Sharon and I are headed to a (hopefully) epic trip to visit German Christmas Markets or more accurately Christkindlesmarkt in German. It will be a short trip and we’ve decided to hit just a few cities. We’ll be in Frankfurt since our arriving and departing flights are from there. I’ve tentatively decided on staying at the Le Meriden Parkhotel Frankfurt because of its proximity to the train lines and while Ben from One Mile at a Time said it had a “shabby chic” vibe, it sounds like the type of hotel we’d love.
The other city we’re visiting is Munich and trying to find a hotel is driving me crazy.
From what I can see, my two options are staying near the main train station or there are some hotels closer to the main Christmas Market. Now, I’m not going to drop the $700 a night the Mandarin Oriental in asking but I’m open to other suggestions.
If you haven’t noticed from our hotel reviews, we tend to stick to two types of hotels. Either they have to be a great value but nice and convenient for sightseeing or they have to have some sort of historical or interesting architectural element. So we’re willing to stay at a boring hotel if it’s cheap, nice and in the middle of everything or we want to stay somewhere memorable and not just because it’s expensive.
The Sofitel Munich Bayerpost looks interesting just because it’s a repurposed building and those are always fascinating to stay at. However, the price is up there and I’d want to make sure it’s worth it.
Since I don’t care about hotel loyalty, I’m totally fine staying at a hotel brand I have no affiliation with. Or even a hotel without a brand. “Whatever” is fine.
There are just so many choices, with some of them in the low to mid $100 range and others going for $200-$300 a night. I’ve tried looking through online reviews, TripAdvisor and FlyerTalk threads but I’m more conflicted than when I started.
I turned to the only unbiased group of people I know, our readers. So, what’s your experience when staying in Munich? Anywhere you loved? Anywhere you hated? I’m one, or two or three steps away from just throwing a dart at a printout of a map and seeing where it lands.
Thanks, or should I say danke.
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
Feature Photo courtesy of John Morgan from Flickr
10 comments
Charles Hotel, a Rocco forte hotel, is in a great location. Close enough to the train station but in a very nice area and close enough to walk to the main tourist attractions in the square. There is a nice department store nearby with nice candy and chocolates in the basement.
I’ve stayed at the Ruby Lilly Hotel & Bar – not far at all from the main train station and has a really unique vintage-chic minimalist feel/look: https://www.ruby-hotels.com/en/hotels-destinations/munich/ruby-lilly Has a really nice organic breakfast spread as well. Rooms are small but very clean and efficient. Didn’t want a chain and something totally different from the typical “boring” hotel.
Have you considered platzl
?
Sofitel is a nice location in the center of the city, by the train station, and is probably the best combo of quality/central location in Munich as some other hotels are more distant, e.g. Arabellapark or Olympiapark areas. Only concern with the Sofitel location is that it tends to be very busy, only a few meters from a major entrance to the Hauptbahnhof.
I would also look at the Roomers hotel (Marriott partners) which recently opened a reasonable walking distance from Marienplatz though not as close as the Sofitel. It looks high-end with a boutique feel. A step lower, I would also consider Le Meridien (across the street from Sofitel) and Hilton Munich City, just over the Isar from the center and still walking distance to the market.
Don’t stay at the central station area (anything left from Marienplatz on the image you shared). Even though, compared to other major cities in Europe, I’d say the area is decent, for Munich standards it’s a shabby area. Anything left (east) of Marienplatz should be ok. Munich’s public transport system is great, so any place close to a U (Underground) or S-Bahn (public train) or even tram stations should be good. I’d recommend the Motel One at Rosenheimer Platz, which is 2 S-Bahn Stations from Marienplatz.
Btw. there are LOTs of Christmas Markets in Munich so not exactly sure which market or area you were planning to go… either way, there are lots of them and all of them are more or less the same.
We stayed at the aloft Munich which is literally across the street from the train station. There are tram stops nearby and the hop-on/hop-off bus is about a block away. We found it super-convenient for our purposes. My review: https://wp.me/p4FEQH-1bD
If you have time, Dachau is a short train ride away. The memorial is free and audio guides or tours are very reasonably priced. It’s sobering but very well done.
Please. Go to neushwainstein castle instead or Salzburg. Beautiful sights.
We stayed at the anna Hotel last year in September for 2 nights @ 185 € /night. At the time per TripAdvisor it was #48 of 398 Hotels in Munich. IMO, it fits your “great value but nice and convenient for sightseeing” option. We got updated to the “high end” anna Apartment and loved it! Take a look at the website http://www.annahotel.de and select “anna Apratment.” Good luck with your research and ultimate choice!
Just spent 4 nights at The Louis hotel, right in the middle of old town, 5-8 mins walk to central train terminal. So convenient and a charming place to stay, right at the middle of everything! Personally I think Mandarin Oriental is a bit far out. And that MO is smaller than most you have seen in other parts of the world.
If you got amex plat card, should def check out fine hotels collection as they usually have 3rd nt free deals. I was there last oct and stayed at the Kempinski Vier Jahreseiten that had that deal then, and it was really a great deal… 3rd nt free, free high end breakfast buffet for 2 every day and guaranteed 4pm checkout. I see that the Mandarin Oriental, and the Rocco Forte Charles have the deal at various times through the rest of the year.