My fiancée and I will be visiting Munich in couple weeks. My company will pay for the first 5 days stay at the Cortiina Hotel. I will have the option to extend our stay for 3 more days (on my own expense). My other option is to stay at the ArabellaSheraton Westpark Hotel. Can any one tell us which hotel is better?

We would like to spend the last 3 days to do some sightseeing and shopping. Do we have enough time to make a quick trip to Switzerland or Austria? Any suggestions or comments will be greatly appreciated.

Sean

Sorry I don't know about the hotels you mentioned but if you go sightseeing towards the alps I know a hotel that is the best! We go to Germany every year and wouldn't think of missing Burghotel Falkenstein, Pfronten, near Fussen. You can stand out on the deck and see Neuschwanstein Castle! It's great and Tony and Herta(the owners) are the nicest people ever. Not to mention the reasonable prices, and the fact that Tony is a chef of some renown. The hotel is at the very top of the alps overhanging the Austrian border post! It is up a very narrow, harrowing road but is worth every minute of it. We found it several years ago through the guidebooks of Karen Brown. We use her extensively and have never been disappointed. Her website iswww.karenbrown.com Give it a try, you won't be disappointed. There is lots to see around there, Austia and Switzerland are easily accessible and if you are driving a car,the roads are well sign-posted and easy to navigate. One of our favorite tourist sites is between Munich and Salzburg, the Schloss Herrenchiemsee. Ludwig's tribute to Louis XIV. It's a great 15 minute ferry ride to the island and then a short hike to the palace. A trip to the concentration camp of
Dachau outside of Munich is a somber but eye-opening place.
Enjoy

Consider visiting the Residenze in Munich and possibly the Nymphenburg Palace as well.

Herrenchiemsee, as mentioned above, is the largest of all the Ludwig castles/palaces although it is much more a place than a "castle"...the fountains and immediate grounds are very interesting.

Having stayed in neither, I would choose the Cortina. It's location can't be beat. It's right near the Marienplatz and appears to be a nice upscale "German" hotel.

The Sheraton is away from the center of Munich. It appears to be your standard Sheraton business hotel.

Here is a link to the Munich Tourist Office in English. Click on ACCOMMODATION and it lists all the hotels in Munich, many with clickable links to their web sites. The Cortina is in the Center. The Sheraton is in the West.

Curious

We stayed at the arabellasheraton last spring. The hotel is very large and caters to the business crowd. The only fault I had was the location (indoor pool, fitness facilities and very ample breakfast were great).
It is on the outskirts of the city- fine if used as a base for day trips in that direction, but not so great otherwise. Most of the taxis out front were rather disapointed to not get a fare to the airport but a request for a short ride into the city. we did walk back one day to the hotel- not too long, but very unpleasant with the kids on the side of a major road!!!! i can'r remember why we didn't take the metro - or just can't remember the ride! But I think that there is a stop near by.
So, if you will have already explored Munich it's a fine place to use for a base- otherwise I'd opt for a more central place.