If money isn’t an issue, by all means join heads of state and royalty at the Imperial (+43/01/50 11 00, hotel.imperial@luxurycollection.com), whose opulent suites evoke Habsburg grandeur. A small step down is the Sacher (+43/01/51 45 60, wien@sacher.com) and yet another rung lower — in the €250-300 double range — is the modern Das Trieste (+43/01/58 91 80, rosi@dastriest.at), a wonderful hotel designed by British architect Terrence Conran.

For an unbeatable dead-center location and old-world authenticity, we like Kaiserin Elisabeth (+43/01/51 52 60, info@kaiserinelisabeth.at). Its spacious doubles start around €200. A hotel popular with Americans for decades, but which has never caught our fancy, is the König von Ungarn (+43/01/51 58 40, hotel@kvu.at), with doubles from €198.

The location is just as central and the rooms just as large as the Kaiserin Elizabeth at nearby Pension Aviano (+43/01/512 83 30, aviano@pertschy.com) where high-season doubles start €130. We know of no better value in the center. Frau Kafka also operates Pensions Pertschy (+43/01/534 490, pertschy@pertschy.com), Christina (+43/01/533 29 61, christina@pertschy.com) and Baronesse (+43/01/405 1061, baronesse@pertschy.com). All offer acceptable accommodations at lower prices. In that same price and comfort category is the Pension Nossek (+43/01/533 70 410, reservation@pension-nossek.at), where the affable Bernard sisters roll out a warm welcome.

Another good value in the center is the three-star Post (+43/01/515 830, office@hotel-post-wien.at), where doubles are €115.

Though a bit removed from the center, we dearly love Otto Wiesenthal’s Art Nouveau-style, Hotel Altstadt (+43/01/526 33 99, hotel@altstadt.at), behind the Neue Rathaus in a neighborhood of interesting shops and restaurants. Doubles start at €129 and Herr Wiesenthal is a great resource for restaurant recommendations.
The big chains such as Hilton, Marriott, Le Meridian are bereft of old world charm but sometimes offer attractive prices via the Internet. It was such a rate that put us at the Sofitel. Still, the deal wasn’t good enough to make up for the impersonal service.

Michelin’s Main Cities of Europe Guide awards a red roof-peak symbol (pleasant hotel) to a pair of three stars; the Kaiserhof (+43/01/505 1701, info@hotel-kaiserhof.at) and the Rathaus (+43/01/400 1122, office@hotel-rathaus-wien.at), both of which offer doubles for about e150.
A final thought: www.biddingfortravel.com reports successful bids at www.priceline.com for Vienna four-star hotels from $109 to $122. Among the hotels mentioned are the Marriott, the Sofitel and Intercontinental. The Marriott at $122 is an outstanding value.