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Inside The Hilton Auckland, Where The Pool Hangs Off The Roof

Where: Princes Wharf 147 Quay St., Auckland, North Island, New Zealand, 1040

All this week, HotelChatter contributor Eric Rosen takes us on a tour of New Zealand’s hotel scene.

Though we stayed at the Langham during our three days in Auckland, we took the opportunity to visit a couple of the city’s other premier hotels including the Hilton.

The first thing that struck us as we dropped off a couple friends was the architecture. The hotel is on a renovated wharf, and was designed to look like a cruise ship, though it had more of an oil tanker aesthetic if you asked us. The one cool feature was the pool suspended four stories above the driveway, and you know how we like our dramatic hotel pools.

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Vienna Hotel Reviews / → All Tags

Fit for a Prince But No King at Prinz Eugen

Where: Wiedner Gürtel 14, Vienna, Austria, 1040

Visiting Vienna, Austria's attraction-crammed capital, is a good way to dive into either an Eastern European trip (it's less than an hour from Slovakia's capital Bratislava, and also right near Hungary, Slovenia and the Czech Republic) or to start an alpine-style Western European holiday (you could take in the rest of Austria, Switzerland and Germany).

Reaching all of these destinations is perfect by train, and staying near the South Railway Station Südbahnhof is ideal. Enter a number of accommodation choices: a popular one being the Prinz Eugen Hotel directly opposite the station.

The staff are often heavily-accented foreigners, but that doesn't matter as even if you speak a little German, the quirky dialect of Vienna is something you can never learn from a textbook. Some of the double and twin rooms are a bit cramped, but if you book a triple you could have enough space for a small orchestral performance (now that's life in Vienna!).

The Prinz Eugen tends to feel a little dark inside, but if you're visiting in winter it's no different outside. As in most of German-speaking Europe, a pretty elaborate breakfast is included, with more types of cheeses or bread rolls than anyone really needs. You can wheel your suitcase to the station or use your feet to get to the city center; if you're not feeling so fit or Vienna's under snow, the tram and subway are also right nearby.

But beware of the hotel's sketchy pink balconies.

[Photo:I am Jacques Strappe]

Related Stories:
· Prinz Eugen reviews [TripAdvisor]