K+K Hotel Maria Theresia, Vienna
We’ve stayed at K+K’s in London and Budapest, so we knew they had a good breakfast and quiet rooms. The Maria Theresia fit the model of our earlier experiences, and we especially liked their location near the Museum Quartier hotel and the Volkstheater metro stops. An extra bonus was the generous room sizes, much bigger than the rooms we’ve had in other cities!
view from the third floor
True to form their breakfast was quite good with a nice mix of warm and cold options. The front desk was also quite helpful arranging tickets to a show for my parents, a taxi on our last day, and restaurant reservations. We would definitely stay at K+K’s again after another good experience here.
Maximillian Hotel & Design Hotel Josef, Prague
We checked in to the Maximillian Hotel, but our intended floor was closed due to a fire alarm issue! The reception desk apologized and offered to transfer us to Hotel Josef, which coincidentally was our second choice for Prague. We were given the option of staying for the evening or for our three night stay, and they insisted on transferring our bags for us and walking us the two blocks to the other hotel.
Upon arrival at Hotel Josef we were offered free drink coupons and assigned a room in the pink house floor. The 3rd floor was smoking and our room definitely smelled like smoke. My parents were on the 2nd floor, a non-smoking floor, and their room smelled better.
The room was quite contemporary, with lots of glass and mirrors. Leandra’s note: I ran into to glass panel to the bathroom twice, mirrors and glass are not a good combo for me, apparently.
the fairly firm bed
Breakfast at Josef was very good, offering buffet items plus several options to order off a menu, including cinnamon latte and eggs Benedict, all included.
Due to the smoking floor discomfort we decided to switch back to Maximillian, and as before, they took care of the luggage transfer. As an extra bonus, they surprised us with a split of sparkling Czech wine plus chocolates for our inconvenience… very nice!
The room decor at Maximillian was a bit darker with more wood, neutral tones and a standard bathroom with tub. The amenities were the same at both hotels.
Our room had a nice view of the cathedral across the street, but unfortunately the windows allowed quite a bit of road noise through. We actually slept with ear plugs on our second night. The bed was much softer than at the Josef, okay for us but a bit too soft for my parents.
The breakfast at Maximillian was similar to Josef, but the food and service seemed less coordinated and prone to errors. Several incorrect items were delivered, and it was more difficult to get a server’s attention even though the breakfast room was smaller.
We booked directly through the hotel website for this stay because of a fantastic third night free promotion, so the value was definitely good. All in all we preferred the Josef, though we would probably stay a bit further south and closer to the river on a future trip.