Minotel Hauser (Munich): A Review

It’s time to work my way back and talk about some hotels, so I’ll do that now. The next on the list is the Minotel Hauser in Munich.

After the easy time I had getting to my hotel in Zurich, the Minotel Hauser was a little harder to locate, but that primarily was because the Munich train station was much more difficult to maneuver through. It’s separated into separate buildings. Once I found my way onto the U-Bahn (subway), however, the hotel was not that difficult, though I did have to switch trains to get there.

The hotel was in a little bit of a strange location. There were plenty of restaurants and bars and stuff around the hotel, but most of them seemed strangely empty much of the time. Granted, this was during Oktoberfest and most of the tourists were there, but I expected to see tourists everywhere else in Munich and that really wasn't the case, especially in the neighborhood I was in.

Check-in was easy and I was able to get straight to my room. Returning to the world of free wi-fi made me a happy puppy. The room, once again, was small but it wasn’t too bad and the bathroom was a little larger than I had gotten used to in Europe. I believe that the hotel had a lift, but I was on the second floor, so I didn’t have to use it.

As mentioned above, the hotel was close to public transportation, but also was close enough to Oktoberfest – about a 20-25 minute walk – that I walked there and back a few of the days that I was there. It also was very close to several restaurants as well as to a few grocery stores, so provisions could be picked up. Also, because of the mini-bar refrigerator, picked-up provisions could be stored for future use, in case you’re a squirrel or something.

The breakfast was free. More importantly, it was nice to be back in a culture that gave you meat for breakfast. (I hadn’t had this since London.) One problem with breakfast was that there was a limited dining area, so it wasn’t always easy to find a seat, but the selection of German breakfast items was impressive. I even go to try some blood sausage.

Money-wise, this is the most expensive hotel I’m staying in during my trip to Europe – around $210/night – but it being Oktoberfest, that was unavoidable. All-in-all, I was very happy with the hotel, just not particularly happy with the price. Also, it would have been nice is the neighborhood was a little livelier, but liveliness (is that a word?) was close enough, so that didn’t matter too much in the end.

Finally, check-out was as painless as check-in. The staff was very friendly and, overall, I had a very good experience at the hotel.