Hotel Chain
 

Someone at my work recommended that I use Accorhotels, it's a chain, for Munich and Salzburg, looking this up it comes up with Mercure Hotel for Munich and Salzburg. My original choices were Hotel Acanthus for Munich and Golden Ente for Salzburg, does anyone know if Mercure Hotel would be a better choice.

Also, if we're going early May 2007 how far ahead should I be making my reservations for Munich and Salzburg.

I am not familiar with the Mercure's exact location as I am with that of the Acanthus. For the things I have enjoyed doing in Munich the Acanthus was well-located.

There are several Mercure Hotels in Munich. It would be important to know which one you are considering.

Accor itself is not a chain, BTW, rather the parent company of several chains (like Starwood for Westin, Sheraton, Le Méridien, W etc.), among them well known brands as:

Sofitel (their top-of-the-line division; in Germany branded as Dorint Sofitel)

DorintNovotel (only in Germany, I believe, a relatively new line of hotels slightly below the Sofitels)

Mercure (their budget business division)

Novotel (a bit below Mercure)

Accor Suitehotels (budget Suitehotels)

Ibis (budget option)

Etap and Formule 1 (no frills)

They also operate Red Roof and Motel 6 Motels in the US.

I just went into accorhotels.com and then put in Salzburg and Munich and it came up with Mercure hotel in both location. So, I guess I don't know the answer to your question.

We passed by the Mercure (or one of them, anyway) in Salzburg two weeks ago. If you want to be in the heart of the old town, then the Goldene Ente would be better, IMO. I believe another Fodorite stayed there and posted an excellent trip report--will top it for you.
Mercures have a lot of variability in them, probably the most in the Accor line. Some very modern, some traditional and equal variations in service (there is quite a bit of variety among Sofitels, but they all tend to offer a similar degree of luxury and service, with a few exceptions).

I just topped the thread for you--it's New Years in Salzburg

One addition - Etap has private bathrooms, Formule 1 does not.

suze,

there are <b>nine</b> Mercure hotels in Munich.

How do I know? I entered &quot;Munich&quot; for a location on the www.accorhotels.com website.

I suppose you came up with only one, because probably that one is the only one available for the dates you specified.

If you want us to help you and comment on the location based on solid facts, either provide us with the exact name of the Mercure you are looking at (all nine have specific names indicating their location) or - if that is too much trouble for you - provide us with the exact dates that you were looking at.

Whatever ones are right there in the center, that goes for both Salzburg and Munich. Location is the most important factor here. The Golden Ente and Acanthus are at the right location so maybe I should just stick to my original choices.

I don't know anything about the Accor Hotels but we like to stay in hotels that are in the center of town (or the touristy area we are interested in). That is why we liked the Goldenen Ente in Salzburg (right in the middle of the Altstadt) and something near the Hauptbahnhof in Munich. We like the Drei Lowen.

HSV is right, there are 9 Mercures in Munich, but only 4 in/around the city center. The rest are in the burbs or by the airport.
The city center options are the Mercure Muenchen City Center, Altstadt, Schwabing and Olympiapark. If your Mercure option for Munich isn't one of those, then it's probably not where you want to be.

I would also disregard the Olympiapark location and the Schwabing one (I have passed the Schwabing one and it did not look so appealing to me besides being quite far uptown in Schwabing).

Of the remaining options, I would prefer the Altstadt one over the City Center one near Hauptbahnhof on Senefelderstr.

I think between that one and the Acanthus, it's a toss-up location-wise. So you might go with whatever hotel you like best.

Mind you, I haven't stayed at any of these hotels. Should you want to go with an Accor property (and decide to splurge a bit, the Dorint Sofitel Bayerpost is absolutely worth looking into. I stayed there repeatedly and it would always be my first choice in the city provided they offer a good rate - which they often do over the weekend.