JulieAgain

DH & I have always wanted to go to Munich. Now I am beginning to wonder if that is such a good idea. I have searched, searched, & researched on venere, tripadvisor, & my Rick Steves book. So far only 1 hotel has gotten reviews that I can live with (although one reviewer mentioned it is in the red light district!) - Hotel Bristol. Many hotels I found on venere do not have tripadvisor reviews at all & I trust t.a. better than the venere reviews.

The hotels have either been too far out, very far out, in seedy red lite district, or had other problems.

Where do you Fodorites stay?

We want to stay in or within a reasonable walking distance to Marienplatz. Safe, unseedy area. Ensuite. TV-hopefully to keep up with our (USA) election. Only 1 flight of stairs or an elevator. Nonsmoking room. AC & heat. $250 or under. Going next month; dates not set & flexible as needed.

Hope someone can help. Thanks.

lydialikestotravel

DH & I stayed at the Platzl. It is a little over your budget - $290. It is a lovely hotel and the rooms are great.

http://www.platzl.de/english/index.html

Lydia

lydialikestotravel

DH & I stayed at the Platzl. It is a little over your budget - $290. It is a lovely hotel and the rooms are great.

http://www.platzl.de/english/index.html

How about Hotel Uhland? When I was doing my research this hotel was mentioned quite often on TA. I believe it may be closer to your price range.

Lydia

Cowboy1968

When A/C and walking distance to Marienplatz remain a must, you could check www.hrs.com for rates for

Hotel Daniel (not my favorite location, on the ring street around the historic city center at Karlsplatz/ Stachus), or

Maximilian Hotel & Apartments IN the historic city center (near but not next door to Platzl/Hofbräuhaus).

For a dummy reservation June 16-18,
I got quotes of €120 and €170 for those 2 hotels, respectively.

The Bristol is not in any red light district, by the way. I have stayed there 4 years ago, so my info might be outdated, but I found the rooms rather small and the hotel not too appealing.

Jake1

When considering customer reviews, do look at the reasons given for the bad reviews. I sometimes find that it's something that wouldn't bother me, or it sounds like some sort of a personal issue with the reviewer that really doesn't reflect badly on the hotel (e.g., the desk clerk had dirty fingernails).

I've even seen cases where the write-up by the customer raves about the hotel, but they apparently hit the wrong button for the rating system giving it one-star when they meant to give more.

JulieAgain

Lydia, thanks for your info. We can do the $290, it is just that when I looked at venere, the prices were so "cheap". Maybe that is my problem - "our" hotels are there, but I'm not looking at the kind of hotels we like. Thanks again, I'll take a look.

Cowboy, thanks for your info. You also caused me to consider that maybe I am not on the right path??? I assumed a hotel within walking distance to the Marienplatz is a good thing & what we would want. Is that not true? I think I will post another thread with that question of location.

jake1, I agree wholeheartedly! I've seen reviews with horrible ratings because the reviewer did not get some ridiculous request from the staff & then complained about the staff being "aloof"! Or, ranting about no AC, when the reviewer should have checked that out in advance if that was important. However, most of the reviews I am seeing are negative about important issues. But then it could be because I misunderstood & was checking out "cheap" hotels. I probably need to increase my minimum cost.

Thanks everyone - back to the ole drawing board!

Julie

Cowboy1968

There is nothing wrong with staying in the historic center.
The only "problem" I'd have with Hotel Daniel or Bristol would be that they are not in but on the edge of the historic center, which is a 6 lane city street. So you will not find old-world charm and cobblestone alleys when you step out of the hotels. You will find it within few meters heading towards Marienplatz and the location is just fine from a safety perspective, though.

Sue878

We stayed at the Mercure Hotel Muenchen City when we were in Munich last year. It is within walking distance to Marienplatz (about 1-2 blks)and close to walk to train station and subway if necessary;
and nicer area then the train station. Safe area, not seedy area, elevator, a/c, non-smoking rooms

Pretty reasonable too, except for the breakfast; which we didn't get. There was a cafe across the street for coffee etc. I would highly recommend this hotel. They have a restaurant for dinner also.

Ingo

You received some good advice so far. I just want to point out that I don't think it is the best idea to stay right in the city centre, in walking distance to Marienplatz. I am in Munich right now on a business trip and stay in the Marriott in Schwabing.

Certainly not my first choice for a hotel in Munich, but the rate was too reasonable - 99 Euro per night, stay 4 and pay only 3 nights. Incl. breakfast buffet. It's very American-like, sure, and I would prefer some charm. But the service is very good, I enjoy the pool/sauna area, it has A/C, and I stay in a room that is on the southern side from where I had (weather permitting) view of the Alps! Subway is only 3 minutes walking distance away; it runs frequently and in just 8 minutes you're at Marienplatz. Schwabing, btw, is a pleasant area.

So, not advertising the Marriott here, just saying that you maybe shouldn't look for hotels in the city centre exclusively. Have fun!

Ingo

MomDDTravel

I booked Hotel Uhland based on the recommendations of this board. Several posters I trust have stayed there and I do not believe they would led me astray.

Pegsimba

Hi JulieAgain,

Last year a group of us who had just finished cycling in Austria stayed at Flemings Hotel Munich City. It is a very nice boutique hotel across from the train station, but walking distance to the city center. We loved it - look at the reviews on Tripadvisor. The BEST breakfast we had in Europe! Very reasonable prices and new rooms. Hope this helps.

gwen5182

I recommend the Hilton Munich City hotel. I think it is great hotel and also it is right above the S-bahn RosenheimerPlatz train. Right from airport to hotel. Marienplatz city center is two stops away. I think it is about 10 minute walk by foot. There are also shops in the subway esp a food market. Really convenient.

111op

$250 sounds like a really generous budget -- especially for a non Oktoberfest period? Surely there must be a number of options near the train station that will fit the bill.

There's some seediness around there, but I think it's generally fine. I think that's still within walking distance of Marienplatz. But in any case, there's a U-bahn in Munich if you really want to use it.

A good website for German hotels is hotel.de.

Lostmymind

I liked the Marriott Courtyard.

november_moon

Also keep in mind that the transportation system in Munich is great - so as long as you stay near an U-Bahn or S-Bahn station, you will have very easy access to the city center. And in addition to those, they also have trams that run very regularly as well as buses.

robertino

Hi Julie -

We thought the Hotel Opera was great. Same price range as the Platzl. Elegant smaller hotel in a great neighborhood (Lehel) between the residenz and the river, just off Maximillianstrasse.

I only use tripadvisor for the pictures. Experience has shown me that reviews can be way off, in either direction. The highest rated hotel in Merida, Mexico, for example, was a dump. And, as other posters have noted, sometimes the reviewer is angry at the hotel because the pillows were too soft or there was no great big pancake breakfast.

In a lower price range, I would look at the Blauer Bock. I liked it, but that was about 10 years ago.

Don't miss the Eisbach surfers!

Gute Reise!

Rob

AisleSeat

We stay near the train station. There are some strip joints in the area but I never thought of it as a red light district. We have never felt uncomfortable walking around in that area. It is not too far from Karls Tor (what we think of as the beginning point of the downtown area). That is where the fussganger (pedestrian zone) begins.

We have stayed in the Uhland, Drei Lowen Residence and the Courtyard by Marriott. We really liked the first two. The Marriott is more of an American style Hotel with comforters on the beds rather than featherbeds. I don't know about AC, we have never needed it. The Marriott probably has it.

kygirl59

We used Priceline and got the Marriott Courtyard City Centre for about $130.00 USD. It was clean and convenient to walk all over the city. It is only a block and a half to two blocks from the main train station.

nvmike

Hi,
We just came from Munich and we didn't have reservations when we got there. One place we went was the Hotel Blauer Bock, which is close to the Hofbrau. It was booked, but nice and was reasonable. 93 - 102 Euro. They get booked fast, but you may check them.
We ended up staying at the Eden Hotel Wolff Betriebsgesellschaft mbH Arnulfstrabe 4, D-80335. It is located directly across from the train station and only a short walk to the marianplaza. Very nice, great breakfast but not cheap.

Hope this helps.
NVMike

DAX

FYI the Marriott does not have AC, otherwise Schwabing is a nice suburb north of Munich. The U bahn stop is very close by. We stayed there one night just to have an easy access for the Lufthansa bus in the morning. We got the very large executive suite for 80 euros! The suite looks like it was built in the early 80's but it was clean.

If you have a higher budget, you should definitely splurge to stay inside old town.