If you are looking for accommodation in a city, you will certainly check many internet resources. Many online travel agents (OTAs) offer a variety of offers and deals. But especially when it comes to choosing a convenient hotel, the question of whether you have chosen the perfect hotel is often asked.
Here I have picked out 6 tips for you on what to consider when booking your accommodation in Munich.
1. Is a centrally located hotel really central?
I often read, especially on websites that offer travel deals, headings like „Stay in a central hotel Munich during Oktoberfest for just XX USD“. But how central is actually central?
Many cities in the world are so enormously large that the central city centre extends over several kilometres. Therefore, the term „central“ becomes relativ. Munich is not a metropolis like New York, Tokyo, Paris or London, that’s clear. But also in Munich, the term „city centre“ has a relatively large extension.
In Munich, everything that is located within the ring shaped city expressway „Mittlerer Ring“ is called city centre. But from this expressway to the city centre (Marienplatz) it can take up to 30 minutes by car or public transport. On foot, it normally takes almost exactly one hour. Many hotels that are quite far away from Munich’s Old Town still say they’re „centrally located“ as they refer to a subway or tramway station nearby which will shorten the time to reach the city centre.
The best way to find a really centrally located hotel is to specify your search.
Most OTAs offer to do a perimeter search around a specific location. But for this, you have to know where the locations are. So if you want to find a really central hotel in Munich, I recommend using the following search parameters
Expedia:
The website of the worldwide known OTA Expedia offers the filter option „Area“ or „Popular locations“ in the hotel search on the left side. Here you should select one of the following options for very central hotels:
Area Filter
– Munich City Centre
– Munich Central Station (located about 1,000 meters west of the city center)
– Altstadt-Lehel (This district is the most central and consists of the Old Town and Lehel (directly east of the Old Town)
– Maxvorstadt (still very centrally located west and northwest of the old town)
Popular Locations Filter
– Marienplatz
– Hofbrauhaus
– Viktualienmarkt
– English Garden
– Residenz
– Odeonsplatz
– Sendlinger Tor
– Ludwigs-Maximilians-University of Munich
Trivago:
The website of the OTA, or rather OTA search engine, which also operates worldwide, is structured differently. Below the search mask, there is an option „Hotel location“. In the window that opens, you can determine the proximity of the hotel to „popular sights“. You can also specify how far away the hotel should be from this sight. Choose the following „popular sights“ for a really central hotel and add a maximum of 1 mile (1.6 kilometres):
– City Center
You will get the same results (possibly shifted by less than 100 m) for:
– Old Town Hall
– Bavarian State Opera
– Dallmayr
– Cathedral of Our Lady
– Hofbräuhaus
– Court Garden
– Marienplatz
– New Town Hall
– Residence
– Viktualienmarkt
2. Is "near" Munich really "near" Munich?
Hotels located in the suburbs outside the city limits are often described as „near Munich“. And if you look at a map, in most cases this is correct. But also the term „near Munich“ is relative, because even if there is a hotel near Munich, this does not mean that you have a good and comfortable connection to the city or that you are rapidly in the city centre.
If you are looking for a hotel in the suburbs, always check first if there is an S-Bahn station in the immediate vicinity. If you have a (rental) car, this is, of course, less important.
However, before you book, you should check with a route planner how long it will take you to get to the city centre. Especially if you only have a few days or even hours in Munich.
3. Make a bucket list first
In big cities, unfortunately, one gets nearly knocked out by hotel offers. This leads to the effect that one is always on the search for a perhaps even better, cheaper, or more central hotel. One spends hours or days searching for the perfect hotel (which may not even exist, because the desired hotel is too expensive, too far away, or something similar).
Some of you may enjoy this long day-long search. But those who have to or want to quickly find a good hotel are soon annoyed. And that spoils the expectation or can even change your attitude towards Munich, Bavaria or Germany – although it’s not the country or city’s fault that you spend a long time looking for hotels.
So, if you have chosen a city district, a place of interest or something similar, in which area the hotel should be, then take a short look at all hotels in this area (maybe filter out hotels that are too expensive or offer too few amenities). It is only necessary to look at the pictures and read a few opinions to get a first impression. Of course, you should also define things that are absolutely important for you, such as included breakfast or a wellness area, in the filters of the website.
Based on these hotels, you will then generate a bucket list of potential hotels for you to choose from. And exactly these hotels you then look at in detail and finally decide which one you book.
4. Don't stick to the well known hotel chains
If you are not from Europe, when looking for a hotel, you will probably turn to a well-known chain that you liked in your home country or other countries you have already visited.
Examples of these chains are (alphabetically): Accor, IHG, Hilton, Hyatt, or Mariott.
But in Munich, there are also hotels or even hotel chains apart from the big chains and their brands that offer an equal or even better product or price-performance ratio.
5. Find information about the district first
As a traveler, you should always research a little about the district in which the desired hotel is located, especially if the city is unknown. Particularly women who are travelling alone should do a little more research in this field.
Munich is a very, very safe city and even districts that are not considered to be very good are far from being a no-go area as you might know it from other countries or cities.
Nonetheless, you should know a little bit about the social milieu of the district in which you reside.
But be careful if you search the internet for the terms „no go area Munich“. First of all, there is no such thing in Munich and secondly, you can quickly find websites that are solely for political purposes and possibly spread fake news.
For Munich, I will soon create a neighborhood guide, so that you can check the districts and quarters in detail and see what to expect.
But to avoid the corners that don’t feel so nice, I have made a map for you:
[AcuGIS mapid=“6″]
6. Don't rush for rooms
Travel websites try to convince you that you should quickly book the desired hotel or flights at the offered price. Some psychological tricks are used for this. A rather well-known trick is the (artificial) shortage.
You have probably seen travel websites where pop-ups or similar hints appear like „only 1 room left“ or „55 people are watching this“.
This will psychologically put you into stress, as the room you might want to have could be booked by someone else at any moment. So you may tend to accept a higher price just to be first to book.
Don’t be fooled by these tricks. Even if there is only one room available, it is unlikely that anyone will book the room you are looking at right now.
Stay calm and focused and just ignore the appearing pop-ups and hints about a shortage.
