Oktoberfest 2011
 

I saw some info on the 2010 version of Oktoberfest in Munich and it looks like the kind of event I'd like to attend but since it's only 2 weeks away I thought 2011 might be more doable. Does anyone have any advice and/or experience with Marriotts in Munich during the festival? I've never been to Munich but it looks like the CY is closest to the Theresienwiese and both the Ren & Marriott look to be only a couple of stops away by public transport. Are reservations difficult to obtain at these properties either using points or cash during Oktoberfest? Is being closer at the CY an advantage or no? My intention is to spend 3-5 days in Munich. Is there a preferred period to attend; beginning, middle or end?

Since this is long range planning I've got lot's of options but lack info on the event and it's logisitics. Your experiences/advice would be appreciated.

JRS

If you are trying to book a room in Munich during Octoberfest, beprepared to pay through the nose on cash rewservations. I had a business trip to Munich that could be done the current wekk or in two weeks time, abd the difference for a hotel room would be abou 100€ for this wednesday vs. about 400€ for two weeks from now...

My guess is that points is your best option if you can get a room with them, or take the gamble and use priceline.

In terms of location: The Courtyard is two stations away on the underground to the fairground, yet the other two Marriott properties are not that much farther away as well. The Renaissance also sits right above a subway-station, and the Marriott is also pretty close to one. Not sure how many stations to Theresienwiese, however, and if you may have to change subway-trains. All in all I like the CY in MUC more than the Renaissance, but I have not yet stayed at the Marriott in the city.

Greetings - Dirk

FYI: I did this last year with about 2 weeks notice, staying on points for the last weekend of the event. I spent one night out near Munich airport at the Munich Airport Marriott and then using my diamond special services reservations at one of the Hiltons in the city centre. Even got availability to get myself from the UK to MUC and back using my star alliance airmiles (BD)

As such you may wish to check this out - it may not be too late for this year if you wished.

In general you should avoid coming during the weekend. Especially the saturdays are overcrowded, and the tents are usually closed for people without reservations unless you wait outside in line from 7AM (you don't want to do this). So the best is to come during weekdays.

The benefit of the first week is that most of the waitresses are more energetic, and the chances of good weather are a bit higher than the second week.

Thanks to all for the info. I'll keep my eyes on the Marriott site and try to book something with points as soon as it's available.^

The Courtyard is near the main train station (Hauptbahnhof) which is one stop from the Oktoberfest site (Theresienwiese) on lines U-4 and U-5. It is also near the Karlsplatz (Stachus) stop on the same two lines which would require going two stops (Hauptbahnhof and Theresienwiese).

The Renaissance and the Marriott are near the Nordfriedhof (Northern Cemetery) stop on line U-6. (Technically, the Renaissance isn't on top of the subway stop, but the "back entrance" to the Ren is about 50 meters from the stop; the Marriott is two blocks further on from the Renaissance.) To get to the Theresienwiese from there, take line U-6 toward town and get off at the 5th stop (Odeonsplatz) and change to U-4 or U-5 going in the direction of the Hauptbahnhof. You do this without coming to the surface. Once on U-4 or U-5 going in the correct direction, get off at the 3rd stop (Theresienwiese). It's about a 15 minute trip all told.

As djohannw mentioned, rooms can be rather dear during Oktoberfest; best advice is to reserve well in advance or try to get an award rather than paying cash.

We stayed at the Renaissance on the north side for this event about 3 years ago. Not a bad location (mostly housing around) and the subway was like a 15 min ride, if I remember correctly.

The hotel did NOT have A/C and it was quite warm. Very warm, actually. We snagged some fans but that was not much help.

Overall a decent hotel, if its cool outside.

CY Munich
 

Stayed here 2 years ago.

Nice hotel, 5 mins walk from the main tran station.

No room service but they have a small shop from where you can buy stuff.. not very expensive.

Heading to Oktoberfest 2010
 

I am visiting the Oktoberfest from 9/18 to 9/24 (Saturday to Friday). Based on availability, I am staying at the Hilton City Center, Marriott Courtyard, and the FS Marriott.

I have stayed at the Hilton and CY in the past - and both are great properties. The CY location is very easy to get to places (short walk to station). Food at the CY restaurant is actually pretty good but no executive lounge/room service, although you can call and pick-up your order from the restaurant. Hilton is a little further away, but directly above the train station - and has a great executive lounge (free beer, wine, breakfast, liquors certain hours of th evening, evening snacks, etc) for those with status.

I booked my reservations about 2 months ago. I had considered this trip in Fall/Winter 2009; had I booked in the November timeframe, I could have had the Marriott CY for the entire week. I would also consider this an excellent use of MR points as property is not a high category...but given the cash rate (and difficulty of getting cheap rates at other hotels)...very much looking forward to this event!

Stephen

I have been many years, and I can tell you to stay away from the weekends. They are downright dangerous. One of the girls in our group was against the doors when they opened and got trampled. Luckily, her very large boyfriend snatched her up before she seriously got hurt, but like the previous poster said, if you don't have a reservation, you aint gettin in... If you go during the week, if it's just a small group of you (4 or less), with some basic german, you can find seating by asking to sit at someones table if there is room. Friday night the doors are closed and you wont get in after 5 if you don't get reservations or are not in a tent already. We have reservations for two tents and have "customer numbers", which are very hard for non-locals to get since you have to personally go to the tent owners offices in Munich directly to get them sometime in Jan-March. We go to Hippo, hofbrau, and spaten tents and will be there this year Sept 22-26th. I doubt we will have extra seats for Hippo or Hofbrau, but we will for Sunday the 25th at the Ochsenbraterie tent. If you need information on anything, just email me-
Prost! Lisl

We're going to Oktoberfest 23/24th Sept, and I've sent off reservation requests to literally every single tent for 24 people.

However, so far I've had about 10 rejections... so fingers crossed we'll manage to get in somewhere. But I'm worried what we'll do if we can't get in anywhere.

Will there be anywhere to buy beer from inside the festival grounds, if you're not in a tent? And what's the likelihood of us turning up to a tent and trying to get in? (I've heard that by law, they are required to keep 1/3 of all seats unreserved).

Thanks in advance, if anyone can help me. :)

This will probably be moved to OMNI, but here's some experiences from last year. Myself and uva185 went and stayed at the Courtyard. Excellant location for this hotel, short walk to the fairgrounds. We didn't have tent reservations but arrived on a Sunday, went to the tents and with some persistence, found a couple seats. Had a great time, going back this year.

First of all, welcome to FlyerTalk, benbrazier!

I am unaware of any "law" that requires the "tents" to keep 1/3rd of the seats unreserved. If that were the case, though, on weekends you'd still have to be there pretty early to get any of those seats. Last year a friend of mine and his family (which included some teen-age boys) visited Munich during the Oktoberfest, and the boys, having heard about having to get there early if you wanted to get seats, left the hotel about 0730 to get a place in line. They reported that the line was huge even at that hour, and that all in line did not get inside.

The reason I put the word "tent" in quotes is that although the large pavillions are called "tents" (Zelt) they don't look anything like what you think of when you hear the word "tent". They are huge structures of wood and canvas, assembled for the Fest then disassembled afterward and stored in Conex-type containers. They even have have "second floor" interior balconies. These are the ones it's hard to get into, and to which access is denied from time to time due to being full (to the rafters).

However, alongside the large Zelts are garden-type areas with benches and trestle-type tables, some protected from the sun by awnings or even by true tents. In my experience, Zelts can be fun on weekdays during the daytime and early evening, but on weekends the Zelts are very crowded, so even if you can manage to squeeze in and find a seat it may take quite a while to actually be served. In such cases, try the side gardens and small tents. You can usually find a seat (or wait until one comes free) and get served reasonably promptly.

Now, my best recommendation: After you've had the mandatory Mass (liter mug -- pronounced "Mahhhss") of beer at the Oktoberfest so you can say you were there, and walked down the midway and looked at all the folks in traditional garb ("trachten") and maybe climbed up to stand with the statue of Bavaria and her lion, leave the Fest and find a nice Biergarten in town. My favorite is the Augustiner Keller, about 5 minutes walk from the main train station (Hauptbahnhof) down Arnulf street (on your right -- you can't miss it). Since all the tourists will be sweating and struggling at the Oktoberfest, it will be easy to find a table shaded by huge Chestnut trees and you can enjoy a beer in relative comfort.

There are over 400 Biergartens in Munich, ranging in size from one tree and a table alongside a Gasthaus (small restaurant) to the huge Hirschgarten that can seat 8,000. If you'd like to check out a few, here are descriptions of some that fellow FlyerTalkers recommend.

Enjoy, and Prosit!

+1 on the Augustiner Keller.

BTW - I heard somewhere that MUC Ren is leaving Marriott later this year. Not sure if it's before or after Oktoberfest.

Cheers.

You heard correctly, from what they told me when I was there this past weekend. Apparently the property owner and Renaissance have decided to part ways (don't know which pulled the plug, though).

If I understood the person correctly, the change takes place at the end of September, so just in the middle of Oktoberfest, when rooms go for a small fortune. :confused:

Too bad. I like the place, and will miss it. Maybe the new Courtyard in Haidhausen will take its place in my schedules, or the Munich Marriott, since it's in the same quiet residential district as the Renaissance.