Restaurant Review: The Strand Cafe (Vienna, Austria)

The Strand Cafe

After our a whole day day tour of some of Vienna's tourist attractions, Vicky recommended we have dinner at The Strand Cafe, a popular beach café, in Vienna’s 22nd district, surrounded by greenery that opens up to the beautiful, blue Old Danube (Alte Donau). 

We entered its garden with its large, 20 year old horse chestnut trees planted here specifically to provide shade for the guests.  

Check out "Natural History Museum," "Kunsthistorisches Museum," "Kunsthistorisches Museum - Picture Gallery," "Kunsthistorisches Museum - Kunstkammer,""Kunsthistorisches Museum - Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection," "Kunshistorisches Museum - Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities," "Hofburg Palace," "Imperial Treasury," "Volksgarten," "Neue BeNeue Berg," "Neue Berg - Collection of Historic Musical Instruments," "Neue Berg - Collection of Arms and Armor," "Neue Berg - Ephesos Museum," "Roman Ruins," "Michaelerplatz," "Graben Street," "St. Stephens's Cathedral"

The cafe entrance

Open in 1921 and redesigned in 1983 by the Viennese architectural firm Markus Bauer, the café, one of numerous Viennese Wirtshaus (a term which includes cafés, restaurants, bars and eating establishments in general) located directly on the water, has been owned, since 2009, by the Yeritsyan family.  

The building by the water is painted with the traditional moss green color, which corresponds to the surrounding nature, seamlessly integrating the building into the cultural landscape. 

The light gray-white color of the roof, on the other hand, allows associations with a parasol

Chicken Schnitzel

The café’s 340 sq. m. dining room, divided into cozy rooms by half-height, wood-paneled walls, has a long glass front, flooded with light, with large, but finely structured windows that create a bright and airy space and thus create an intensive connection to the surroundings. 

Two attached roof hoods structure the hall by different room heights and provide even more natural light.  On its walls are pictures of old views reflecting the history of the Old Danube and its bathing culture. The room seats 290 and has a direct view of the water and the Vienna skyline. 

An array of salads

A spacious staircase led us to the actual "heart" of the restaurant - lovely and spacious seating terraces directly on the water. We decided to dine on this outdoor dining area, a raft made from local oak and larch wood.  

Here, we enjoyed good food (chicken schnitzel, salad, etc.) under umbrellas while gazing at boats, people doing stand-up pedalling or doing other water sports in the river as well as the romantic sunset over the Vienna skyline. The restaurant offers good traditional dishes, such as the Viennese cutlet, schnitzel (pork, veal and chicken), steckerl fish, Vienna-style potato soup plus Czech Budweiser beer, dark beer (Dunkeles Bier), a couple of good wines from Austria and a good choice of vegetarian dishes.

L-R: Vicky (partially hidden), Jandy, Cheska and Manny

Though we didn’t try some, the café serves the most delicious spare ribs (priced around €18) and grilled food in town.  The ribs are classically served, Asterix & Obelix style with two delicious house sauces, crispy roasted apples, fried potatoes, onions and chili peppers, on a big wooden board and the portions are huge. 

The staff was very nice and helpful and, as with other places in Vienna, the prices were not excessive. The nice, simple, no-nonsense and quite relaxed Strand Café, combining holiday flair and traditional Viennese hospitality, was truly very pleasant. 

NOTE:On September 10, 2018, the restaurant was closed due to noise and exhaust air problems. After the installation of a new closed grill kitchen with high-tech filter system for exhaust air purification plus other adaptations and improvements, the restaurant reopened on May 15, 2020.

Strand Café: Florian-Berndl-Gasse 20, 1220 Vienna. Tel: 01/203 67 47. E-mail: servus@strandcafe-wien.at. Website: www.strandcafe-wien.at. Facebook: www.facebook.com/anderAltenDonau/. The Guest Room is open daily, from  AM – midnight; the Promenade from 11 AM – midnight, the Waterfront Terrace from 5 PM – midnight. The kitchen is open from 11:30 AM to 10 PM. €€€

How to Get There: Take U1 subway line to Alte Donau, cross the river and after 200m the restaurant will be on your right. 

Hotel and Inn Review: Azimut Vienna Delta Hotel (Vienna, Austria)

Date of Stay: August 28-31, 2015

RATING (Scale of 1 to 10)

Location: ********

Rooms: ********

Condition and Cleanliness: ********

Staff Performance: *******

Room Comfort: ********

Food and Beverage: ******

Other Amenities: ******

Value for Money: ********

Azimut Vienna Delta Hotel

24-hour Front Desk

The 7-storey, 4-star  Azimut Vienna Delta Hotel is located next to the Hauptbahnhof (Main Train Station, a 5-7-min. walk).

Built in 2006, it offers 180 non-smoking rooms (155 standard double, 17  superior double, 7 standard triple and 1 junior suite). 

Cozy and comfortable, the rooms are furnished with flat-screen satellite TV, climate controlled airconditioning, work desks, laptop-compatible in-room safes, blackout curtains/drapes and private ensuite bathrooms with hot and cold showers and hairdryers. 

Upgraded rooms have balconies while suites have separate living rooms. Rollaway/extra beds and hypo-allergenic bedding are available. Infant beds/cribs are offered for free.    One pet is allowed inside the room for an extra charge of EUR 8 per night.

Hotel lobby

Bar

Lounge

The hotel also has a contemporary and cozy bar/lounge, elevator, 2 meeting rooms (up to 12 pax), safety deposit boxes, basement parking, computer station, heating, coffee/tea in the lobby facilities for disabled guests, and luggage storage. 

Buffet breakfasts are available (for a surcharge) and are served each morning between 6:30 AM and 10 AM. The friendly, multilingual professional staff at the 24-hour front desk can provide tour/ticket assistance, express check-in and express check-out.  Services offered include banquet facilities, laundry, dry cleaning, ironing service, packed lunches, concierge service, a tour desk, daily housekeeping, fax/photocopying, ticket service, airport drop-off service  (surcharge) and free  wi-fi internet access in all the rooms and some public areas.  

Located near the Wiedner Gürtel and the Südtiroler Platz in the heart of Vienna, it is 1.2 kms. (0.8 mi.) from Belvedere Palace , 2.3 kms. (1.5 mi.) from the Secession Bldg., 2.5 kms. from the Vienna Opera House, 2.7 kms. (1.7 mi.) from the Albertina and 2.8 kms. (1.8 mi.) from the Austrian National Library.  

The hotel is just minutes walk to the subway, where 4 subway stops (Stephanplatz Metro Stop) leads you to St. Stephen’s Cathedral. Just around the corner is the "Favoriten Strasse," a unique pedestrian area with international shops and cozy local boutiques and a great choice for travelers interested in monuments, sightseeing and city walks. For those interested in journeying to Bratislava (Slovak Republic), it's a 10 minute walk to the Sudbahnhof.

Azimut Vienna Delta Hotel: 8, Sonnwendgasse, Vienna, Austria, 1100 Tel.: +43 -1-961 64 00. Toll Free: ‎1 800 1 114 2079 (Philippines), +64-9985-3513 (from abroad)‎

Hotel and Inn Review: Hotel Garni Evido Salzburg City Center (Salzburg, Austria)

Date of Stay: August 26-28, 2015

RATING (Scale of 1 to 10)

Location: ********

Rooms: ******

Condition and Cleanliness: *******

Staff Performance: ******

Room Comfort: ******

Food and Beverage: *******

Other Amenities: *****

Value for Money: *******

Hotel Garni Evido Salzburg City Center

Hotel entrance
(photo: www.bookings.com)

This centrally located and easily accessible, 3-star and family-run hotel, opened in May 2008, is located not far away from the center of Old Town Salzburg.  

Its location is a plus as it is near the Salzburg Hauptbahnhof (central train station, a 1-min. walk) and the Salzburg Congress Convention Center but it may be hard to find (it’s behind a 24-hour gas station) as it had no sign whatsoever in front of the building where it is located.

Their 20 clean and comfortable en-suite rooms (single, double or twin, triple, family and superior double), all on the second  floor of the building, can only be accessed by stairs (not good news for old people or those with heavy luggage).  They had a lift but it wasn’t working. The rooms are all sound-proof (when the windows are closed) and non-smoking but have no airconditioning (you have to open the windows for fresh air). 

Double or twin room (photo: www.bookings.com)

www.bookings.com

www.bookings.com

They have private bathrooms fitted with a hairdryer (bring your own shampoo, soap etc. as the bathroom only has a commercial soap dispenser), a flat-screen LCD TV, a desk and an in-room safe.  Free Wi-Fi is available throughout but you have to request for the code from reception.

They advertise as having a 24-hour front desk but the manager is oftentimes not around. Breakfast, included in the room price, is served at 7:30 AM.  Buffet breakfast consists of rolls, bread, hard boiled eggs, ham, cheese, cereal (granola) with yogurt and/or milk, plus coffee, hot chocolate and juice from a machine dispenser. 

Breakfast area (photo: www.bookings.com)

In the vicinity of the Evido Hotel, there are many restaurants and cafes plus a shopping complex (Forum 1). The Old Town can be reached in a 15-minute walk, and the closest stops of the public transportation service are a 3-minute walk away. 

They offer currency exchange, tours , ticket service , baggage storage, car rental  and express check in/check out. Salzburg cards and free maps are available at the hotel. 

The hotel is located 0.6 kms. from the Mirabell Palace, 4 kms. from Salzburg Airport and 0.2 kms. from the Kiesel Bus Station.

Hotel Garni Evido Salzburg City Center: Saint-Julien-Straße 33, Elisabeth-Vorstadt, 5020 Salzburg, Austria. Tel: +43 662 875400. E-mail: info@evido.at.  Website: www.evido.at.

Restaurant Review: Brasserie Le Lyautey (Versailles, France)

Brasserie Le Lyautey

We had just done the palace and gardens and, having been on our feet for hours, we wanted to sit down for a leisurely late lunch. On one of the main routes to the Chateau of Versailles, opposite the beautiful Rive Gauche railway station (which has a direct and frequent service to Paris on the RER line C), we dropped by the Brasserie Le Lyautey located behind the Information Station and the bus stop.

Well frequented by locals (always a good sign of consistency), they had an affordable set lunch menu of some good value, authentic (but not esoteric) classic French food. This was not fine dining, with its small tables and limited menu but it was well worth it.  You can sit outside on the terrace, enjoying the sun and your meal while watching people pass by on the charming boulevard.

L-R: Manny, Jandy, Kyle,Grace and Cheska

Waiters here do not speak or hardly speak any English but communication here was via a menu with English translations. 

We ordered a couple of salads, a half-smoked salmon with lemon cream and rye bread, a steak with salad and French fries and salmon with risotto. The food was good but the portions were small. 

Steak with salad and French fries

They've also got free wifi.  The only issue here was the service was a rather slow.  Waiting to order, waiting for the food and waiting for the bill all took some time. In fairness, restaurant and bar service in Europe is almost universally slower than in the United States. I'd say this is one of your better options as it is a convenient spot to stop before or after your visit to the Chateau.

Half-smoked salmon with lemon cream and rye bread 

Brasserie de Lyautey: 6 Place Lyautey, 78000, Versailles, Tel: +33 1 39 50 20 65. Open daily, 5:30 AM – 12 midnight.

Hotel and Inn Review: Ibis Paris Gare de l'Est 10th (Paris, France)

Date of Stay: August 23-26, 2015

RATING (Scale of 1 to 10)

Location: ********

Rooms: *******

Condition and Cleanliness: ********

Staff Performance: ******

Room Comfort: ********

Food and Beverage: *******

Other Amenities: ********

Value for Money: *******

Ibis Paris Gare de l'Est 10th

The economy-class (3-star), 7-storey  Ibis Paris Gare de l'Est 10th hotel, located at the 10th arrondissement  in north-east Paris, is a great choice for travelers interested in sightseeing, monuments and museums.  Built in 1988, this straightforward budget hotel was renovated in 2001.

This inviting, modern and cozy hotel has 112 air-conditioned rooms (10 of them connecting and 31 non-smoking) with comfortable beds, flat-screen cable TV, private bathroom (with bathtub and hair dryer), NDD/IDD phone, writing desk, RJ 45 outlet and high-speed and wireless WIFI Internet access, including 4 adapted for disabled persons. Rates: US$155-178.

Front Desk

Hotel lobby

Bar

It also has 2 meeting rooms, a bar, snacks 24/24, business center, public covered parking and public outdoor pay parking, 24-hour front desk and an elevator.  They also offer babysitting/child care, car rental, daily maid service and laundry/dry cleaning service.  Luggage storage is also at your disposal. 

Buffet breakfast, served from 6:30 AM to 10 AM, includes freshly baked breads, pastries and madeleines, a wide range of fruit, cooked meats, cheese, eggs, regional products, cereal etc. Gluten-free products are served on request.

They accept Visa, Eurocard/Mastercard, American Express and Diners Club cards. Earliest check in and latest check out: 12 noon.

The hotel is located 2 km from the Sacré Coeur basilica; 25 kms. from Charles de Gaulle International Airport, 5 kms. from the Arc de Triumphe and Musee de Orsay; 4 kms. from the Nore Dame Cathedral, 3.5 kms. from the Louvre Museum; 6 kms. from the Invalides and Eiffel Tower;  and 30 kms. from the Chateau de Versailles. 

The Gare de l'Est Train Station is located just 183 m. (a 2-min. walk) from the hotel.  Place de la République is only a 15-minute walk away. The Gare de l'Est Metro entrance is just mins. away.  It is also 10 mins. away from the Eurostar terminal, near the famous Montmarte.

Ibis Paris Gare de l'Est 10th: 6, Rue St Laurent 75010 Paris, France.  Tel. (+33)1/40380505. Fax: (+33)1/42057116.  Toll Free: 800-221-4542. E-mail: h2023gm@accor.com. Website: www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-2023-ibis-paris-gare-de-l-est-10th/index.shtml.  GPS: N 48° 52' 31.58'' E 2° 21' 30.44”