Hotel Sans Souci Wien – Pop Art and a pool opposite the museums

Burggasse begins where the imperial city ends. On one side of the street lie the MuseumsQuartier and the long façades of the Habsburg museums; on the other, at number 2, a white Gründerzeit corner building with plum-coloured awnings marks the start of Spittelberg's lanes. This is Hotel Sans Souci Wien, a house of 71 rooms and suites that opened in December 2012 behind a façade from the 1870s. Inside, the London design collective YOO – Philippe Starck and John Hitchcox – set a contemporary interior of parquet, marble and graphic accents, and the owner, the collector Norbert Winkelmayer, hung it with Pop Art: more than 60 works by Roy Lichtenstein run across three floors. Downstairs is a 20-metre pool under crystal chandeliers, upstairs a champagne breakfast. The MICHELIN Guide gives Sans Souci two Keys, its mark for an exceptional stay, and at 71 keys it is one of the more intimate five-star houses in the city.

Here is what a stay is like: the history in the walls, which room to choose, and how to spend an afternoon between the museums and the pool.

01The house

The address has been a place of hospitality for more than 150 years. Before the present building, the site was home to the restaurant Zum großen Zeisig, where Johann Strauss gave the first performance of his Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka in 1858. The house that stands today dates from 1872 and opened as the Hotel Höller in time for the World Exhibition of 1873; the Hotel Höller stayed on the corner until 1953.

The Sans Souci Group bought the building in August 2010 and spent two years renovating and restoring it, keeping the historic façade and the generous proportions of the rooms behind it. The hotel opened in December 2012. YOO's interiors lean on clean lines and bold contrasts, with design furniture by Tom Dixon and Arne Jacobsen's Egg chairs set against a staircase of Jura limestone in which fossils are still visible.

Art is the thread that holds it together. Winkelmayer's Lichtenstein collection is shown as a curated art walk through the corridors and stairwells, and the hotel counts more than 90 original works in all, in the rooms, the restaurant and the public spaces – lithographs by Allen Jones and Steve Kaufman among them.

02Rooms and suites

The 71 rooms and suites are light in colour and individually designed, and they come in five categories. Superior rooms have 25 square metres; Luxury rooms have 30, and the Luxury Extended version of the same size adds a private balcony. Junior Suites run to 40 square metres and sleep three. The Master Suites, at 70 square metres, have separate living and sleeping areas, antiques mixed with modern design pieces, works by Lichtenstein on the walls, a window alcove with seating and views over the museums towards the centre; their marble bathrooms have a round bathtub and a rainfall shower.

Insider tip

Breakfast includes a glass of champagne; at weekends it is served until 14.00.

Beds are French box-spring mattresses by Treca Interiors with linen by Rivolta Carmignani, and a pillow menu runs from down to Swiss stone pine. All rooms are air-conditioned and the hotel is entirely non-smoking. When we read the hotel's website on 26 October 2026, Superior rooms were offered from €334 a night and Master Suites from €790.

03Veranda Brasserie & Bar

The hotel's restaurant is open to the city as well as to guests. Executive Chef Stephan Luksch cooks contemporary Austrian food from carefully chosen regional produce; about 20 suppliers from Vienna and the surrounding region provide most of the ingredients, much of it organic. Dinner is served daily from 17.00 to midnight, and the room is relaxed rather than formal.

Breakfast is a set piece here. A buffet of pastries, cold cuts, salads and quiches is joined by egg dishes cooked to order, and a glass of champagne is part of it. On weekdays it runs from 7.00 to 11.00; at weekends and on public holidays the restaurant serves from 11.00 to 14.00 for outside guests, and from 7.00 for those staying in the house.

04Champagne at the bar

The bar is built around champagne: more than 100 of them, from the great houses to rare discoveries, many poured by the glass, with cocktails and long drinks alongside. It opens daily from 17.00. In summer the Laurent-Perrier Lounge opens outdoors, with a designated smoking area – smoking is not allowed indoors. Private champagne tastings can be arranged on request.

05The spa and the 20-metre pool

At Sans Souci Spa the pool is 20 metres long and 3.40 metres wide, kept at 27.5 °C and lit by crystal chandeliers by Viabizzuno; the hotel describes it as the longest hotel pool in Vienna, and it is long enough for real lengths. Around it are a Finnish sauna at 90 °C spread over three levels, a sanarium at 60 °C, a steam bath at 45 °C scented with cedarwood, ice showers and an ice fountain, and three relaxation rooms. Massages and body treatments are booked separately.

The fitness studio is equipped with Technogym machines designed by Antonio Citterio, and personal trainers can be booked. The pool is open from 7.00 to 22.00; children aged 4 to 14 may swim with a parent between 10.00 and 16.00, and the sauna area is textile-free. Day-spa packages of two or four hours are sold to visitors who are not staying.

06The neighbourhood

Sans Souci sits in the 7th district, directly opposite the MuseumsQuartier, with the Leopold Museum, the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Naturhistorisches Museum within a few minutes' walk. Turn one way and the Ring and the historic centre are close; turn the other and Spittelberg's Biedermeier lanes fill with small restaurants and cafés. Mariahilfer Strasse, Vienna's long shopping street, is a short walk south. The U3 stop at Volkstheater is a few steps from the door.

07Making the most of a stay

Swim early, when the pool is quiet, and take breakfast late with its glass of champagne. Spend a morning in the museums across the road and come back for the sauna in the afternoon. Ask for a Luxury Extended room if you want a balcony, or a Master Suite for the view over the museum quarter. Book dinner at the Veranda for the first night, and end on the Laurent-Perrier Lounge in summer. Check-in is from 14.00 and check-out by noon.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.