Forstbetrieb

There will be a Westin in munich. The Arabella Grand Munich will become the Westin Grand Munich in may 2009.

gaobest

My wife and I are staying in Munich for 4 nights in late May and are considering buying some SPG points to combine with our current point account. If we don't choose Le Meridien, what are other SPG hotels in central Munich (ie near the pedestrian area, like Le Meridien) that are as worthy as Le Meridien?

And what is the best way to get to Le Meridien from MUC? Airport bus to Hauptbahnhof (Central Train Station) or Die Bahn? Alas we wouldn't buy Bahn tickets in advance in case our plane was early or late, we'd just buy full fare tix at the airport kiosk. Is one choice better or worse?

I saw another post in this thread mentioning the train being beneath Le Meridien; I realize that Le Meridien is super close (ie 1 block if you're at the correct Hbf exit). Does this also mean that there's a dedicated Bahn entrance in the Le Meridien basement, as potentially occurs in some hotels?

Thanks,
Michael

gowarty

Just got back from a stay there. Train travel from MUC is very easy. Just take the S1 or S8 (both go to the main station across from the hotel). About a 40 minute train ride, safe and easy and ALWAYS on time. It was 9.20 euros each way (although I never got checked once for tickets on the S Train the entire week - so roll the dice if you feel lucky).

The hotel is across the street from the train station. You'll need to come up a level or two to the main level and make sure you exit through the doors closest to the big Burger King sign. You'll have a short walk to cross the street and it will be on your right as you exit the train station.

Contact me if you any specific questions.

gaobest

Thanks! I haven't taken S-bahn in ages. I always get confused with the S-bahn cash-operated ticket machines that are in most "normal" S-bahns. Can we buy S-bahn tix at the regular Bahn kiosks that have multi-lingual options and accept credit cards? I've bought RE tix on these kiosks but wasn't sure if we can also buy S-bahn tix on these. It would be easier to do after a long period of flying, to use our plastic and do it in English, since my German is spotty (best at restaurants, ha ha).

I checked bahn.de site, and it's great to see that there are S-bahns every 5 to 10 minutes. Hopefully MUC is end-of-the-line so we can get seats with our luggage

soitgoes

That shouldn't be a problem, though it might not accept credit cards for those tickets (some machines only accept credit cards for some tickets).

ahrz

Yes, MUC is end of the lines S1 and S8.

From MUC to the Central Station (Hauptbahnhof) where the Meridien is located, you may use whichever train starts first (S1 or S8).

The ticket machines at MUC (owned by the german railways "Die Bahn") accept Visa, MC and Amex cards. It's NOT the case at ticket machines located in subway stations (managed by the Munich transportation company MVG).

BAHN and MVG like it complicated : nobody born outside of Munich understands which kind of ticket brings you downtown And if you buy the wrong one, don't even try to explain that you are stranger and sorry :
"the law is valid for you, even if you don't understand it"

You shoud buy a ticket with "4 Zonen" , valid from MUC to any location downtown. Don't forget to stamp it before boarding the train !

Or you buy a "Streifenkarte" , and take an aspirin (or two) :

The Streifenkarte contains 10 segments numbered from 1 to 10, which must be used in numerical order and must always remain together (don't cut them away). By stamping a segment, you validate this segment and all lower numbered unstamped segments.
For each "Zone" of travel, you need 2 segments. So from MUC to downtown, 4 Zones, you need 8 segments.
To validate 8 segments from a new Streifenkarte, you should ONLY stamp the segment number 8 (which validates automatically 1 to 7 also). It remains segments 9 and 10 free from the card, which may be used for another trip downtown.

Well ... the guy who invented this system has still not been shot

PHL

I'm looking at Oktoberfest 2009 and find a ton of room types available the final weekend (which I'm checking). I didn't look for earlier. I'm focused on 10/1 - 10/5. The rates are from 287 Euro and up.

Someone please tell me the difference between these suites:
Junior (341 Euro)
Deluxe (500 Euro)
Executive (588 Euro)

(those rates are with my corporate discount...they are a little bit higher without it)

Which, if any, include a pull out sofa?

DawgmanOH

Just returned from a stay at the LeMeridian Munich and wanted to relay my impressions.

Background:
Award stay for five nights. Used points to upgrade to a Junior Suite (11,500 points per night). This was a last minute Spring Break trip for my family. Our daughter is nine and had never been out of the US. Fares to Munich were unbelievably cheap at the last minute so booked a flight out to Munich for five nights of vacation.

Pros:
* Location, location, location. We had read about the "seediness" of the area and were prepared for run-down, depression-era bowery type location. And, even though it is not the best location in Munich, being close to the central train station ended up being worth its weight in gold. Both because it was easy to get absolutley everywhere in the Munich area, but also because of the food choices there. We had breakfast each day at one of the stands and even used it some nights for late night food. Walking distance (15 minutes) of Marienplatz was also a plus. One warning: it appeared a third of the rooms did have a view of the type of shop that one might not want a child to read the sign of and ask what it meant. These are the rooms facing to the East.
* Swimming pool. Our daughter loved swimming in the pool each day. It was nice to splash around and have fun after a long day of touring.
* Staff. Staff was friendly and effecient. All smiles all the time, that we encountered.
* Beer glasses in the hotel room. OK, this may seem minor, but too many hotels don't have glasses that can properly hold beer. These were small, but were designed to hold beer and also had a can opener right with them.
* Elevators. Very quick and that is all one can ask for in a hotel.

Cons:
* Atmosphere. This may be great for some, but for a family, they were striving too much for "hip" and not enought for functional. Hard to explain and I don't think it is their fault as much as the chain as a whole. Things in the room seemed to be designed more for looking chic and cool than for being useful. The same held true for the lobby, bar, etc.
* Shower size. It may have been purely because of the layout of our particular room, but the shower was WAY too small for one to have a decent shower. I love having a warm shower in the morning and actually dreaded having to get into this one.
* Whirlpool still under repair. As much as we loved the pool, we were hoping to use the whirlpool. We know the hotel was under repair in the spa area, but were assured that all was completed in early April. However, as of today, the whirlpool is still not finished, they have no idea when it will be done, and there is NO indication on the website. This was very frustrating for us.
* Internet pricing. As someone who travels a lot for business, I'm certainly aware of high internet charges. However, 21 Euro a night seems to be the highest I have ever encountered.

Overall, the hotel was ok. The location, again, was fantastic and well worth using the points. The hotel as a whole, though, wasn't my vibe and wasn't anything at which I would hurry back to stay.

banzani

Had booked two rooms last weekend at 99 EUR rate. One was upgraded to Exec suite which is the largest of 3 categories of suites.^

They credited two stays, which is a nice thing to happen. Very nice hotel with extremely friendly staff. Highly recommended.

This is NOT a complaint

peteropny

Staying here in a couple of weeks and wanted to confirm some things.

From MUC best way is via S-bahn - are there stairs to navigate? (since we have some luggage and navigating stairs with them is a bit difficult). Just buy the ticket upon arrival? Are there like a few day transit pass for the train/subway?

Any recent experiences for Plats in terms of upgrades etc?

Thanks in advance!!

STARFLEET

Hey peteropny, I'll be there in a couple of weeks too -- 5th time in 2 years! You should like it.
IMHO the easiest way there from MUC is the Lufthansa Bus (google it) which brings you right to the Hauptbahnhof (train station) which is across the street from Le Meridien.
If you want to use the subway later, the concierge will sell you tickets--no ticket machine trauma required.
As I recall there are ramps into and out of the station (you cut thru to get to the hotel, which is on the opposite side from the bus stop.)
The subway has many steps, but don't recall an elevator...
I'm a lowly skulking Gold, so no Plat report, but I have had reasonable luck getting upgrades to renovated (just) garden view (courtyard) rooms such as executive suites -- quite nice (in a W kind of way.) I usually write ahead, with good results from the kind folks at the front desk.
Love the doorman! Easy walk to Oktoberfest!

itsaboutthejourney

I know Platinum upgrades are not guaranteed, nor is bed type, especially on an Oktoberfest weekend such as this one where the hotel was full. However, I did use additional points for a "Specialty Upgrade" room and feel I didn't receive that, nor what was requested in the reservation:


- I was given smoking, when requested non-smoking
- I was given one bed rather than two singles as in the reservation
- The room was facing the very noisy street, with view of Sexyshop & train station entrance rather than the Garden view in the reservation
- There were no upgraded amenities in the room such as mouthwash, toothbrush, razor, etc. Just basic soaps. (Been told this is common for even 4-5 star hotels in Germany)
- Turndown service only offered 1 out of 3 nights
- Very bland beige and blond wood decor in the room, very 1970's

^
- Breakfast buffet was lovely, nice setting and great selection of food.
- Platinum Amenity (which I had to ask for at check-in) posted right away.
- Nice lobby in what i'd call the "new Le Meridien" style.

peteropny

We were reasonably satisfied with our stay for 4 nights (3 FWN & 1 points); however, would not have been happy if we had to pay the going rate. I would probably agree that you didn't get your "specialty upgrade" room since I think you were one floor below us and a few rooms towards the corner (so a little larger according to the floor plan due to building shape).

The blond wood seems to be very German since we had essentially the same looking furniture last month in a suite at the Hyatt Mainz (in one of their 3 suites).

The area right around the hotel isn't the greatest but it was very convenient to get anywhere.

The annoying thing that we found was that the "business center" with computers for guest use (15 min free per day - but they sometimes don't ask your room number so may not track that closely) seems to be "down" each evening around 10 PM.

TRAVELSIG

I have stayed at this hotel a few times, most recently at the beginning of September.
The location is fine- it is close to public transport, and also if you happen to be driving is easy to get in and out of, and has a garage that is very convenient (21 EUR/day IIRC). I say the location is "fine" because some people do not like the area- me included- however if you ignore it, it seems it will ignore you- also there is a Sofitel across the street which has a very nice lounge if you would like a drink after work/after dinner.
The rooms are fair sized for Munich- around 300 square feet- and the bed is extremely comfortable. The Internet, in my opinion, is a rip off at 21 EUR a day, however Starwood in general in Europe tends to have highly overpriced internet compared to other hotel chains (Radisson is free, Hyatt is free for all their Platinum or above members, Kempinski is usually free, Best Western almost always free...)- Starwood should really look at this as it is a huge annoyance to business travellers, and unlike the USA where you can get one internet key/card wirelessly to cover the whole country, in Europe usually you need one SIM per country (i.e. in Italy Vodafone has good corporate deals, in Germany D3....).
The shower- I actually like the separate enclosed showers here- very good water pressure, and the mirrors are set up in a way where you can see while shaving etc.
Breakfast is very good- there is a buffet included in many room rates which is worthwhile, and they also have cooked to order items. The courtyard is extremely pleasant, and on a nice day you can also have breakfast there.
I find the front desk staff friendly, asking "how was your stay?" etc, and the doormen to be friendly also saying hello in both German and English.
While the hotel is not up to par with the MO or the Kempinski, the prices are also usually a real bargain in Munich- and often their special prepaid rates are lower than any corporate prices.
My parents have also stayed here a few times, and they have always asked to go back there based on the combination of good price/newly rennovated rooms.
As a gold member I have always had a couple of free bottles of water in the room as well (with a compliments of SPG tag on them).
I am curious to take a stay at the Sofitel one time- just because the architecture of the building is amazing- but have not had an opportunity yet (obviously have to get Plat on the promotion!).
Never ordered room service- but do recall the menu was quite unexciting- also Munich has so many wonderful restaurants in every price range with varying hours- it would be a shame to eat in the hotel room I think unless absolutely necessary.
One thing they could add to this hotel are bathrobes- this would be nice and usually seem to be a Meridien standard?
Final point- the rooms overlooking the train station are fine- they are very well soundproofed so you don't really here anything in my experiences.

beta1607

I stayed here a few weeks ago during the Oktoberfest and was overall pleased with the experience. The room was nice and very clean. The location was incredibly convenient, directly across the street from the main train station and a 10 minute walk to the Oktoberfest Grounds. The staff was amazing, especially the concierge.