Select Page

Zeitgeist Secrets

Zeitgeist Vienna is not a conventional hotel. Our house is unique and does not remain in a static state – it lives, grows, thrives, was (and is) planned by architects, artists and creative minds, furnished by skilled craftsmen and managed by ambitious professionals committed to this diversity and vitality.

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.

Zeitgeist Secret No. 2

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.

Zeitgeist Secret No. 3
Zeitgeist Secret No. 4

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 with origins in the Age of Enlightenment, which was extremely seminal for the intellectual development of mankind. As soon as a name with a historical reference is chosen, one must be aware of its origin and meaning. We therefore asked the writer Hanno Millesi to write a text on the concepts of zeitgeist and hotel. The visual artist Martin Kitzler created the conceptual framework for the essay: 254 rooms, 1 mirror in each room, 6 words per mirror are 1524 words. To read the full text, you can visit all of our 254 rooms – or read it here.

Zeitgeist Secret No. 5
Zeitgeist Secret No. 6

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.

Zeitgeist Secret No. 7
Zeitgeist Secret No. 8

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.

Zeitgeist Secret No. 9
Zeitgeist Secret No. 10

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.

Zeitgeist Secret No. 11
Zeitgeist Secret No. 12

The Zeitgeist essay on the back wall of the reception

Do you 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 lines of text in Hanno Millesi’s essay on the concepts of zeitgeist and hotel, but also in the formal division of the text – into identical rectangles – 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.

Zeitgeist Secret No. 13
Zeitgeist Secret No. 14

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, …

Zeitgeist Secret No. 15
Zeitgeist Secrets 16

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.

Book directly and enjoy the benefits

R

Always -15% exclusive discount

R

Early check-in from 2pm

R

Late check-out until 1pm

R

Up to -20% with the Green Rates

Do you have any questions?

For more information about our hotel, the rooms or other offers, please contact our reservation department or our reception. We are available for you daily from 0-24 o'clock and look forward to your request!

The motto of our breakfast buffet is “organic, regional & home-made”.