Hotel Sacher Wien

Eduard Sacher, son of Franz Sacher, who created the Original Sacher-Torte in 1832, opened his hotel opposite the Vienna State Opera in 1876, and it soon became a meeting place for the leading figures of politics, the arts and society. It is still privately owned and run by the Gürtler and Winkler family, who have kept the manner of the old Habsburg capital while bringing the building fully up to date. Alexandra Winkler reworked the rooms with the French designer Pierre-Yves Rochon, and each is individually decorated with antiques and original oil paintings; the upper floors look across the rooftops to the Opera, the Hofburg and the Albertina. Dining follows what the house calls its Sacher trilogy: Viennese classics with live piano in the Rote Bar, international haute cuisine with a sense of Viennese history and imperial style in the Grüne Bar, and drinks before and after the Opera in the Blaue Bar. The Torte is still made to a guarded recipe for Café Sacher and Café Bel Étage, and the Sacher Boutique Spa has private treatment suites, a steam bath and a sauna.