Leonardo Smart begins at Vienna Airport with a timber-built hospitality landmark

The launch of Leonardo Smart gives Leonardo Hotels a new brand platform aimed at modern travellers who value comfort, functionality and efficient service. The brand’s first property is located in one of the most practical and visible settings possible: just minutes from the terminal of Vienna-Schwechat Airport. This makes the hotel a natural showcase for the concept, because airport guests often need exactly what the brand promises - speed, reliability, convenience and a stay that works around the clock.

The opening also strengthens Leonardo Hotels’ presence in Austria. With the addition of Leonardo Smart Vienna Airport, the company now has five hotels in Vienna and a total of nine hotels and two master apartments across the country. This gives the group a broader Austrian platform while adding a new brand and a major airport property to its portfolio.

The building itself is one of the announcement’s most important elements. Developed by the Vienna-based Mamma Group, the hotel was constructed in only 13 months. Its 510 rooms make it the largest hotel in the world built entirely in wood, a point that gives the project both architectural and sustainability significance. It is also the largest hotel in Lower Austria and the fourth largest hotel in Austria overall.

The hotel’s sustainable construction is reinforced by certification. The building has received a Gold Certificate from the Austrian Society for Sustainable Real Estate and the German Sustainable Building Council. This recognition supports the positioning of the property as a resource-conscious hotel that combines ecological timber architecture with the operational needs of a large airport location.

The design combines natural materials with clear and intuitive spaces. This is important because the Leonardo Smart concept is not built around decorative complexity or heavy formality. Instead, it is focused on easy navigation, practical comfort and a guest journey that feels efficient from arrival to departure.

The brand idea is summed up in the phrase Smart stay. Seamless travel. At Leonardo Smart Vienna Airport, this is expressed through digital services, open public spaces and self-service options. The hotel is designed to remove friction from the stay, especially for air travellers, airline crews and guests with tight schedules.

A 24-hour self-check-in system supports fast and autonomous arrivals and departures. This gives guests more independence and reduces waiting time, which is especially valuable in an airport environment where arrivals may happen early in the morning, late at night or between flights. It also aligns with the wider shift toward digital hospitality and flexible service models.

The open lobby acts as a central meeting point for work, networking and relaxation. This flexibility is important for modern airport hotels, which must serve more than overnight stays. Guests may use the lobby for informal meetings, remote work, waiting time, social interaction or a short break between travel stages.

The rooms follow a linear and functional design. Each room includes a desk, flat-screen TV, fast Wi-Fi and a bathroom with a hair-dryer and cosmetic mirror. The focus is on essentials delivered clearly and comfortably, matching the needs of travellers who want a reliable and uncomplicated stay.

The hotel also offers a substantial breakfast buffet, giving guests an energetic start to the day before flights, meetings or onward travel. A stylish hotel bar provides a place to unwind with a drink, adding a relaxed social element to the property’s otherwise highly functional airport positioning.

Additional guest facilities reinforce the self-service and convenience-led approach. The hotel includes family-friendly game tables, luggage lockers, a pantry kitchen and a 24-hour mini market. These amenities give guests more control over their stay, particularly when travelling outside conventional dining or retail hours.

The gym area features wooden exercise equipment, extending the timber and natural-material theme into the fitness offer. This detail helps connect the hotel’s wellness amenity to the wider architectural identity of the building. It also adds a functional benefit for guests who want to maintain routines while travelling.

Connectivity is one of the hotel’s strongest advantages. A 24-hour airport shuttle stops directly outside the property every 20 minutes, providing a fast and straightforward link between the hotel and the airport terminals. This is essential for an airport hotel, where ease of transfer can define the guest experience.

The hotel is also well connected to central Vienna and the city’s cultural attractions. This gives the property dual relevance: it can serve guests flying in or out of Vienna, while also offering access to the city itself. For travellers with extended layovers, short stays or business schedules, this location can combine airport convenience with urban access.

The official opening was attended by senior representatives from hospitality, politics, airport management and development. Guests included Johanna Mikl-Leitner, Governor of Lower Austria; Stephan Löwel, Chief Operations Officer DACH at Leonardo Hotels Central Europe; Katharina Fraissl, Cluster General Manager Austria at Leonardo Hotels Central Europe; Günther Ofner, CEO of Flughafen Wien AG; Wolfgang Scheibenpflug, Head of Real Estate and Site Management at Flughafen Wien AG; and Herbert Pinzolits, owner and CEO of the Mamma Group.

This attendance underlines the project’s importance beyond hotel operations alone. Leonardo Smart Vienna Airport is positioned as a tourism, economic, construction and airport-development milestone. It adds substantial room capacity to the area, supports AirportCity’s growth and highlights Lower Austria’s role as a location for innovative and sustainable development.

Yoram Biton, Managing Director of Leonardo Hotels Central Europe, describes the opening as far more than another portfolio addition. His comments position Leonardo Smart Vienna Airport as a new chapter for the group, built around travellers who want comfort, functionality and uncomplicated stays. He also highlights the airport location as the ideal place to present the brand to an international audience.

Johanna Mikl-Leitner, Governor of Lower Austria, connects the hotel with entrepreneurial courage, innovation and confidence in the future. Her comments emphasise the 510 rooms as an asset for the tourist destination and the region, while also presenting the timber construction as a beacon project showing that economic success and sustainability can work together.

For Flughafen Wien AG, the hotel strengthens the wider AirportCity concept. Günther Ofner, CEO of Flughafen Wien AG, explains that the new hotel improves location quality and creates jobs. He also notes that AirportCity has developed into an independent business district, where additional hotel capacity is needed to meet rising demand and support further growth.

The airport perspective is important because Leonardo Smart Vienna Airport is not simply a hotel near the terminal. It is part of the broader development of Vienna Airport as a business and mobility hub. As more companies and travellers use AirportCity, hotel capacity becomes essential infrastructure.

Wolfgang Scheibenpflug, Head of Real Estate and Site Management at Flughafen Wien AG, frames AirportCity as a place where companies, travellers and guests can find what they need in one perfectly networked location. The new hotel supports this vision by adding overnight capacity directly into the airport environment.

Herbert Pinzolits, CEO of the Mamma Group, highlights the project’s role in the visible development of Vienna-Schwechat Airport and acknowledges the importance of finding both an experienced operator and an attractive international brand. His comments reflect the project’s development journey and the importance of operator selection in giving the building a clear market identity.

Operational leadership will be provided by Thomas Neubauer, General Manager of Leonardo Smart Vienna Airport. Neubauer brings many years of international hotel experience, including leadership roles at Schloss Fuschl, Adina Apartment Hotels and Palais Hansen Kempinski Vienna. His background gives the new hotel experienced leadership as it introduces a new brand to the market.

The property’s operational model is designed for the particular needs of airport guests. Stephan Löwel, Chief Operations Officer DACH at Leonardo Hotels Central Europe, points to air travellers and airline crews as important target groups. He emphasises flexible services, smooth procedures, self-check-in and self-service offers available at all times.

This 24-hour orientation is one of the defining features of airport hospitality. Guests may arrive outside standard service windows, need rapid transfers or require simple solutions at unusual hours. Leonardo Smart Vienna Airport has been designed to answer these needs through automation, practical amenities and reliable round-the-clock access.

The introduction of Leonardo Smart also broadens Leonardo Hotels’ brand architecture. The company already operates several brands across different hospitality segments, and the new concept adds a more functional, digital and travel-efficient identity. By launching it at Vienna Airport, Leonardo Hotels is linking the brand with mobility, international visibility and contemporary guest behaviour from the start.

The hotel’s timber construction also gives the launch a stronger narrative than a typical airport opening. Sustainability is often discussed in hospitality, but this project turns it into a physical statement at major scale. A 510-room hotel built entirely in wood gives the property a distinctive identity and provides a clear point of difference in the airport hotel market.

At the same time, the hotel remains highly practical. Its sustainability story is supported by the core functional features travellers expect: fast Wi-Fi, efficient check-in, breakfast, bar, luggage storage, pantry kitchen, mini market, gym, shuttle service and strong airport access. This balance between environmental ambition and operational practicality is central to the property’s appeal.

With Leonardo Smart Vienna Airport, Leonardo Hotels Central Europe has introduced a new brand and a landmark airport hotel in one project. The 510-room timber-built property combines sustainable construction, digital self-service, functional room design, round-the-clock convenience and direct shuttle access to Vienna-Schwechat Airport. As the first hotel under the Leonardo Smart brand, it establishes a clear identity for a concept built around seamless travel, efficient stays and modern comfort in one of Europe’s important airport locations.