One of the most memorable nights I've ever stayed anywhere! This is an incredibly historic property…read morethat has a long history dating back to 1736. It has 55 rooms in the simpler and recently totality redone Meierhof Wing and 12 suites in the historic palace. While it's peaceful and secluded, It's only about a half hour walk (slightly uphill) through gorgeous gardens and parts of castles to the Old Town of Salzburg. There are 17 acres of manicured grounds and it's next to a beautiful small lake full of ducks with views of the mountains and the imposing Hohensalzburg Fortress.
The palace has been inhabited in the past by an Arch Bishop (whose heart is buried in the private chapel!), Princess Stephanie von Hohenlohe (who was a spy in WW II) and Max Reinhardt, the incredible producer and creator of the Salzburg music festival.
So many stories of intrigue in this palace!
You can stay in a suite in the palace property itself, or they have an annex next-door. I stayed in the less expensive annex in their most simple room and they've all been redone and are very basic but perfectly comfortable and clean; the thing is you can spend as much time as you want next door in the palace. So I checked in and then walked over to the palace and stayed there all day. You can even stay into the night exploring the rooms and reading books in the library, walking up and down the stairs and seeing all the various paintings and incredible curiosities, pieces of art, and sit in the private baroque chapel. In the evenings, there's a bar and restaurant that's open late in the Meierhof wing.
Of course the ultimate is to book one of the beautiful suites in the palace; some of them have great names like the "Marlene Dietrich" suite (who actually stayed here in the palace) and I believe that the "Max Reinhardt" suite is one of the best ones. I can't describe how amazing it is to be able to stay in an 18th century baroque palace with original furnishings and to sit in the chairs and read the books and actually touch the antiques. There are no "do not touch" signs, so you can really feel at home. I can only imagine all the intrigues that went on here! It's a bit like the movie "Dangerous Liasons"! The palace has been used as a location in several films, including some scenes of "The Sound of Music". If you're staying here, they basically give you full access to the palace (other than the private rooms, of course). The lake is absolutely gorgeous and the hotel has bikes that you can use for no extra charge and bike around the lake and town on the paths. My favorite thing was in the evening to walk around the palace, and explore the various rooms. The library is spectacular. It has a hidden door convered with books that leads to a spiral staircase which goes up to the top second level of the library. It's unfortunately blocked off, but it's so fun to find the door!
Breakfast in the morning is held in the ballroom and it's one of the most beautiful rooms I've ever seen in my travels. I can't say that breakfast is the best ever but it's good. Even the most gorgeous "Palace" hotels I've stayed in like the Palace Hotel in Saint Moritz or maybe the Crillon in Paris don't have the authentic faded original glamour that this property has. It's really a must to stay here, even for one night. I'll never forget my wonderful night here.
It's so easy to get to the Salzburg airport as well. I think it took me less than 20 minutes in a taxi.