The Last Aeroplan Hurrah: Le Meridien Munich

Introduction
United Global First Lounge San Francisco
Lufthansa First Class San Francisco to Munich
Le Meridien Munich
Lufthansa First Class Lounge Munich, Swiss Business Class Munich to Zurich
Swiss First Class Lounge Zurich, Swiss First Class Zurich to Bangkok
St. Regis Bangkok
Thai Airways First Class Lounge & Spa Bangkok
Thai Airways First Class Bangkok to Hong Kong
Ritz Carlton Hong Kong
Exploring Hong Kong
United Club Hong Kong and Thai Airways Royal Orchid Lounge Hong Kong
Asiana Business Class Hong Kong to Seoul Incheon
Hyatt Regency Incheon Airport
Asiana First Class Lounge Seoul Incheon
Asiana First Class Seoul Incheon to Frankfurt
Sheraton Frankfurt Airport
Lufthansa First Class Terminal Frankfurt, Lufthansa First Class Frankfurt to Seattle
Four Seasons Seattle

Le Meridien is just a five minute walk from the train station, so from the airport to the hotel took about 50 minutes by train.

Hotel exterior

Once inside we proceeded to check-in, which was located towards the right. The agent was very friendly and I inquired about the possibility of a suite upgrade, though after checking she informed me they only had a king executive room available for an upgrade. As it turned out the executive room was really nice, so I was perfectly happy with that. She offered us a city map and asked which Platinum amenity we wanted. I was quite excited to finally be able to try Starwood’s new breakfast amenity that kicked in on March 1, so we went with that. For the record we were staying on cash and points, so the rate was 4,800 points plus $90USD.

The lobby was pretty typical of Le Meridien hotels, with lots of neon lights and a bit of a funky design.

Lobby

We were assigned a room on the 6th floor right next to the elevator.

Hallway

The room was pretty big, especially by European standards, and had lots of “open” space. It featured a rather firm king bed facing a flat screen TV and desk.

Entrance

Bed

Desk and TV

Minibar

The room had a window overlooking the courtyard, which worked out well since it meant there was virtually no noise coming from the outside.

Courtyard

The bathroom featured both a tub and walk in shower, as well as a toilet and sink.

Sink

Tub

Shower

Toilet

My one major complaint about the hotel is that they only have wired internet in rooms. That’s totally unacceptable in 2012, since it means you can only connect one device, not to mention have to sit at a desk. The only upside was that the internet was pretty fast.

We headed to bed fairly early, despite it being St. Patrick’s Day, and woke up early as well. At around 7AM we headed down to the restaurant for breakfast, where we found out we’d have access to the full buffet as Starwood Platinum members.

The spread was spectacular, consisting of just about everything imaginable. Most importantly, they had pretzels. Mmm, pretzels. Service was also attentive, with plates constantly be cleared and drink refills being offered.

Restaurant

Breakfast buffet

The hotel also featured a fairly nice gym on the ground floor, which I used once during our stay.

Gym

We only had a few hours to walk around Munich, and fortunately the weather was perfect. It was sunny and maybe 70 degrees, so what more could you ask for? We headed to the pedestrian zone in the city center (one of the nicest anywhere, in my opinion) where we sat down for some ice coffee.

City center

Rathaus

Ice coffee

By around 2PM we headed back to the train station to get to the airport by 3PM for our flight to Bangkok.

On the whole I’d say Le Meridien is a great value with a good location. Furthermore, as a Platinum member I felt their breakfast benefit was very generous. My only major complaint is that they don’t have wireless internet, which I hope they’ll change soon. But I’d return in a heartbeat and recommend this place.

Posted on April 2nd, 2012 by lucky
Filed under: Hotels, SPG, Travel, Trip Reports | 18 Comments »

April 2nd, 2012 at 7:11 am

Roland said,

Those lounge chairs in the courtyard… wouldn’t the get ruined in bad weather??
April 2nd, 2012 at 8:18 am

Rich said,

Why do you never feature a picture of your travel companion in your travels as in other blogs?
April 2nd, 2012 at 8:54 am

lucky said,

@ Roland — Now that you mention it, it sure looks like it!

@ Rich — Most people don’t want their picture posted on the internet.
April 2nd, 2012 at 9:03 am

Peter_Ng said,

Isn’t the rate at Le Meridien Munich 4800pts + $90?
April 2nd, 2012 at 9:11 am

Jeff said,

i do agree that having no wireless internet option in this day and age is unacceptable. however, if you have a macbook, you can use your computer to share a wired internet connection. this won’t work for macbook airs however (which i’m assuming you replaced after having your old one drowned in orange juice) since they do not have an ethernet port.
April 2nd, 2012 at 9:20 am

lucky said,

@ Peter_Ng — You’re absolutely correct. I knew the points amount ended in 800, and the cash component was a multiple of $45.

@ Jeff — Sadly I have a MacBook Air. Would that work with a dongle, or is there no way to do it even with that?
April 2nd, 2012 at 9:43 am

Shannon said,

I’ve been looking forward to this review. I’m staying here in July. Thanks!
April 2nd, 2012 at 11:12 am

Thomas199023 said,

I have a Apple AirPort Express especially for that reason. I see still quite a few hotels in Europe without wireless access and this works like a charm. http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/
April 2nd, 2012 at 1:06 pm

Panda said,

I’d also recommend the AirPort Express. It’s small and usually safer than open wireless networks. Some Asian hotels are without wireless access also.
April 2nd, 2012 at 7:18 pm

Jason said,

Must be a special friend if you guys shared a king bed!
April 2nd, 2012 at 7:46 pm

jeff said,

@lucky – i don’t have USB ethernet adapter, so i can’t say for certain, but i believe you will be able to share the internet. worth a try next time you’re at a hotel with no wireless. to share, you go into “sharing” under “system preferences” and you should be able to set it up.
April 3rd, 2012 at 12:32 am

joelfreak said,

This is why I always travel with a portable wifi router. It makes hotel internet faster, and cheaper (for hotels that charge for more than 1 device on wifi)
April 3rd, 2012 at 8:57 am

Brian said,

Great hotel- did you have any trouble with the picture thing above the bed? I stayed there last fall, and couldn’t figure out to turn it off, without turning off all of the power to the room. The front desk wasn’t much help either.
April 4th, 2012 at 12:44 pm

Ernie said,

I stayed at the Le Meridien in Casablanca a few weeks ago and I had the same complaint… Only wired internet in the room.
April 7th, 2012 at 2:42 pm

Mitch said,

This lowly SPG Gold is enjoying a deluxe suite upgrade on a EUR107/night five-night stay over Easter. It’s weird, because I didn’t see any suites for sale prior to check-in, so I assumed my best upgrade would be on a higher floor with the courtyard view. Instead, I’ve got a bedroom divided off from the living room, a separate dressing room space with closets outside the bathroom, and floor to ceiling windows on two walls (corner room). I’m quite happy with things
April 13th, 2012 at 2:20 am

Sara said,

Very impressive.. Detailed information about Le Meridean!
May 28th, 2012 at 7:23 am

Ryan from MA said,

hey Lucky, how do you deal with the VAT? I was thinking about paying cash but worried about the VAT. Thanks!
July 26th, 2012 at 7:42 am

Food Wine and Miles said,

Quick heads up – the LM Munich DOES now offer Wifi in guest rooms. But it’s a bit of a hassle, as you have to ask the front desk for a user name and password for each connection (i.e. every 24 hours).