Design Hotel zum Hirschen Salzburg

By the Top3Hotels editorial team. Based on Booking.com guest scores and reviews, location data and reference prices. We did not stay at this hotel. Updated 2026-10-24.

Design Hotel zum Hirschen is worth booking if you want a well-rated four-star base near the main station and Mirabell Palace for less than the city's typical rate. Skip it if you hate paying separately for breakfast, parking or a pet, because guests flag those extras as the weak point.

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Who it suits and who should skip it

This is a sensible pick for couples and families who arrive by train and want to walk into the sights. The property lists family rooms, a gym, a restaurant, a garden and a terrace, and the listing is tagged as pet friendly. Guests who care about friendly service at reception tend to come away happy.

Travellers on a tight budget should look harder at the numbers. Several guests say room rates and the extra fees for breakfast, parking and pets feel high. If you plan to use all three, the real cost of a stay will sit well above the room price shown here.

Location and getting around

The hotel is at Elisabethstrasse 5 in Elisabeth-Vorstadt, on the station side of the river. Guests describe a short walk to the main train station and to Mirabell Gardens, plus easy bus access.

Straight-line estimates give you about 8 minutes on foot to Mirabell Palace (0.6 km), 19 minutes to Salzburg Cathedral (1.5 km) and 23 minutes to Hohensalzburg Fortress (1.8 km). The location score from guests is 8.9 out of 10, which matches the overall picture: handy, though not inside the old town itself.

What guests say

Across 3,917 reviews the average is 8.9 out of 10. Praise centres first on location, mainly the walk to the station and the gardens, and then on the staff, described as friendly, welcoming and attentive at the front desk.

The main complaint is value for money. Guests do not single out the rooms or the beds; they single out the bill, especially the add-ons. Breakfast is listed as a buffet with gluten-free options, but whether it is included in your rate is not confirmed, so read the booking terms.

Price compared with our other Salzburg picks

For a 2-night stay in November 2026 for 2 adults, the reference price we saw was €157.62 per night, or about €315 for the two nights. That is roughly 9% below the median of €173.11 across the hotels we sampled. These are reference prices, not live quotes, so check today's price for your own dates.

Our Budget pick, Hotel Hohenstauffen, is a three-star at €117 a night with a guest score of 8.7. Our Luxury pick, Hotel Sacher Salzburg, is a five-star at €388 a night with 9.4. Zum Hirschen sits in between: about €40 more than the budget option for an extra star, a gym and slightly better reviews, and less than half the price of the Sacher.

Why it made our top 3

We compared 8 eligible hotels in Salzburg. Zum Hirschen came out as the Best Value choice because it balances a solid guest score, a large number of reviews and a price below the median. It is not the cheapest hotel in the sample, and it was not the top-rated one either; its review score placed it joint fourth of eight.

What tipped it was confidence. Nearly 4,000 reviews averaging 8.9 is a steady record, and the location score backs it up.

Before you book

Room size, noise levels, the condition of the rooms and cancellation terms have not been assessed. Check them on the booking page for your specific room type.

The spa tag on the listing is not backed by details in our data, so confirm whether a spa exists and what it costs before counting on it. The same goes for gym and restaurant opening hours. If you travel with a dog or a car, ask for the pet and parking fees in writing first.

We may earn a commission if you book. It never changes our pick.

Questions travellers ask

Our other two picks in Salzburg

• Hotel Hohenstauffen · Budget · 8.7/10 · €117
• Hotel Sacher Salzburg · Luxury · 9.4/10 · €388
• See all three picks in Salzburg →