When we booked our double room at the Favorita Hotel, we knew nothing about the Austria Trend group of hotels. Today, going by our experience at the Favorita, I’d happily stay in an Austria Trend property.With a total of 161 rooms, the four-star Trend Favorita is not a posh hotel, but it’s convenient, clean, and very comfortable. Besides that, it’s only about a 5-minutes walk from the Keplerplatz U-bahn station, which makes it quite easily accessible.
Our room, which was on the fourth floor, was very spacious and besides a massive bed, had a table, chairs, dressing table, minibar, a large television (with BBC and CNN), and a wardrobe, which also had a built-in safe. Our room also had its own balcony (the view, unfortunately, was unprepossessing: Laxenburger Strasse isn’t exactly pretty) and, this was a blessing, a fan that helped keep the room cool. The bathroom was also fairly large, at least compared to the ones we encountered in Italy and Salzburg.
Breakfast was a huge spread laid out in the dining room on the ground floor. This wasn’t a rolls-and-preserves breakfast: it was the type of meal that could probably fill you up for much of the day. There were different types of rolls, cakes, and pastries (this, after all, was Austria): cereals, fresh juices, cheeses, cold cuts, bacon and scrambled eggs, fruit yoghurt, fresh fruit, tea, and coffee. Among the more unusual items was a delicious marinated fish, studded with mixed seeds. By far the best breakfast I’ve had in a long time, and the buffet was replenished very regularly, something that I really appreciate.
Although we barely spent any time at the hotel, our interactions with the staff were by and large favourable. All of them spoke English fluently and were very helpful. When Tarun phoned in the evening to say that he wanted to check his email, the receptionist actually said, "Well, we don’t officially offer Internet services to guests, but if you hurry up, I’ll let you in here for 10 minutes." Now, that’s what I call sweet!
It may not offer connectivity, but the Trend Favorita does offer other facilities. There are banquet halls, a restaurant, bar, coffee shop, laundry, parking, airport transfers, and vehicles on hire. Although tariffs go as high as about €140 for a double room, we got ours at €70, which I thought was great value for money. Incidentally, of all the hotels we stayed in during our Europe trip, the Trend Favorita was the best--and the cheapest.
Bookings can be made with the hotel directly, or through the group’s website, www.austria-trend.at.