UPDATEDec 2021: Steirereck wins Best Restaurant, Blue Badge Access Award 2019, for style and accessibility

Blue Badge Access Awards. Celebrating Exceptional Venues That Have a Thoughtful & Stylish Approach to Accessibility

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The Relative Lieutenant wrote this after a visit to Vienna and he thought Vienna was more accessible than he imagined. It’s very compact as long as you stay inside The Ringstrasse – a horseshoe-shaped avenue encircling the medieval centre. But there are cobbles!! Here’s his review of the Michelin Starred restaurant Steirereck and I’ve also added some research on hotels to stay at for a weekend break. The research is just that as we need reviews from anyone who has been there and knows of good/cool/trendy and accessible places to stay or visit. You can contact on FB or twitter if you prefer:

Well, Relative Lieutenant made the mistake of going to Vienna in the summer (40 deg C) and of course all of the musicians were on vacation but I can report that Vienna is a disabled friendly city. A prime example of this being the Michelin Starred Steirereck. I only had to walk from my hotel (the Intercontinental, looking old and tired but friendly enough) through the Stadtpark to find this restaurant that overlooks the canal (yes canal, but don’t worry). If you’re unable to get a reservation there’s also a ‘bistro style’ Meierei bar on the floor beneath. It’s located in an old Meierei (a milk market allowing city dwellers to buy direct from the dairy farmers). You can arrive in a wheelchair via the high tech disabled lift from the metro. Then it’s a short push to the purpose built ramp that takes you into the restaurant (make sure they know you are coming as they will need to unlock the gate to the ramp). From memory 6 courses were 95 Euro per head but well worth it. All the guides rate this as the best restaurant in Vienna and I totally agree. A selection of pics follow – including the very nice disabled loo.

Steirereck – Best restaurant in Vienna

Michelin Star Loo – neat!

Nibbles at Steirereck

Not drums but wash basins

Parsnip Cannelloni

Washing Line of Ham

Chocolates as Jewellry

Nibbles at Steirereck

Also well worth trying is the Schwarzen Kameel (the Camel!?) where you can try the expansive wine list (over 6 different Gruner Veltliners!) and Vienna style “tapas” i.e. open sandwiches. Uncertain about the loo facilities but access is easy from the street or you can eat outside at the cafe tables. (We’ve checked and they have a disabled toilet and there’s a small step into the restaurant).

Steirereck gets 3 BBS Ticks and Kameel 2.5 .

So to continue here are some places you may want to try in Vienna, accessibility seems to be variable but they all look cool! The DO&CO hotel is a member of Design Hotels who say that it’s ‘extravagant accommodations feature teak woodwork and stone integrated into a futuristic vision of modern design‘. It does look good but only has one disabled room with what we think is a wet room (they said a wheelchair could get into the shower) and there is a disabled toilet. It overlooks St. Stephen’s cathedral and has a rooftop garden. The restaurant serves traditional Viennese cuisine, Sushi and ‘High-End Kebabs” – I’ve got to try one of those!! We’re giving it a provisional 2.5 BBS Ticks.

The DAS TRIEST is a Conran designed hotel from 1996, (one of the first), and looks lovely in downtown Vienna. They have accessible rooms but with baths and no grab rails, apparently. However you may just want to visit Collio, their courtyard restaurant serving ‘modern Austrian dishes’, which is fragrant with rosemary bushes or the Silver Bar, which is popular with the Viennese after work. DAS TRIEST gets 2 provisional BBS Ticks.

Another ‘Hip’ hotel to try is 25hours which is part of the same group that owns The Goldman in Frankfurt (see previous review). Unlike the Goldman it is sort of accessible. There is a room with a big open shower but again no grab rails BUT there will be fully accessible rooms in the new part of the hotel and this opens 1st april2013. Lets hope it isn’t an April Fool!! It’s in the Museums Quartier and has a ‘surreal, surprising and sexy allure’. It gets a provisional 2.5 BBS Ticks.

The Sans Souci in the bohemian quarter of Spittelberg, is a hotel by the Phillipe Starck design group yoo, and has 2 rooms with wet rooms and grab rails. Sounds very accessible but a bit pricey. However, in the Museums Quartier, it does have original art by Roy Lichtenstein and Steve Kaufman, (Andy Warhol’s mate) to look at! It looks beautiful and stylish and gets a provisional 3 BBS Ticks as long as they really are accessible!!

Finally I can’t review anywhere without mentioning a bar to visit, in this case it’s LOOS American Bar. Vanity fair said

“In the fin de siècle Vienna of Sigmund Freud and Egon Schiele, the American Bar was a small, sleek temple of rebellion against the surrounding architecture. Designed by Adolf Loos, the bar was more of a statement than a business until 1995, when a new owner, Marianne Kohn, made it the place to be.”

That’s good enough for me and it’s accessible with a disabled toilet or so they told me. They get a provisional 2.5 BBS Ticks.

There are lots of other cool places but this blog would be too long to mention them all. Suffice to say I think Vienna may be a challenge to visit in places but worth the effort.

Blue Badge Style

We Re-Define Disability With Style

Steirereck, Vienna

Steirereck, Vienna

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