Interview with Peter Schattauer, Cluster Manager Vienna at Ruby Hotels, about Ruby Marie Hotel Vienna

Lifestyle - Interview

by Melisa Kaya

You are welcoming with a different service concept in Ruby Marie Hotel Vienna. Lean Luxury is their philosophy. In Lean Luxury concept, you do not pay for services you do not use or want. Ruby Marie Hotel Vienna does not have a restaurant, room service or huge rooms, there is a 24/7 open easy-going bar and carefully designed rooms for your needs. On the other hand, Ruby Marie Hotel Vienna offers a Library, a Meditation & Yoga space, The Movie Lounge, Free guitars to rent, and Rooftop Garden for guests' convenience. To Ruby Marie Hotel Vienna, luxury means laid-back comfort instead of formalities. In order to learn more about Ruby Marie Hotel Vienna, I asked Peter Schattauer, Cluster Manager Vienna at Ruby Hotels.

Peter, before start talking about Ruby Marie Hotel Vienna, could you tell us about your background and your career at Ruby Hotels?

I started off my professional career in the kitchen. Initially, I worked as an apprentice at one of Vienna’s most famous restaurants “Plachutta.” After a few years of working as a chef, I made my way to the Food & Beverage Management, which led me to Ruby in 2014. I was lucky to be a part of Ruby nearly since the beginning. I started as Hotel Manager of the group’s first Hotel, Ruby Sofie. Later in 2017, I got the chance to open our third hotel in Vienna, Ruby Lissi, in the heart of the city. Due to personnel changes within the Hotels, I got the opportunity to manage all the three hotels in Vienna together with my fabulous Resident Managers Tanja and Stefan.

Ruby Marie Hotel Vienna - Loft

I would like to learn more about your location first. Where is Ruby Marie Hotel Vienna located in? What are the advantages of being there?

Ruby Marie is located directly at Mariahilfer Straße, Vienna’s biggest shopping street. When staying at Ruby Marie you, therefore, find yourself in the middle of Vienna’s 7th district, called Neubau, which is the heart of Vienna's creative scene. It is also home to and offers a variety of all kinds of bars and cafés to discover and enjoy.

It’s fun to stroll around all the narrow streets there with its second hand and handcrafted shops, vegan and vegetarian restaurants. Don’t miss the flea market twice a year (once in autumn and once in spring) and all the exhibitions at the Museumsquartier and Gallerie Westlicht.

Ruby Marie Hotel Vienna - Wow Room

Could you tell us about Ruby Marie Hotel Vienna and the overall concept?

Ruby Marie is located in the Stafa building -a former department store, which was turned into a hotel. The interior design of the hotel reflects this history of the building. Like the other hotels of our little hotel group, Ruby Marie follows Ruby’s lean Luxury Philosophy: Top location, high-quality room fittings, genuine design. All this at an affordable price by rigorously cutting out what to us is unnecessary and focusing on the essential.

Ruby Marie Hotel Vienna

Please tell us about the historic building that you are located in and its details.

The "Mariahilfer Zentralpalast" was opened 1911 as a department store. During the first World War, it was bought by the "Staatsangestellten-Fürsorgeanstalt" (Sta-Fa), hence the unusual nickname of the building "Stafa". During the 1920s, the Stafa became a shopping and cinema palace. Over the years, the building was constantly renovated, modernized and its purpose changed.

Ruby Marie Hotel Vienna - Bar

How would you describe the design concept of Ruby Marie Hotel Vienna?

At Ruby, we’ve got our own Interior Design Team, which creates custom-made design concepts for each hotel. The history of the building, the architecture or the location serve as a source of inspiration. Most of the furniture and decorations are hand-selected vintage pieces or specially-made to measure, the reference to the location and building also play a part in the design. For the artwork at Ruby Marie, we worked together with our friends at Format Works, a design agency from Munich, who created graffitis for each room as well as the public spaces that in reference to the shopping theme play with elements of modern graffiti art and critique of consumerism.

Ruby Marie Hotel Vienna - Loft Room

How many different types of rooms do you offer to your guests? What are their common and distinctive features?

Our 186 rooms are shaped by our Lean Luxury philosophy: the luxurious interior tastefully combines elegance with nonchalance. Hardwood flooring, cherry wood wall panelling, fine textiles and diligently composed lighting create a relaxed atmosphere. We have five different room categories: Nest, Cosy, Lovely, Wow and Loft, which differ in size, Nest being the smallest. All rooms basically have the same amenities: Luxurious beds with pocket spring mattresses and big high-quality linens, created especially for Ruby, which offer great sleep. A glass rain shower with our own aromatherapeutic Ruby care products and cozy extra big terrycloth towels. All rooms are equipped with a Marshall speaker-box, a 42‘‘ HD TV and a tablet-PC, which functions as an online-concierge. At Ruby Marie, every Loft room additionally has a small balcony.

Ruby Marie Hotel Vienna - Rooftop Garden

There is a Rooftop Garden in Ruby Marie Hotel Vienna. Could you tell us about the Rooftop Garden and its city view?

Our Ruby Marie Bar has a spacious rooftop terrace, an urban oasis, offering a great view over Vienna’s rooftops. It has lots of plants, graffiti art and comfy lounging furniture making it the ideal place to relax with a cool drink and recover from the hustle an bustle on busy Mariahilfer Straße.

Ruby Marie Hotel Vienna - Marshall Amplifier

Please tell us about your services and amenities. How could your guests spend time at Ruby Marie Hotel Vienna?

We love music, therefore, every room is equipped with a Marshall amplifier, ready for spontaneous jam sessions. The matching electric guitars can be lent at the bar for free. Alternatively, hotel guests can play their own playlists by connecting their smartphone to the amp. Our passion for music also shows in Ruby Radio, the hotel’s own radio stream. It plays our personal music selection 24/7 and can also be listened to outside of the hotel through an online stream.

Ruby Marie Hotel Vienna - Yoga Space

At our Yoga Space guests find time and space to relax – we also regularly offer Yoga courses which are free of charge for our hotel guests. During the summertime, these take place open air on our rooftop terrace. Very popular among guests is the Movie Lounge where you can watch blockbusters and classics daily from 6 pm.

Which services and features of Ruby Marie Hotel Vienna make it different from other hotels in Vienna?

What makes our hotel special is its unique character as well as the rooms with a stunning view over Vienna.

Ruby Marie Hotel Vienna - Bar

When guests leave Ruby Marie Hotel Vienna and step into the 7th Neubau district, what can they do?

As soon as you step out of the Hotel you’ll find a wide variety of small budget to high-end restaurants. Stroll down Mariahilfer Straße and get caught by its unique atmosphere. Basically, everything you need is located right around the hotel like shops, museums, or the aquarium which is located in an old fire control flak tower. Walk all the way down Mariahilfer Straße and you’ll suddenly find yourself in the historic old town to continue your Sightseeing Tour.

Ruby Marie Hotel Vienna - Library

What kind of additional services do you offer for business travelers?

Our Library, a combination of living room and workspace, provides space for small meetings and undisturbed work sessions - of course, our highspeed WiFi is available all around the hotel free of charge.

Ruby Marie Hotel Vienna - Work Space

How can travelers make their individual or business/group reservations? Do you have any advantage packs or reward packs that you offer to your regular and long-term guests?

Individual reservations can easily be booked through our website www.ruby-hotels.com. If you’re traveling with more than 9 people you can use our contact form www.ruby-hotels.com/groups.

Which is the top season for travelers who want to visit Vienna? What is the reason?

Vienna is a beautiful city to visit all year around. But I especially love it during spring and summer when nearly all the Bars and Restaurants open their famous “Schanigärten,” small open-air terraces, where you can enjoy the sun while watching the hustle and bustle of Vienna’s beautiful streets.

Ruby Marie Hotel Vienna - Lovely Room

What are the most famous attractions near you?

I´d say the Aquarium, the Museumsquartier, Leopold Museum and a few steps further down MariahilferStraßethe two Twin Museums (Museum of Natural History and the Art History).

Ruby Marie Hotel Vienna - Movie Lounge

If you have only one weekend in Vienna as a first-time visitor, in this limited time, what are the best things to do?

First, take a trip with the hop on - hop off a bus and choose what interests you the most and take a closer look at it. A must-see is the Ringstrasse with all its sights such as the state opera, the parliament, town hall, Volksgarten, Burggarten, the Butterfly House and so on. Another highlight isSchönbrunn castle – walk up to Gloriette and enjoy a Melange along with a great view of Vienna. After that, you might want to spin around in the Ferris wheel at the Prater, Vienna’s famous fairground. Don´t miss to enjoy a cold beer at the Schweizerhaus (huge beer garden) after a long walk through the prater.

How do you describe Vienna in one sentence?

Vienna is a vibrating, open minded, clean city, with a very unique character and a whole lot of very friendly and helpful people around.

Thank you Peter.

For more information, please visit website of Ruby Marie Hotel Vienna

This interview was conducted in a Question-and-Answer format. The answers were checked for grammar and punctuation and published without any additional editing. Wednesday, August 22, 2018. All photos are the property of their respective owners.