Sunday, April 15, 2012

another question on Messe Wien Exhibition & Congress Centre

We had asked about staying somewhere else and taking the metro to the Vienna Congress Centre for our meeting. Since then, we have found out that we may get reimbursed if we stay at one of the hotels near the Centre, the Courtyard Marriott. Could we ask what it%26#39;s like near the Congress Centre in terms of neighborhood, shops, restaurants, parks, etc.? We will certainly gon into historical center for sightseeing, but it would be nice to be able to walk around our hotel too just to relax. Thank you.




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Which one do you mean?




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The hotel you mention is a new place . I think it is one of the closest accomodation to the Messe, this being on the east end of the venue, Trabenstrasse4. Also just a short walk to the UBahn line U-2 (Krieau stop )that takes you quickly to the city center4-7 stops depending on what you wish to do.



If you get a good rate and are reimbursed probably a good deal.





The Prater park is nearby - this includes various places to eat like the famous Schweizerhaus with beautiful garden.



Not much else worth while in this area no real shopping or better dining.





You will find you spend most time in the city center for sightseeing, shopping , varied eating, ataying near the hotel to sleep and attend your Congress.





Only you can decide what is preferred




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sorry websites did not make it-





www.prater.at





www.schweizerhaus.at




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Mikey Vienna: sorry, I meant Courtyard Marriott Wien Messe.





Vertical: Thank you for your kind explanations. We were afraid of that, that the area around the Congress will be new. I think we may end up staying near the Congress for the heavy-duty part of our meeting and then to move to another hotel in the historical center when our schedule will be more leisurely. It will entail switching hotels, but we do enjoy waking up and being in the thick of things! Again, thank you for your kind help!




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Sorry if I confused you- just the hotel is new



The area near to the Messe not actually completely new.





The area north of the Messe is an older area of Vienna and not the greatest.



The Messe itself was completely renovated and much enlarged several years ago. This enabled better marketing for fairs , etc. New parking garage among improvements. The Prater consists of a nice green area park - many years ago, the hunting grounds of the Emperors.



The Prater Amusement Park also not new - a Vienna institution now with some needed upgrading.





Your option of staying near to the Messe and then moving could be a good option in my opinion if you do not mind the re packing.




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I thought you don%26#39;t want to stay in the surroundings of the congress center.




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Mikey Vienna: We are vacillating because we just re-read the fine prints and found out that if we stayed at the Courtyard Marriott Wien Messe, the meeting organizers would re-imburse our hotel expenses. My apologies for the confusion and for this extra question.





Vertical: thank you very much for your clarifications and for your kind help; we appreciate them very much.





I am thinking that we may end up switching our hotels half-way through. We will be travelling light, so hopefully there will not be a lot of un- and re-packing.




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Well, if you get the expenses reimbursed, then it is clear in my opinion. If this hotel offers you a good rate for your post-congress stay, then stay there for the entire time. With subway U2 departing in front of the hotel you%26#39;d have an efficient means of transportation taking you to the centre in less than 10 minutes. In case you fancy to shop, then go to the nearby (new) shopping mall (Stadion Center).




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I%26#39;ve been singing the praises of the Courtyard at Wien Messe for ages, but I have to concur with what%26#39;s already been said.





The hotel is superb : very clean, good staff, excellent (pricey) breakfast buffet; great gym on the 8th floor with a nice view of the amusement park after dark. Unless there%26#39;s a congress on, though, the restaurant and bar are dead in the evenings, and the area around the hotel is usually deserted.





Krieau station along the road has a multilingual touchscreen that allows you to buy the justly famous Wien Karte (valid if I remember correctly for 1-3 days, a week or a month) with either cash or card (incl. Amex). Very easy, very intuitive. The subway%26#39;s excellent. It runs very regularly right into the night, takes you into the city in minutes and I reckon it%26#39;s cleaner and safer than anything Paris or London have to offer; Krieau was never manned when I was passing through, and it%26#39;s on the edge of a housing project, but it was spotless.





Krieau to Museumsquartier station took me about 15 minutes without having to change lines and came out in the middle of some fantastic museums (check out the Kunsthistorisches museum if you can; worth it just for the wow factor as you walk inside; over the road from Museumsquartier station)





Although the area around the Courtyard has very little going for it it%26#39;s not nakedly dangerous. I was last there in April %26#39;09; there was an occasional fast driver racing past the front of the hotel in the very early hours, and Prater park has a mixed reputation, but I also strolled over to the Spar supermarket just past Krieau to buy some essentials, found that Sunday opening hasn%26#39;t reached that part of the world, and happily walked through the public housing project to find a shop that was open. Some of the blocks have their construction dates on them; the earliest I saw dated from the 30s and was still immaculate from the outside.





Apologies for the length of the post, but do enjoy your trip to Vienna and enjoy whatever time you have in the Courtyard; it%26#39;s one of the few hotels I%26#39;ve stayed in that merits its rep.




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Thank you again for your very helpful input. Your comments about accessing public transportation in the area around the Courtyard Marriott Wien Messe really make it possible for us to make realistic and practical plans. And your very clear descriptions are so much appreciated, VoronUk. We appreciate very much your taking the time to help us understand clearly about the area around the hotel and getting around; thank you! It does sound like a very nice hotel -- in fact, it costs more than some other hotels closer to the historical center. -- with our best from Minnesota,

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