Description: For such a theatrical and musical city the concept behind the Cordial Theatre Hotel, situated just where the pedestrianised Linzergasse ends, is perfect. When they say 'theatre-hotel', they "mean" 'theatre-hotel'. The restaurant is decorated with colourful opera pictures and the walls by the lift are covered with signed photos of what are presumably theatrical celebrities in Austria (about the only one I recognised was a certain Luciano Pavarotti - whether he has ever stayed here I don't know, but thankfully they've refilled the breakfast buffet since then!). As an added conceit all the rooms are named after composers. Walking down the corridor my excitement built as I passed famous names on the doors - Strauus, Tchaikovsky, Bizet, Offenbach. After whom would my room be named? Imagine my disappointment when I discovered that it was Gustav Albert Lortzing!
Now, I may have never heard of Lortzing, but exist he certainly did - Austrian playbills of his works shared the walls of my room with French theatre prints, a lovely way to continue the theme. The room has the usual amenities - double bed, cable TV, en suite, and a window that opens to a view of the brown and wooded Kapuzinerberg. What I particularly liked though was that the room actually did come complete with the kitchen sink. And a draining board. And two hob plates should I have decided that I wanted to cook.
The complimentary breakfast buffet is certainly enough to stem your hunger until late afternoon - coldcuts, scrambled eggs, bread and jam, fruit salad, croissants and cake, juice, tea, and coffees all featured. Give yourself thirty minutes longer than you might anticipate, and this will help to keep the lunch bills down in notoriously expensive Salzburg.
Speaking of expense, what are the rates like? Well, from the price list on the rear of my door, and also from chatting to a couple of other guests, I think the rooms are roughly €125 - 155 a night. I can only really say 'I think'. I did not pay that price. I booked a week in advance via one of my favourite sites
www.venere.com where I have previously got good rates in Rome, Venice, and Verona. Here it worked out as €60 a night for a two night stay mid-week. And at those prices you certainly can't argue!
One last thing to mention is that as well as the usual bar and restaurant, this hotel also has a sauna. This is complimentary for guests, though they ask you give them thirty minutes warning to heat it up for you. Sadly I did not really have the time (or the shorts) to use this, but if I had known in advance I would have made sure that I did. I thought this was a lovely little touch, that summed up the hotel perfectly - everywhere they took that little extra care to enhance the experience of the paying guest.
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