grätzlhotel | BWM Architekten

Back in 2012, the URBANAUTS GmbH successfully launched a new hotel concept in Vienna: former stores redesigned into hotel rooms to guarantee an authentic Viennese feeling to visitors. The innovative concept offers not only a more intimate connection to city-living on the ground floor, but also the everyday shops, businesses, markets and cafés local to the area. As international attention began to grow, they found the ideal partner with Grätzl Betriebs GmbH to continue to develop the concept and expand into further locations throughout Vienna. The Grätzl hotel lobby illustrates the kind of authentic Viennese experince visitors enjoy. Together, the partners continue working to develop new possibilities for personal travel in Austria and break new ground with the URBANAUTS Hospitality Group. A project to further introduce the concept abroad is already in progress.
The URBANAUTS Hospitality Group was founded in November 2015, and now leads the hotel group. Managing directors are Fanny Holzer-Luschnig and Theresia Kohlmayr. Clemens Kopetzky (art:phalanx), Markus Kaplan (BMW Architekten), Jonathan Lutter, Christian Knapp (both Kohlmayr Lutter Knapp) and Professor Stephan Gerhard (TREUGAST Solutions Group – Horwath HTL) are further proprietors. The URBANAUTS Hospitality Group owns both the Grätzl Betriebs GmbH and the URBANAUTS GmbH.

grätzlhotel – the professional response to the airbnb trend
With the grätzlhotel, the URBANAUTS Hospitality Group sets a new mark for personal travel in Vienna. The international market of bland travel accommodation has become saturated, yet the way people travel continues to change. City-trips have become increasingly popular and personal stays far away from tourist paths more important. »Highly individualised people (H.I.P.)« are looking for travel experiences that enable authentic insights into the local lifestyle. The grätzlhotel interprets this trend up as a hospitality product that enables guests an urban authenticity and steers away from international, standardized structure. Hotel suites set in previously empty rooms on the ground floor offer space with a unique and authentic character. The grätzlhotel is the proper response to the airbnb trend: it provides a residence as individual as a private apartment, with the accommodation of a hotel.

Architecture - The revival of the ground floor zone
The city is not homogeneous – it‘s constantly in motion and change, certain districts are booming, others in decline. The ups and downs of city life are well-reflected in the ground floor areas, in the dense bustle of the main shopping streets and the old side streets where small stores and craft shops and empty streets have difficulty finding new uses. As a consequence, colorful showcases along the main arteries of Vienna have increasingly been replaced with garage doors – an alarming depopulation of urban space. But at the same time a quieter trend has also emerged. In the streets of some Grätzls, empty shops are now stirring with new life as young shops, cafés and creative offices now foster a new colorful economy. The grätzlhotel is part of the urban scene. True to the motto think globally, trade locally, the operators of grätzlhotels are local, visible and a part of the city landscape.

The suites - Design
The architects (BWM Architekten: grätzlhotel karmelitermarkt and grätzlhotel meidlinger markt / Kohlmayr Lutter Knapp: grätzlhotel belvedere) placed great importance on the design of the suites, ensuring that each of the ground floor rooms, immersed in city life, should also be a welcoming, comfortable retreat for their guests.
The design of the suites, which are similar to small apartments, follows an urban style reflective of the environment: tasteful, high-quality design integrating local elements. The original retro lighting of an abandoned lamp business now forms a light assemblage, a bamboo oasis discovered in a quiet backyard provides atmosphere for the Viennese jungle room. Surprise, humor and irony, combined with local stories, create a colorful melange of rooms.

The suites - Equipment
All suites are adequately furnished with appliances and are as unique as the guests themselves in terms of atmosphere and design.
Each suite is equipped with a kitchenette, complete with everything you need to cook a few specialties yourself. Viennese for a while can relax under the rain shower, fall into the heavenly box-spring bed and dream of Viennese apple strudel. Aching feet can replenish with a few Saint Charles Pharmacy items from the spa minibar. There‘s even enough space available to welcome some guests of the Viennese for a while.

The Grätzl

The Grätzl - Karmelitermarkt
The Karmelitermarkt dates back to the »Markt im Werd«, one of the oldest markets in Vienna. Today, a total of 80 stands offer a wide range of high quality products. The market, with its farmer's produce and talkative sellers have a smalltown aura, despite being situated in downtown Vienna. Excellent restaurants and sidewalk cafés abound, and on a sunny Saturday it‘s hard to find a free seat in front of the many shops . Around 7,500 patrons are there every week. Around the market there are small designer shops and specialty stores from a variety of industries, and also nearby is the recreation area Donaukanal. Another prominent cultural element of great importance to this Grätzl: located in Vienna's second district, the Karmelitermarkt also help form the center of Jewish life in Vienna.

The Grätzl - Belvedere
Around the castle Belvedere the complex lies one of the oldest bourgeois residential districts in the city. In addition to the numerous embassies here, you can also find some wellknown doorbell signs. For art lovers there’s the castle, located a few hundred meters away, to admire one of the most famous paintings in the entire world: »The Kiss« by Gustav Klimt. Near Vienna's main train station is the newly built Karlsplatz, with its many art and cultural activities, exciting architecture and all of the hustle and bustle just a short distance away. Viennese for a while move between imposing buildings deeply rooted in Viennese history. Nevertheless, the Grätzl still possesses a lot of village character, so you can enjoy the quiet Viennese life; on the grounds around the Elisabethkirche, for example.

The Grätzl - Meidlinger Markt
The square was mentioned by name since 1104. The market, however, first emerged during the interwar period. A good mix can be found on Meidlinger Markt today in every respect: food, languages and cuisine from around the world, young and old, new architecture and typical old Viennese houses – with its 50 stands, the market has a lot to offer. The generations-old Viennese feel just as at home here as those who visit the Grätzl because of its proximity to Schönbrunn Gardens – around 14,000 visitors come to see it from the inside each week to enjoy the farmer's market with a variety of stalls, restaurants and trendy cafés. A variety of small specialty shops surround the market as well.