How the trout came to the reception
We also wanted to do justice to our guests’ anticipation of a special experience at the reception desk in terms of design. No matter how the motif was found: The motif at the reception is a coin-sized section of the skin of a young brown trout, which was carefully pulled out of the river by a fly fisherman and carefully put back immediately after being photographed.
A crosswalk in front of the hotel
Depending on the weather and temperature sensitivity, there is a small but nice covered “Schanigarten” on the street side and a spacious guest garden on the courtyard side. The way there leads over a very special pedestrian path: The “crosswalk” in front of the main entrance of the hotel represents a barcode, which results in the letter “Z” when scanned with a smartphone.
In search of the Zeitgeist logo
Directly in view and yet inconspicuous. Time may pass, but the attentive guest always encounters one element in Zeitgeist Vienna – be it on glass surfaces, the impact protection of the bocce court in the hotel’s inner courtyard, or the room card: the pergola. It is the wooden structure that greets the guest on entering the hotel on the ceiling, separates the bar from the reception and directs the step towards the guest garden. Our local café-bar Pergola owes its name and Zeitgeist Vienna its logo to this construction.
The extra room on the skyhook
Everyone associates a tent with memories of youth or vacations when you could not afford to stay in a hotel. Nevertheless, all are of the opinion: “Nevertheless, it was nice back then”. The tent combines reminiscence emotions with the actual situation taking place. There are 2 main reasons why the tent was placed on the back office: 1. as a concept, a tent and a hotel fit together perfectly. 2. the space was available. In the evening you can see the outline of the Zeitgeist in the tent, which likes to sleep there.
An essay in the mirror of the hotel room
ZEITGEIST – A word originating in the epoch of Enlightenment, which was extremely groundbreaking for the spiritual development of mankind. As soon as a name with historical reference is chosen, one must be aware of its origin and meaning. Accordingly, we asked the writer Hanno Millesi to write a text about the concepts of Zeitgeist and hotel. The conceptual framework for the essay was created by visual artist Martin Kitzler: 254 rooms, 1 mirror in each room, 6 words per mirror is 1524 words. To read the full text, you can visit all of our 254 rooms – or read it here.
Circle and stroke: The Zeitgeist font
Prefabricated fonts, the kind that anyone can use, seemed too anonymous for the most intimate areas of a hotel – the rooms as the guests’ retreat. As a result, the visual artist Martin Kitzler designed a new typeface: his handwriting. Basic shapes such as circle and stroke are used to create all the elements needed for lettering in Zeitgeist Vienna. A signature gives the house an unmistakable character and a high recognition value. Furthermore, the exclusively designed handwriting serves as the basis for the guidance and lettering system throughout the house.
A suitcase trestle on the way
We have avoided the usual hotel standard in almost all rooms with “cupboard left, right into the bathroom with a shower, sink and toilet arranged in a circle – done”. With us everything is different! Our rooms are thoughtfully designed to best meet the needs of our guests. For frequent workers or people who like to work in bed, we have developed a suitcase trestle that is set up to match the height of the desk and thus serves as an extended work surface or can also be pushed up against the bed as an additional table.
When dark times turn into “pink times”
A young mother is confronted with a cancer diagnosis and begins to paint during her oncological therapy. She sells these pictures and provides the proceeds to other affected families. Because affected families need support! Here the association “Rosarote Zeiten” provides financial support. We like the idea and the pictures. These are displayed in the restaurant-café-bar Pergola and can be purchased for a donation at our reception. You can also make a donation directly to the association: www.rosarotezeiten.at
The light comes on
“Darkness favors secret dealings” – We still welcome our guests with a homey light. When our guests enter their hotel room, they are greeted by our Welcome Light, so that they always feel welcome when entering the room and find their way around more easily. As additional light sources, there are reading lamps at the beds and dimmable desk lamps. In the bathroom itself, the mirror with its lights were attached at the front- after all, you want to see yourself well when putting on makeup or shaving.
The cabanossi and the bar
When designing our restaurant-café-bar Pergola, we were keen to create the most expansive bar area possible. On the one hand, our staff is offered enough space to be able to serve guests, on the other hand, the selfishly motivated needs of the planning people also played a decisive role: to create enough space to hang out comfortably at the bar. Incidentally, the starting motif for the design of the bar is a greatly enlarged photo of a snack that is very popular in Austria – a cabanossi, which fits conceptually well in a bar as a means of enjoyment and, moreover, is a fitting counterpart to the brown trout at the opposite reception. In addition, a cabanossi has a highly textured surface due to the maturing process, which leads to a very appealing texture in digital processing.
How our restaurant-café-bar Pergola got its name
Our restaurant-café-bar PERGOLA gets its name from the very object that the architect of the reception and restaurant area – Horst Zauner – has set as a visual separation between the reception and the restaurant across the entrance area to the inner courtyard. The wooden object is modeled after a pergola, which is often found outdoors in Mediterranean countries. This wooden sculpture is made of rough-sawn oak. Just as rough and irregular as the surface of the wood, the hanging was planned and executed… unbridled, mobile and changeable. Wood “works” ceaselessly, as well as the reception. Due to the loose fastening of the individual elements, the pergola can deform itself, which makes it steady.
The Zeitgeist essay on the back wall of the reception
Remember the mirror texts in our hotel rooms? The textually designed back wall behind the reception desk, which every arriving and departing guest looks at, also refers to the text lines of the Essays by Hanno Millesi The formal division of the text – into identical rectangles – refers to those analogous times when people still had wooden boxes in which the room keys were kept with enormously large tags.
Sometimes you have to switch sides to see the big things.
The part of the building that now houses Zeitgeist Vienna was originally planned as an office building. An office building with inconspicuous neutral simplicity of a functional building cannot be reconciled with the necessary positioning of a hotel. The external appearance of a hotel building is subject to different requirements than an office building facing inwards. Consequently, in the course of the redesign, the façade was given a personal touch – within the limits of technical and regulatory feasibility.
The garden of the guests
The guest garden in the courtyard is especially close to our hearts. In the midst of a metropolitan built-up area, we want to offer visitors an opportunity to relax, enjoy or even engage in physical or play activities. After a sightseeing tour or a business meeting, comfortable garden furniture and deck chairs invite you to linger. Children are allowed to romp around away from traffic, dogs are allowed. For the activity needs of some guests we provide sports equipment such as TRX, kettlebells, ropes and enough space for yoga. For those who want to spend their time playfully with golf, badminton or bocce, all well-equipped facilities and equipment are available. Bicycles for tours of Vienna can also be rented free of charge.
Objects for eternity
In the design of the hotel, great emphasis was placed on individuality and originality. Why then shouldn’t “utility objects” also be individually designed? Artist Bartholomew Kinner has created and produced unique constructions: Signs, flyer displays, rolling display cases with card holders, tent poles, …
Little dog seen in big
Many of our guests already know the good soul of the house personally: Our guest favorite Mila would love to greet each visitor individually – every day, from early morning until late at night. To make this possible even when Mila is not in the hotel, we have installed an XXL version in our green courtyard on the stairs to our seminar & event center Mezzanin. This way, Mila always has an eye on what’s going on – and any treats lying around.
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Early check-in from 2pm
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Late check-out until 2pm
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Do you have any questions?
For more information about our hotel, the rooms or other offers, please contact Ela or Nina from our reservation department or our reception. We are available for you daily from 0-24 o'clock and look forward to your request!
