What's New: An Online Update for Frommer's Vienna

Vienna is changing. No longer is it thought of as a city of sausages and beer, with old ladies eating fattening pastries in the afternoon. Its hipness and stylish nightlife recall Berlin between the wars. Vienna boasts a hip, chic modern scene to go with all that imperial grandeur left over from the twilight of the Hapsburgs.

Vienna continues to move forward with openings in spite of the falloff in the global economy. In the autumn of 2008, the city unveiled new Tram connections along Vienna's famous Ring Boulevard, linking for the first time the center of the city and major destinations outside of the First District. One line now connects all of the major sights on the Ring, including the Burgtheater, City Hall, Parliament, the Museum of Fine Art and Natural History, the Hofburg, and the Vienna State Opera.

A new luxury hotel, Steigenberg Hotel Herrenhof, has opened in the heart of Vienna's Old Town. Behind its neo-classical façade, a stylish interior awaits you, complete with art nouveau embellishments, as well as features from Vienna's 1920s Modernist movement. The hotel's cafe blends Vienna coffeehouse charm with piano music. Also in the city center, a small hotel, Hollman Beletage -- Design & Boutique, has opened with 16 spacious bedrooms. Once the house of a nobleman in the 1800s, this is one of the special discoveries of Vienna, with such features as a lobby with a fireplace, a small, elegant spa, and live piano music in the evening.

The most unusual opening is the Rathaus Wine & Design, a hotel not far from the city center. Here everything centers on the subject of wine, and each of the individually created double rooms is dedicated to a top Austrian winegrower. There are even "wine cosmetics" in the bedrooms, and the manager organizes wine tastings for guests.

A favorite design hotel, the Alstadt, has added nine rooms designed by the noted Italian architect Mattheo Thun. The hotel is increasingly becoming a rendezvous point for artists and musicians. Similarly, Levante Parliament Hotel's corridors are a virtual gallery, including the wild glass work of Ioan Nomtoi in the lobby. The hotel is often a venue for avant-garde presentations such as "Austrian Queer Book" nights.

Launched in 1876, the venerable Hotel Sacher is keeping up with the times, with its fab new spa, featuring chocolate body wraps. The exclusive Sacher Spa offers a holistic approach inspired by traditional philosophies, combined with modern medical insights.

On Vienna's gastronomic front, Artner am Franziskanerplatz, a former print works, has been converted into an elegant new restaurant. A Michelin starred head chef, Maximilian Aichinger, specializes in traditional Austrian dishes with a modern twist. A stunning new design and a top-level cuisine are luring more and more serious foodies to Österreicher im MAK in the Museum for Applied Arts (MAK). Award winning chef Helmut Österreicher is in charge, and he's given both the menu and the décor a mod new look. The talented chef calls his cuisine "a new interpretation of the Viennese Gasthause."

The legendary Cafe Drechsler was recently restyled by the famous British designer, Sir Terence Conran. Night owls are happy about its reopening, and even at three o'clock in the morning it's a popular meeting place for Vienna specialties and excellent coffee. A chic new lesbian café, Café standard, is drawing patrons of all sexual persuasions. You can head here at eight in the morning for a hearty breakfast, for drinks in the afternoon, or for full meals until midnight. Aesthetics and culinary experience blend to form a harmonious whole at Unger & Klein, a cross between a wine store and a bar. You can spend an entire evening there.

In a disappointing development, Vienna's renowned Spanish Riding School, famed for its Lipizzaner stallions and their elegant strutting and sprightly dancing, announced it is on the verge of bankruptcy. The 430-year-old school, which stages shows at the former imperial palace at the Hofburg, is among Vienna's top attractions. High personnel costs were blamed for the school's mounting losses.

Viennese wine, often shunned for better known Austrian vintages, is making a big comeback at various heuigers, or wine taverns, on the outskirts of Vienna. Much of the new prestige of Vienna wine can be attributed to the Wieniger family. A showcase for their wines is Wiengut wieninger, where you are welcomed with charm and grace to sample wines.

Accommodations

• Steigenberger Hotel, Herrenhof, Herrengasse 10 (tel. 01/534-04-0; www.steigenberger.com) has opened in the heart of Old Town
• Hollmann Beletage -- Design & Boutique, Köllnerhofgasse 6 (tel. 01-96-11-960; www.hollmann-beletage.at) now offers an intimate accommodations option.
• The new Rathaus Wine & Design, Lange Gasse 13 (tel. 01-400-11-22; www.hotel-rathaus-wien.at) features unique, wine-themed rooms.
• Levante Parliament Hotel, Auerspergstrasse 9 (tel. 01-53-54-15; Fax 01-53-34-515; www.thelevante.com) is often a venue for avant-garde presentations
• Hotel Sacher, Philharmonikerstrasse 4 (tel. 01-51-45-60; www.sacher.com) has a brand new spa with a luxouriously holistic approach.
• Hotel Alstadt, Kirchengasse 41 (tel. 01-52-26-66; www.altstadt.at) has been newly renovated.

Dining

• Artner Restaurant am Franziskanerplatz (tel. 01/503-50-34; www.artner.co.at) house in a converted print works, is new to the dining scene.
• Österreicher im MAK, Stubenring 5 (tel. 01-71-40-121; www.oesterreicherimmak.at) welcomes a new chef and a new, modern look.
• Unger & Klein, Gölsdorfgasse 2 (tel. 01/532-13-23; www.ungerundklein.at) continues to be a popular combination wine store-eatery.
• Vienna's Cafe Drechsler, Linke Wienzeile 22 (tel. 01/581-20-44; www.cafedrechsler.at) was recently renovated.
• Café Standard, Margaretenstrasse 63 (tel. 01-58-10-586; www.cafe-standard.at) is a chic new lesbian café.

Activities/Attractions

• Spanische Reitschule (Spanish Riding School), Michselerplatz 1, Hofburg (tel. 01-53-39-032; www.srs.at) is on the verge of bankruptcy, due to high personnel costs
• Weingut Wieninger, Stammersdorfer Strasse 8 (tel. 01-29-01-012; www.weingut-christ.at) offers the chance to taste Viennese wine, which is making a comeback.

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