. Classical elegance meets high-tech in the sixth-floor spa, where LED hats offer over 30 light and colour settings to help guests unwind. Amenities and services include a sauna, a ladies-only centre with sauna, showers and changing rooms, a relaxation zone and a world-class selection of massages and treatments.

The five-star Ritz-Carlton occupies four 19th-century palaces on the Ringstrasse, the iconic boulevard that encircles Vienna’s historic centre. Its spa is one of the city’s finest, featuring six private suites with their own saunas and whirlpools, an 18m (60ft) pool with underwater music and products made with ingredients from Austria’s Bregenz Forest. For an all-round pampering session, book the Signature Spa Experience, which includes welcome tea, massages and exfoliation and oil treatments. Head to the leafy Stadtpark, situated opposite the hotel, for a relaxing stroll.

Hyatt’s refined Park Vienna is housed in a historic bank building in the Old Town (Innere Stadt), five minutes on foot from the Hofburg Palace. Its Arany Spa occupies what used to be the vault, providing luxury services and amenities in a space once stuffed with gold and silver. Facilities include six private suites with showers and lockers, a couples’ treatment and massage room, a 15m (50ft) pool and an aroma steam room. There’s also a fitness centre kitted out with all the latest gadgets from Olympics-supplier Technogym.

Sans Souci’s 20m (65ft) pool is the longest in Vienna, and stretches out beneath chandeliers that wouldn’t look out of place in one of the city’s legendary ballrooms. Clock a few lengths before selecting a body massage or treatment to suit your mood, performed with oils from Austria’s top organic cosmetic brand Vinoble. A chic interpretation of Viennese tradition characterises Le Bar, where over sixty varieties of champagne are offered, and the Veranda restaurant, where chef Moreno Casaccia serves modern Austrian cuisine.

Hyatt’s Andaz Vienna Am Belvedere offers boutiquey accommodations overlooking the Baroque palace of the same name and the Schweizergarten, in which you’ll find a striking monument to Frédéric Chopin. Its Health and Wellness Centre has a sauna with city views, as well as a steam bath with an ice fountain and a soothing relaxation room in which to leave it all behind. Eat a healthy dinner at flexitarian specialist Cyclist – where lamps hang from bike chains, and the bar stool are saddles – before heading to rooftop bar Aurora for cocktails.

The third-floor spa at the Palais Coburg is everything you’d expect from a bastion of Viennese luxury: in addition to a sunny conservatory and terrace overlooking the gardens, it offers an indoor pool, a jacuzzi, a sauna and a steam bath. The three maisonette Coburg Suites, the hotel’s largest accommodations, also come with their own private saunas. Facilities elsewhere in this expansive property are similarly high-class, and include Silvio Nickol’s eponymous two-Michelin-star restaurant, a wine bar with one of the largest cellars in Europe and glasshouse eatery Clementine.