about Haus Doebling

General information:

The "International Student Hostel of the City of Vienna", now known as the "Studentenheim Haus Döbling" was built in 1963.

Distance from the inner city/the universities:
The student hostel comprises six seven-story buildings situated on a small campus, providing accomodation to over 700 students, which makes the "House Doebling" one of the largest student hostels in Austria. The campus is located within Viennas most beautiful 19th district (Doebling) that gave the student hostel its name. Below a snapshot of "Haus Döbling" from the early seventies:

There is public transportation right in front of the campus. It takes a fifteen minutes ride by tram to downtown Vienna. Most universities (e.g. University of Vienna, Law school, Medical School, University of Economics, University of Agriculture) can be reached within about a quarter of an hour (or even less so), except for the technical university, which can be reached in about half an hour's time by public transportation.

The student association and amenities in the student hostel:
The student association in the "Haus Doebling" is equally represented in all important committees, and works hard for that all students feel comfortable during the time they spend here.
The following facilities are available: a TV-room, a small, but beautiful work-out room, a hall with badminton-courts, table-tennis, table-football, an outdoor basketball court and a beach volleyball court, a photo lab, several "music" rooms equipped e.g. with pianos etc., a party room, a room for the students' theater group, a communication ("club") room and a computer-room (for further details, please see below).

Our address:

International Student Hostel "Haus Döbling"
Gymnasiumstr. 85 / Verwaltung
1190 Vienna
Austria / Europe
Re: request for application forms

Tel: +43 1 3695490-16
FAX: +43 1 3695490-25
NEW!!! eMail to the secretary:

"Verwaltung" means "administration" (student housing office)

If you would like to know where we are located in Vienna (the "House Doebling" is marked by a red point):

And here again in a close-up view:

Finally, a hand-drawn map of a standard room in the student hostel. All 700 rooms in the student hostel look pretty similar to this one. There is a shower in every room and a washbasin, but not a bath tub. On every floor of the student hostel there are 4 toilets/WCs that are shared by the 14 to 20 students living on each floor and that are cleaned daily by the cleaning personnel of the student hostel.
On every floor, there is a small kitchen with cooking facilities, one or two fridges and a freezer.

Typical room (measures are rounded), other rooms are similar but not necessarily identical. "Türe" means "door", "Dusche" means "shower", "Waschbecken" means "washbasin", "Kasten" means "wardrobe". "Bett" means "bed", "Tisch" means "table", "Sessel" means "chair" and "Fensterbrett" means "window sill".

How to get there:

If you arrive at the airport:
There are three ways to reach the "House Doebling" from the airport:
First, you could take a taxi, but this is somewhat expensive. It is recommended that you ask for the price before you take the taxi, as there are "fixed prices" from the airport e.g. 30,-- Euros no matter where in Vienna you want to go.
Second, you could take a shuttle bus that will take you to the train station called "Wien Westbahnhof" - the price is around 5 Euros per person. See below how to reach the "House Doebling" from the train station "Wien Westbahnhof". Please note that you need another ticket if you wish to continue by public transport. You could also take the shuttle bus from the airport to "Hotel Hilton", but it is a bit more complicated to go to the "House Doebling" from there.
The third possibility is that you take the CAT ("City Airport Terminal", i.e. kind of an underground), which will cost you around 8 Euros (one way) or 15 Euros (return ticket). Please ask for the way to the "CAT" at the airport, you have to walk a bit. Get off from the "CAT" at "Landstrasse Wien Mitte" (which is close to "Hotel Hilton"), and take the "U4" underground there. Get off from the "U4" at "Spittelau" and take the "35A" bus there (you have to walk a bit). Finally get off from the "35A" bus at "Hardtgasse", which is right in front of the "House Doebling".

If you arrive by train:
If you arrive at "Wien Westbahnhof", there are two possibilities to go to the "House Doebling". Either you take a taxi, which will cost around 10 Euros or you take the "U6" underground, get off at "Nußdorfer Straße", take the "35A" bus there and get off at "Hardtgasse", right in front of the "House Doebling".
If you arrive at "Wien Südbahnhof", take the "U1" underground to "Schwedenplatz", get off there and take the "U4" to "Spittelau", then take the "35A" bus to "Hardtgasse", as described above (in the "airport" section). If you prefer to take a taxi, the price will be around 12 to 15 Euros
The price for a one-way ticket by public transport is 2 Euros but you could also buy a stripe card or a weekly or monthly pass.
Klick here for further information on public transport.

If you arrive by car:
There are many ways to reach the "House Doeblng" by car depending on where you come from. Possibly, the following description does not describe the fastest way, but it is the easiest one to find, and that's why I think it is the best way to describe:
Try to reach the "Gürtel" (the "outer belt") and follow the "Gürtel" until you reach "Nußdorfer Straße". From there, follow the tram number "38" (direction out of town) and you will soon reach the "House Doebling".
If you happen to arrive in the inner city, follow the "Ring" (the "inner belt", or "ring") until you reach "Schottentor". From there, follow the "38" tram as described above.
Parking places are available in the 19th district around the student hostel, and there is also a car park that belongs to the student hostel. However, please note that you have to pay when you park your car in one of the inner districts!

Frequently asked questions:

Are there twin/double rooms for rent?
No, only single rooms are available. There are no double-bed rooms.

Where is the shower/ the toilet?
There is a shower and a washbasin in each room. The toilets are outside the individual rooms, there are 2 toilets on each corridor.

Are there cooking facilities?
There is a kitchen on each floor with three or four cooking plates. On some floors, the students living there have paid together to buy a cooking stove for baking and/or a microwave, however this is not the case on every floor.
Each student has a small box in the kitchen to store his or her food, and the students on a floor also share the space in the fridge(s) and freezer(s).

Is there a restaurant/mensa?
There is no restaurant in the student hostel. Most students prefer to prepare breakfast and other meals themselves, as this will be a lot less costly.
However, there are three bakeries in front of the student hostel, where one can have breakfast, and there are several restaurants including a pizzeria, a sushi bar and some typical Austrian restaurants etc. in the close vicinity.
In addition, there are two coffee machines, several cold drink dispensers, and a snack/food dispenser in the student hostel.

Are there laundry facilities?
Several washing mashines and a dryer are available in the student hostel. In order to use them, you have to buy coins at the office.

Is there a telephone?
There are no telephones in the individual rooms, however, there is a telephone on each floor where you can receive calls (see below). For making one's own telephone calls, there are several public phones (Telekom Austria) in the student hostel from which you can also dial 0800 free service numbers. With 0800 free service numbers, you can use the prepaid calling cards of alternative phone companies. Alternative phone companies offer significantly cheaper phone rates to foreign countries (e.g. around 20 cents per minute to the USA).
Many students also have mobile phones. There are five networks (four "GSM" networks - some of which also offer "UMTS" services, and the "Drei" network which is purely "UMTS") for mobile telephony in Austria that compete for over 7 million customers (more than 90% of the Austrian population), As a consequence, prices have fallen considerably and are among the lowest in Europe e.g about 1 to 7,-- cents per minute within the network, and around 30 cents per minute to other networks. A few companies even offer "flat rates" including between 50 to 500 "free" minutes, or a 1 cent rate to the wired network.
Please note, however, that GSM networks in Austria work with frequency bands of 900MHz and 1800Mhz, as this is the standard in Europe. UMTS operates at 2100 Mhz. In the US, GSM phones operate with 1900MHz, so common US mobile phones will not work.
For further information, please have a look at the homepages of the Austrian mobile phone network providers:

Provider	Network
Mobilkom Austria	A1
T-Mobile	T-Mobile
Connect Austria	one
Telering	telering
Hutchison	Drei

With GSM and UMTS phones, you can generally receive calls for free, you only pay when you make a call. And you also have an electronic mailbox (kind of an "answering machine"), where you can receive voice mails when you cannot be reached or when the mobile phone is switched off.
It is recommended that you compare the rates carefully before buying a mobile phone from one of the providers named above, as there are considerable differences. All four companies allow you to chose among various kinds of contracts: In general, the higher the fixed monthly payment is, the lower are the rates you pay per minute.
Each provider also offers easy-to-use prepaid systems with three big advantages:

no monthly "basic" charge, in fact you do not receive any invoice at all
you do not have to open a bank account in Austria (which would otherwise be necessary for the payment of the monthly bills)
you have no contract with your provider, so there can`t be a short rate penalty clause for early termination of the contract. You can start and stop using a prepaid phone any time you want.

The disadvantage of prepaid systems are higher conection fees.

What are the extensions of the telephones on the various floors?
As mentioned above, many students have mobile telephones. However, there is also the possibility to call +43-1-3695490+extension to reach a telephone located on a specific floor. Usually, somebody who lives on the floor picks up the phone so that you can ask for the person you wish to talk to. On most floors, there is an "info system" where students mark themselves "absent" or "present" so that the person picking up the phone knows immediately if the one you wish to talk to can be reached. If so, he or she will go to the room and knock on the door. Of course, you have to know which floor the person you wish to talk to lives. If you do have this information, please call the secretary at +43-1-3695490-16.

extension	►house	A	B	C	D-south	D-north	E	Villa
▼floor
ground fl.								58
1^st floor		81	31	41	51	61	71	59
2^nd floor		82	32	42	52	62	72
3^rd floor		83	33	43	53	63	73
4^th floor		84	34	44	54	64	74
5^th floor		85	35	45	55	65	75
6^th floor		86	36	46	56	66	76
7^th floor		87	37	47	57	67	77

Is there an address to receive mail?
All regular students have a mailbox in the student hostel. As regular students keep their mailbox even during the summer months when some of them move out, summer students cannot have a mailbox in the student hostel, unfortunately.
However, summer students can have their mail sent to the student housing office ("Verwaltung", address as given above) c/o the summer students name. They can then fetch their mail at the office.
It would also be possible to rent a P.O. box at the local post office. There is a charge for that, however.
You can also have an email address at the server run by the student association and communicate with your friends via the internet, if you register as a "computer room user". There is also a charge for that.

Is it quiet at night?
Generally speaking, it should and will be quiet at night. Students should respect the "sleeping time", which is from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. :-( This does not mean, however, that students in Austria go to sleep at that time of the day :-), it only means that one should be quiet and respect others, some of whom might wish to go to bed at that time of the day e.g. because they have an exam the next day. Students who disturb others frequently will be warned first, and may even be kicked out in very severe (and rare) situations.
However, please be aware that the "House Doebling" is a student hostel, and of course there will be parties etc. at least from time to time ...

What about linen and towels?
Linen is provided by the student hostel. Many students prefer to bring their own linen, as the one provided by the student hostel is colourless, although it is quite fine.
Towels etc. have to be brought by the students themselves.

Cleaning of the rooms/shared facilites?
The kitchen and the toilets are cleaned every day by the student hostels own cleaning personnel. The rooms of regular students are cleaned every week during the academic year and every two weeks during the summer months. The rooms of summer students are cleaned before the student moves in, and usually also every two weeks thereafter.

Can I pay with check/credit card?
No, unfortunately, this is not possible. Payment for summer students must be in cash. There are two banks in the vicinity of the student hostel where you can exchange foreign currency.
Regular students often choose to effect payment by standing bank money transfer orders.

Can I have a look at my room/floor before moving in?
It is not possible to have a look at an individual room before moving in, as all rooms are locked, of course. However, all rooms on an individual floor look essentially the same. And of course, you can go to a certain floor and have a look before moving in. If you would like to know where your room is located or how the floor looks like, just go to student housing office the day you move in and ask which rooms are free. Then you can have a look at the various floors and chose the room you prefer.