The '
Black Eagle' is one of the oldest hotels in
Austria, if not Europe. Since the 1400's it has been continuously offering shelter to travellers, and has had many illustrious guests, from the 16th century mistress of the Austrian Emperor Maximilian, who did so much for
Innsbruck, to various Princes of England, one of whom was smuggling the crown jewels at the time. More recently it has been in the same family ownership for three generations, and for the past 25 years has been part of the
Romantik Hotel group. So far so good. However, town development has not been particularly kind - it is now at a minor traffic intersection, although being
Innsbruck, the traffic is rather light. And second, the interior designers have been let loose, so we suspect and hope that this wonderful old hotel is just going through one more phase in its history, a phase that will eventually pass, because the versace/swarhovski mix with state of the art lighting, feng shui, jacuzi baths and birch floor and furnishings might work in a city hotel in Stockholm, but they seem totally inappropriate here, where a long and turbulent history has been almost entirely ignored. The gushing female staff add to the crystal bathrooms and the boudoir feel of the bedrooms to create a sense of erotic naughtiness that is peculiarly Austrian. All in all, a rather eccentric place, a favoured haunt of Germans and Austrians on honeymoons or dirty weekends. Of the 32 rooms and 7 suites, the corner rooms with their little bay windows are the most interesting. The 4th and 5th floors are new, but are up in the eaves - 2nd and 3rd floors look best.