tfred

i am staying one night in Munich in december for the xmas markets. I assume that they are clustered around the marienplatz.

There are two marriott CY downtown - one within walking distance (near the train station), the other seems to be a short train ride. My other choice is the full service about 5 stops IIRC away from DT. all are +/- the same price.

any thoughts on which would be better for just one night? It is a Saturday night stay with a 4 pm departure on sunday to USA

Time traveller

The FS hotel is a bit outside the city, though still easily accessible by train. It is located in a suburban residential area. It's been a while since I stayed there, but I remember it being a nice hotel. It seems to attract a lot of tour groups. There is a direct airport bus that departs regularly from an intersection fairly close to the metro stop.

adviso

For one night I would recommend the Courtyard. It is only about a 10 minute walk to the Marienplatz. The rooms are nice and the breakfast buffet (comp for Plats) is very well stocked.

arizonawildcat

Aren't there two CYs now in Munich?

general45

There are now 2 brand new properties, a CY and RI located at the "Ostbahnhof" S-bahn stop. If I had the choice of a 10 minute walk compared to a 10 minute ride to Marienplatz in December I would opt for the latter. In fact, I'm going to give one of these properties a try the next time I'm in Munich rather than my usual stay at the Hilton City Center at Rosenheimer Platz.

SkiAdcock

When someone stays at the "new" CY, can they report back if breakfast is offered to Plats like they do at the one near the train station? I'll update the exec lounge sticky to add the property & reflect it if they do.

Cheers.

djohannw

According to information obtained over the phone be Exdon (and posted here) the hotel does not offer free breakfast for Platinums.

That said I have a reservation for that hotel for October 10th, however I am not sure if I am going to use it (mostly because of this information). If I decide to stay there I will report how things are handled there...

Greetings - Dirk

SkiAdcock

Thanks - and if you do stay there, report back!

I'm with you though - if one offers Plats brekkie & the other doesn't, I'd stay at the one that does!

Cheers.

Counsellor

There are still TWO full service Marriotts operating in Munich. The Renaissance, which was scheduled to close on 1 October, is now staying open through the end of the year.

Both the Renaissance and the Marriott are near the Nordfriedhof stop on the U-6 subway (U-bahn) which is six subway stops (trip takes 9 minutes, subway runs every 10 minutes or less) from Marienplatz, the center of the Christmas Market. The Renaissance is a bit older, and folks have complained about the lack of air conditioning (which I doubt will be a big problem in December), but it has a wonderful complimentary breakfast for Golds and Platinums, and lots of suites so the chance of an upgrade to suite is good.

The Marriott (just down the street from the Renaissance) was recently remodled, also offers complimentary breakfast to Golds and Plats, but less chance of a suite upgrade. They have started sort of a "mini-lounge" program (even though they have no "lounge" proper) at the bar in the lobby, where elites get coupons for a snack for a limited time in the evening, and a free drink (also for a limited time in the evening). So far as I know, the Renaissance hasn't followed suit on that.

djohannw

I strongly advise against the Renaissance as of now. The hotel is certainly beaten up because the upkeep-efforts have been reduced to a minimum since they announced the intend to close it. After some month now this really shows, like torn carpets with large holes in public areas and damages in the room that are not fiexed properly even when alerting the hotel-staff.

Also all staff-members that originally worked there have left the hotel, it is now staffed with transient staff since the decision to keep it open was made on short notice. With all that check-in for me as a Platinum took something like 20 minutes twice in the last three weeks, and the Platinum arrival gift points failed to post automatically for all three stays. Probably owing to new staff in the restaurant the quality of the breakfast has gone down substantially as well to the point that I as someone who considers breakfast the most important meal when traveling I skipped it alltogether on my last stay there.

So unless it is extraordinary cheap there is no reason to go there at all.

Greetings - Dirk

SkiAdcock

I had just deleted the Ren from the list because it was supposed to close last Friday. I'll add it back in. Assuming they'll still offer the free breakfast 7x/week.

Cheers.

djohannw

Stayed there in the meantime, and the information provided by EXDON is correct, the hotel does not do anything beyond the mandated minimums in regard to Elite-treatment, so no free breakfast for anyone (and with 23 Euro the breakfast n their restaurant is rather expensive). As Platinum I got upgraded to a Superior Room (i.e. one facing the inner courtyard instead of the street) and was properly offered a Platinum amenity this time (choose points, but as others have reported they are pretty stingy with the amenity if you choose that: If you want one of their pre-packaged sandwiches instead of a choclate bar, you will not get the water).

Room was nicely appointed, yet the Wireless Internet does not work properly on the fourth and fifth floor - I was lucky to be able to pick up the Residence Inn's signal, which is free-for-all instead of pay-for like the CY-signal (no idea how they handle the free access for Elites). Also in general very cold athmosphere - staff certainly has to learn a lot.

All in all a very decent hardware, yet the people and the software (i.e. Elite perks) don't do the trick. I currently can get this place LNFed very cheap, so I use this hotel when I have a stay on short notice and for one night only - for breakfast I frequent one of the outlets at nearby Ostbahnhof that offer a decent variety and are on my way to my office anyhow. For any longer stay however I'd rather pay more and stay at either the other Courtyard or the Marriott.

Greetings - Dirk

Counsellor

I just got a note that the Renaissance will begin major renovations (maybe including central air?) on 23 December.

I had a reservation over Christmas weekend, and they shifted me to the Marriott down the street.

I'm supposed to be staying at the Renaissance this coming weekend, and will try to find out more information then.

newbiztraveler

I stayed at the CY in March and they provided us with free access to the breakfast buffet every day. I only made it one day - too many long nights at the beer halls . IIRC, there was no free WiFi, only wired internet in the room, which is worthless for my iPad. There's a few iMacs in the lobby, which is nice.

The location of the CY is excellent. As other posters mentioned, it's walking distance to both the train station and Marienplatz.

Counsellor

I'm at the Renaissance now. Full free breakfast still being offered on weekends to Golds and Platinums.

According to the front desk, the Renaissance will close as a Renaissance on December 23rd and be turned over to the successor brand (I'm not clear on what it will be, but as of 23 December it will not be a Marriott property).

There will then be an initial renovation, and they're planning to reopen under the new name in early January. The upgrade to aircon won't be in by then, but that's probably not a problem in Munich in January and February. I'm told the plan is that it will be installed by the time it's needed.

There was some initial confusion, and indeed many of the original staff had departed, so the management had to find temporary help and it seems as though some were indeed inexperienced. Now, though, the managerial staff (and front desk, etc.,) seem to be on loan from other Marriott properties in the European area. I talked with one front desk person who was brought up from Vienna where she works at one of the Marriotts there. She said she was just here for about a month, then would return to her regular job in Vienna, She said there were lots of folks here from other Marriotts, and I think I recognized one from the Marriott in Budapest. From what I've experienced during this stay, everything seems to be running smoothly.