We stayed at Hotel Monaco in Munich at the end of a Christmas Market River Cruise from Vienna to Passau.  We decided to stay several days in Munich to experience Munich’s Christmas Market and explore Munich. While the transit system works great, and we generally walked from Hotel Monaco to Marienplatz. We stopped along the way to visit a variety of churches, which have great art. The main plaza has been restored to its former beauty since WWII. The Christmas markets were wonderful, and I’m sure visiting at Oktoberfest time would be great. We took the tram to the Englischer Garden, with the Chinese pagoda,  to see another Christmas market and had a great evening sampling the variety of goodies and, of course, holiday drinks -  in our own souvenir mug.  Exploring the city and the markets in the evening was wonderful.

We found Hotel Monaco to be very welcoming – very nice and personable, for what was described as a “budget hotel”.  There was some street noise, but not enough to keep us from sleeping. There were several other, higher priced, hotels in the neighborhood, but we were very happy to be at Hotel Monaco.  When it was time to leave Munich, we had to catch the first airport train in the morning – at about 4:30. Even though breakfast wouldn’t be ready for several hours, the night desk clerk made coffee for us and provided fruit, yogurt, meats and cheeses for us before we left. He was so sorry he didn’t have any fresh bread for us, but we were very pleased to have some breakfast before our long trip back to the United States.

What a priviledge it’s been to have had the chance to see the beautiful city of Munich, a city rich in culture, music, and history! My mom and I have loved staying here at the Hotel Monaco, with its quaint and unique interior and of course the lovely breakfast that’s offered in the morning. My favorite place in Munich has to be the Haufbraeuhaus- it’s amazing to know that it’s the oldest beer house in the world; that made the experience especially lovely. I only drank .5 L, while the other people I was with drank much, much more. The Hard Rock Cafe was fun to dine in as well. What makes Munich special is that the city has retained a lot of the old buildings from hundreds and hundreds of years ago and has incorporated the new stores and resaurants into the old buildings, rather than building news ones all over. A few new buildings here and there are fine, but the older ones are much more picturesque and make the city that much more desirable. The snow has also been pleasant, I like walking down the streets of Munich at night watching the snowflakes all around. Thank you for giving us a pleasant stay!

Olivia Lynch, Room 608, 12.3.09