Munich Marriott City West: A Work in Progress with High Potential

Finally, there is a new opening in the five-star segment in Munich. Marriott opened its newest hotel in the Bavarian capital on September 7, 2023, just in time for the start of the nearby Oktoberfest. Reason enough for us to spend a night there a few weeks later and take a close look at the new Munich Marriott Hotel City West.

LOCATION

The location of the hotel a few kilometers west of Munich city center is not quite central, but the connection by public transport is sufficient to get to the city center quite quickly. The hotel is located in the middle of the Hirschgarten and Donnersberger Brücke S-Bahn stations and is about a ten-minute walk from both. This provides a direct connection to the Munich main line, from which all central points can be reached. Under ideal conditions, the hotel can be reached from the airport in 35 minutes by car, but depending on the traffic situation, this is likely to take 45-60 minutes in reality. The hotel can also be reached from the airport in the same time by S-Bahn (S1) and a short walk. There is also a streetcar stop directly in front of the hotel, which takes you to Munich city center in just a few minutes.

The complex itself is a completely new building; a few months ago, this site was still wasteland. On our arrival, it is still easy to see that it is still a construction site, access to the building from the street side is not yet possible, in many places there is still construction work to be done and all future green spaces are just sandy ground.

Even from the outside you can see that the posh roof terrace, which the hotel advertises on its website, is not yet finished - it exists but is completely empty and, as we later discover, not open to guests.

We find the entrance to the hotel at the back of the building after walking all the way around.

After passing through the automatic revolving door, we stand directly in the elegant hotel lobby, which seems rather small and almost a bit cramped in relation to the size of the building. Overall, it has to be said that the dimensions of the hotel are well masked. With 398 rooms, this is one of the largest hotels in the city, but the hotel's architecture hides its size well.

Apart from that, we can already see the well-designed modern style of the hotel, which looks very fresh and young despite the many wooden touches.

ARRIVAL, LOBBY & CHECK-IN

We are immediately greeted by a very friendly member of staff at the counter, who begins to check us in. His friendliness and nice smile somewhat overshadow the fact that he is probably not yet so experienced in this process; we are missing standardized sentences about the location and opening hours of the fitness area, an acknowledgement of our loyalty to the Marriott brand and the reference to an upgrade from a standard room to an Executive Superior room, which we have kindly received.

We were also surprised to learn that the M Club mentioned on the website was not yet open. We had not expected this at all and when we asked why there was no mention of this on the website, there was no real explanation and only the information that it had not yet been decided when it would open.

As we later found out when we asked, only parts of the hotel were actually open, in fact only the first two room categories at the time of our visit. This also explained why our Suite Night upgrade request was rejected, as the suites are not yet open and cannot be booked.

ROOM

We receive an upgrade from our booked standard room "Deluxe" to an "Executive Superior" room. In reality, this is the same as the "Superior" room, the second category after the standard room. As is so often the case, the only difference in the "Executive" category is access to the M Club, which is unfortunately not yet open. This means we only receive a minimal upgrade, but at the same time the highest available room category.

The superior room has a floor area of 29 square meters and is therefore a spacious room. After entering the room, a long corridor leads to a desk, and at the end of the corridor is the entrance to the room. On the right-hand side there is a wardrobe, access to a small dressing room and then the bathroom.

In the room itself there is a large bed (1.80m x 2m - 70 x 78 inches), a small couch, two bedside tables, a large TV opposite the bed as well as a small wardrobe and a cupboard with a coffee machine, safe and fridge. Again, it is striking how modern and young the design comes across, despite a large proportion of wood and even dark lion heads on the walls.

By the way, it is supposed to bring good luck to touch them.

One amenity that deserves special mention was a steamer, which was kept in a drawer. A helpful tool, especially for business travelers, which we have rarely found in hotels before.

The in-room technology is modern and mostly well thought out. The light switches are easy to understand and quite logical. There are buttons for "Do not Disturb" and "Clean my room", the first of which even prevents service staff from accidentally opening the door and also switches off the room bell.

There are even motion sensors to help you find your way to the toilet safely at night by activating the corresponding lamps in the room. However, the system is not yet fully perfected, as even a blanket hanging over the mattress activates the sensor when movement is detected. In addition, the light then stays on for five minutes, which is a very long time if it is activated accidentally. However, if it is activated on purpose, you have to pay close attention to the time, as there are unfortunately no additional sensors in the bathroom, so the light goes out after the five minutes, even if you have not yet returned to bed.

Improvements should definitely be made here, in particular the incorrect activation was very annoying for us several times during the night. Unfortunately, there is no option for the guest to deactivate the function.

The bathroom is certainly the biggest highlight of the room, it is relatively large and on entering we immediately notice the pleasant underfloor heating, a great highlight especially after a warm shower. The floor-to-ceiling shower is also very spacious and even has a bench. Another rare element in the German hotel world is a Japanese toilet with a heated seat, a great luxury.

However, a downside is that we again did not find a way to regulate the floor heating or even switch it off completely. Of course, the constant heat ultimately has an impact on the room temperature, not to mention the environmental aspects. The toilet seat was also very warm and constantly heated, an option to regulate this would be very desirable, as not every guest likes it that hot.

WIFI SPEED

The measured WiFi speed in the room was 66 MBit/s download and even 83 MBit/s upload, surprisingly good and appropriate for a modern hotel. Hopefully this will remain the case even with higher occupancy. On a more negative note, however, the Wi-Fi was unrestricted, no access data was required and no data was requested later. This of course makes the network a little less secure.

ROOM TEMPERATURE

Unfortunately, the room temperature was not quite what we had expected in a new building. On entering the room, we immediately noticed a high temperature, but the air conditioning was off and the sun was beating down on the windows.

We immediately switched it on at the lowest temperature, but the temperature only dropped very slowly and by the evening the temperature in the room had only dropped to 23 degrees (73.4 Fahrenheit). Fortunately, it dropped a little further overnight and in the morning we were able to measure 21 degrees Celsius (69.8 Fahrenheit), which is still quite high for a five-star hotel in a new building.

It probably needs to be adjusted a little - but we also suspect, as mentioned above, that the constantly active floor heating in the bathroom has a strong impact on the room temperature.

HOUSEKEEPING

Our room was very clean and well prepared. In the evening we ordered extra pillows, unfortunately there was no choice of other pillow types, but the extra ones were delivered quickly.

A request for extra towels the next morning was also quickly fulfilled.

BREAKFAST

Breakfast was served from 6:30 am to 10:30 am in the main restaurant "Assoluto".

The buffet was diverse, there was even a small salad bar. In addition to a good selection of cold cuts, there was a cereal bar as well as an extensive hot buffet and an egg station offering omelettes and other egg dishes.

On request, we were informed that Eggs Benedict could also be ordered, but this would have to be done with the waiter. However, the waiter then also ordered these from the Egg Station and collected them from there a few minutes later.

We didn't actually ask if there were any other "secret menu items", but a small menu on the table would certainly be useful.

The staff at breakfast were very helpful and there were plenty of them, but the current occupancy rate was still very low.

Unfortunately, we noticed that the low number of guests had a strong influence on the buffet: the hot dishes got increasingly colder over time and reached room temperature after a while. The cold cold cuts at the buffet also began to show signs of drying out after a few hours. This should definitely be improved and the buffet should be refreshed more often, especially when there are few guests.

All in all, the team didn't seem to be fully coordinated yet, there were no clear responsibilities of the waiters per table, the waiters got confused with the languages and spoke to us in German or English.

In general, the breakfast has great potential and the challenges are certainly more common after a new opening. At the moment, we would recommend visiting the buffet as early as possible to enjoy warm and fresh food.

LOUNGE

As already mentioned, to our great surprise the M Club was still closed, unfortunately there was no indication of this on the website. When we asked in detail, we were told that they hope to open the lounge before the end of the year, ideally in November. It is located on the seventh floor of the building and the entire floor was still closed at the time of our visit.

As compensation for status customers entitled to lounge access, we were offered breakfast free of charge in accordance with the rules. In addition, we were given a voucher for a drink and a light antipasti platter per person at the hotel bar.

If you do not wish to enjoy a large number of alcoholic drinks, this is a relatively fair compensation. We were allowed to choose any drink from the bar menu, even the most expensive cocktails were not a problem.

RESTAURANTS & BARS

The hotel has a main restaurant with an integrated small café and a hotel bar.

Assoluto Ristorante & Vineria

In addition to breakfast, the main restaurant offers a typical Italian dinner menu from 6 pm. Classics in the categories of antipasti, primi & secondi piatti and dolci can be found on the menu at appropriate prices. If you want to save a few euros and enjoy the same dishes, simply order them via room service, as the same dishes were actually cheaper there. Please see Breakfast section for additional photos of the restaurant.

Assoluto Caffe

The small café in the back corner of the main restaurant is very reminiscent of a typical Italian café - and that's exactly what it's meant to be. If you want to enjoy an espresso standing up or have a quick lunch, you'll be very happy here.

westhub bar & lounge

The westhub bar & lounge is a classic hotel bar with a large selection and an extensive range of seating. In addition to cozy sofas with a view of the fireplace, there are also comfortable chairs with tables for working. The range of cocktails on the menu is extensive, but the selection of spirits means that every wish can be fulfilled.

ROOM SERVICE

Unfortunately, due to the shortness of our stay, we did not have the opportunity to test the room service. You can order a variety of dishes similar to the menu from the main restaurant. This was conveniently possible via a dedicated website.

We found it striking that the dishes were significantly cheaper than in the main restaurant and, as is not often the case, no additional tray charge was made for delivery. We liked this very much and will certainly try the room service on our next visit.

As the ice machine on our floor was unfortunately defective, we called Room Service in the evening to order a bucket of ice cubes. This call was answered very kindly and a few minutes later a welcoming member of staff was standing outside our door with the order.

SNACK SHOP

In addition to room service, there is a 24-hour snack store in the small lobby, which offers a wide selection of snacks and drinks.

GYM

The gym was open 24 hours and has a good selection of modern Technogym equipment. Fresh towels and bottled water are provided free of charge. Next to the gym there is a comfortable changing area with private shower rooms and lockers.

POOL/SPA

Unfortunately, the hotel does not have a pool or a Spa area.

BUSINESS AREA

A gigantic meeting area can be found on the floor directly below the first floor; in addition to a gigantic ballroom, with 916 sqm (9,860 sqft) one of the largest in Munich, there are 20 other meeting and event areas in different sizes with a total of 2,440 sqm (26,264 sqft). This makes the Munich Marriott Hotel City West a perfect place for business meetings of any size.

OVERALL SERVICE

Overall, we encountered a very motivated and remarkably friendly team of employees. Here and there we noticed that processes were not yet running smoothly, but that is certainly forgivable a few weeks after the opening.

However, we were quite annoyed by the incorrect presentation on the website: At no point was there any indication that the hotel was not yet in full operation. Only the first two room categories are open, the M Club is advertised several times but does not yet exist and the incredible rooftop terrace, which is the first thing you see on a computer-generated image when you open the hotel website, simply does not exist. This must be mentioned, because the current presentation of the hotel is misleading.

STAY DETAILS

We stayed at the Munich Marriott Hotel City West for one night at the end of October 2023. The nightly rates at that time were around 150 € to 180 € for the standard room, depending on the day of the week. Rates vary considerably depending on the booking period, but most nights are a maximum of 220 €, although individual nights can cost up to 600 € per night. Prices rise massively during the Oktoberfest in particular, as is quite common in Munich.

STATUS RECOGNITION

We currently have Platinum status with Marriott and the recognition was very good considering the situation. We were upgraded to the largest room available, which unfortunately was only the second category as no other rooms were opened.

Due to the lounge being closed, we received complimentary breakfast in the main restaurant and a voucher for a free drink at the bar and an appetizer plate.

Our late check-out at 4pm was also approved immediately.

We even found a nice welcome gift in our room: a Wiesnherz with a handwritten card.

RATING 30VIEWS

RATING PENDING

As soon as the hotel is in normal operation, we would give it a RECOMMENDED rating. Overall, we see very high potential for this new Marriott hotel and are pleased that a fresh breeze is blowing through the rather dry hotel landscape in Munich.

Please read about how we rate.