Hotel Post

Minutes from the bustling carnival of the Schwedenplatz and five minutes from the Stephansdom, the 104-room Hotel Post is a big hotel on a little street. It's much bigger than the surrounding properties and consequently it feels less cozy. It's a fair value for a hotel in the middle of the Innere Stadt, as the rooms are big and the amenities ample.

Though large, the Post offers fragments of character crosshatched with the chain-style anonymity. A hotel has stood here for centuries (Mozart slept in this very spot!), though the building only became the Hotel Post in 1942. Inside the building, there's a beautiful wrought iron elevator and a cozy lobby area.

It's too bad that the art nouveau frontage belies rooms that are anonymous. While the oriental rugs in the rooms are a classic touch, the desks and beds are banal, and look as if they were sourced from a U.S. Midwestern chain hotel. Rooms have satellite televisions and hair dryers, but no wireless. Doubles are quite large, though some of that space comes at the expense of the en suite bathrooms, which are dark and cramped.