SASfan

S- and U-bahn advice is good stuff, the U-bahn is about a 5 min walk from the hotel...

Counsellor

Cost is now € 17 for the "Parter Tages Ticket Gesamtnetz". It's still a great deal.

johnep1

So if I buy this at the airport at 7 pm, it's good until 6 am the next morning?

Thank you all for the tips.

tom tulpe

Yes it is:
All about Munich public transport tickets (in English). BTW this also reveals that EUR 36.20 gets you an IsarCard WEEKLY ticket for unlimited travel all the way from the airport to central Munich (13 "circles"). The downside is that validity starts at 12 midnight Sunday and runs until 12 noon on the first working day of the following week, so it's not really that flexible.

IrishStephen

Hello there

I stayed in the Sheraton Grand Munich for one night on Thursday night (very very short stay due to BA flight disruption in LHR with snow) and wanted to post some comments. I have read some good but mostly bad reports over the last few months about Platinum members and upgrades and I must say that I was for one very very impressed with the hotel.

When I checked in I was taken to a private desk for the Towers section of the hotel and told that I was upgraded to a Junior Suite as a platinum. I asked if there was any other rooms available under the best available upgrade. The very nice and very helpful girl on the desk told me that she would love to upgrade me if there was availability but a royal family had checked in and taken all the suites. She was one of the nicest check in agents I had ever had a chat with.

She asked me if I had heard any negative reviews from SPG Platinum members and about the hotel and I discussed some of the things that I had read and heard about the lack of upgrades and the Tower Hotel issue. She told me that she had had some very "difficult" Platinum members in the past and they were very concerned about their reputation. To be frank I found the hotel very very nice indeed. I had Tower Lounge Access and a very nice suite while not the best junior suite in the world it was very nice and the lounge served free alcoholic beverages and very very nice food until they closed at 10pm.

Needless to say I walked a little from side to side on the way out. One thing she did mention is that the hotel has alerted Starwood on many many times that the Tower part of the hotel is considered a hotel within a hotel and they would not upgrade Platinums to that part of the hotel.

I will without a doubt go back. I am in the Sheraton Alpen Hotel in the mountains just outside Munich until tomorrow and they gave me one of 5 suites on check in also.

Starwood Germany I must say I find are very very good to Platinum members.

Regards and thats my little bit of input

Stephen

zerbib

I hear that the Munich Grand will change its name to Westin as of January 08. Can anyone confirm it and what are the consequences of such a name change?
Obvioulsy having 2 hotels( Grand & Bogenhausen) next to one another, I guess it makes sense, but I am just curious as to what the benefits are/will be for G* and P* if any.

CIT85

I stayed at this hotel for night on Oct. 26. I had read all the discussions on this hotel before the trip, so I was not surprised that I was given a room one floor below the Towers floors, probably a deluxe room, with lounge access. My room rate included breakfast and breakfast was much nicer in the restaurant downstairs, so I did not have breakfast in the lounge.

The hotel is nice, but I wouldn't go out of my way to stay there in the future, especially since it's out of the way.

aussiechris

Apologies for resurrecting this old thread but I didn't want to get in Cheap Elite's rifle scope

This hotel is becoming a WESTIN later this year to seperate it from the other Sheraton across the street.
I have a Towers Exec room booked for an upcoming conference.
Any more recent experiences?

rcs85551

The Platinum treatment at the Sheraton Grand has definetely improved since 2001/2002.

As a Platinum, you can expect:
- Choice of Platinum amenity at check-in (unless you have previously stayed there, they do keep your preference on file, so since I selected wine in the past, the wine had already been waiting in my room - an upscale South African Blauwklippen Red wine)
- Upgrade to the executive / towers level *when available*
- Free HSIA if staying on the executive / towers level
- Access to the towers lounge (even when you could not be upgraded)

Suite upgrades are relatively rare at this property - they do have a lot of guests willing to pay for them as far as I know, and they are somewhat reluctant to give them out... but apart from that, they do treat the Platinums fairly well.

aussiechris

Thank you rcs8551 for the update. I am not surprised about the suite situation.

tpsTM

I've had to register here just to post this reply!

The ArabellaSheraton Grand has serious problems with service, and I have come to expect and accept bad service when/if I stay.

As for suite upgrades, if anyone ever gets one, its extremely lucky. After a number of months, and a number of us having stayed there each week, not one person received an upgrade.

Rooms on floors 13 and 14 have serious issues with odour in the bathrooms (sewage smells). The solution, if you complain, if for them to spray a chemical orange spray, only making the situation worse. It's usually a fight to get them to give you a new room, partly because its often booked out for conferences.

I have never had problems being given access to the lounge, which is nice enough and occasionally has a decent red/white going, and nice cheese selection!

I think its likely they have problems as they have a lot of rooms, and are sometimes over stretched at the front desk. I would recommend that you don't get them to take your cases to your room, as I have to wait around 30 minutes to an hour, and have on occasions not received them at all. Also, be warned with the guest services lady on the evening shift who says 'yes' to everything you say or ask; its very likely nothing will happen!

When I or anyone I know has had problems, such as theft from rooms (!), appauling room service, incorrect room rates etc, staff are reluctant to apologise, more likely to suggest you are mistaken. It feels as though staff aren't prepared (or allowed?) to take charge of issues and resolve them. I can empathise with the person above who was spoken down to with regards to their booking, as I often feel patronised by the staff as though I weren't worthy of staying in the 'Grand'; the quality of this hotel seems often more of a surface veneer created by having a load of marble and old classic cars!

It may be changing to a Westin (they've got the Westin dressing gowns in already), but they need more than a name change.

I'm sure very good stays can be had there, however when staying somewhere for a prolonged period, you get a more complete picture of a place and the faults become apparant.

For the location, price and upgrades, I'd choose the Meridian, or as a second choice, the ArabellaPark. (although I'm typing this from the 4pnts Central!)

cko64

I stayed at the Le Meridien and Sheraton Grand on my last trip to Munich in October, 2007. Although the Le Meridien is better in term of location, but overall, I prefer the Sheraton Grand.

tpsTM

Its a pretty shabby place; surely one of the worst Starwood properties there is! It feels more like a family run 'hotel' in the backstreets behind the Meridian! But I like the fact it has a balcony, its a short walk into town, free internet (I'd have to pay for it myself if i used it normally), and a selection of free drinks in the minibar (again, I'd have to pay for it if i used it normally). You can't expect much there; there's no pretence of a 5* hotel, and its really just a place to get some sleep.

Last time I stayed there was for Oktoberfest weekends, and then its the best hotel there is as its opposite the weisn! A short stagger to your room!

On the Meridian, I don't know if I have some kind of additional status, but I always get a suite (love the lcd tv's!), the staff are fantastic and have always been incredibly helpful (way beyond they need to be or anyone would reasonably expect), and have never had any complaints.

Chinatrvl

Update on rebranding of "Arabella Sheraton Grand Hotel Munich". It won't be rebranded before Oktoberfest ends (mid October 2008).
Reasons given by front desk staff: Large reconstruction of rooms needed, which won't be possible during busy season (February to September), as hotel is fully/ or well booked already throughout Oct.

zerbib

I heard that it will change it name now in Dec/Jan 2009.

I have just read some comments about service and annoyed Platinum clients at the Grand and frankly I am not that surprised. Overall all Gold/Plat should check-in at the special desk allocation to the right of the main reception in order to get a better service.

I have stayed there at least 20 times last year (2007) but only after finding out who is the most helpful of staffs ( because they can really be some obnoxious one there!) and funny , since then all is taken care of. But if I had a choice, value for money, I would not stay there any longer+
Naturally, if you do not have any expectation, the hotel is good overall, but as Platinum client, we expect that slightly more of a service.