Always where I need to be...

Wednesday, 4:30 PM. Alex and I are sitting in the lobby of 5 stars hotel THE RING, waiting for our appointment with Mag. Céline Brigg, the very kind PR Manager of the new casual luxury hotel of Vienna. She soon arrives, and leads us to one of the three parts of the house (that was originally built as a residential building in the 1860's) which are protected as historic monuments - an old elevator. We go up several floors, while Céline tells us that the hotel was opened in november 2007. We soon enter one of the more spacious rooms (there are a total of 68 rooms, including the ring suite of 120 m²), in terms of colour it's theme is "Café au lait" - which means a lot of beige, brown and red. There are also rooms that have a green colouring, Céline explains. She then proudly shows us the stylish bathroom, equipped with Molton Brown products.

The Ring's target customers are musicians, designers, architects and other artists, as Céline explains to us. They try to be more laid back than the other luxury hotels on the Ring street. She said that they want people to feel comfortable wearing jeans inside a 5 star hotel.

While hearing about celebrities who already have resided here (Beyoncé, Anastacia, Kelly Clarkson, Ellen McPherson,...), we go up another floor to see the Spa area. It's located in the top floor from where you have a great view over the city. The fitness gear is top notch, and it sort of feels very intimate up here, because the Spa area is rather small. Céline then shows us the sauna from where you can look at the Karlskirche down below. 

We take another elevator back down to the lobby and Céline explains that wood has a key role in the design of THE RING. Different kinds of woods in different shades of brown were used all over the hotel.

We now sit down in the bar, called DRINGS (the hotel also has it'S own restaurant called "At Eight") and talk about the hotel business, the press, celebrities and the cooperation with the MQ VIENNA FASHION WEEK. The most interesting design feature of the bar is definitely the front of the bar. Artist Markus Mooslechner created the patterns on the acrylic glass through mathematical formulas. This art installation changes 4 times a year, to keep the bar dynamic.

Thanks again to Céline for showing us around!