Hotel Review: Marriott Munich

In honor of Little C&G's favorite team, FC Bayern München, I'm focusing on all things German this week. On Saturday it's an all German   showdown in the UEFA Champions League final at Wembley Stadium, the first in history. Munich's home team Bayern München defeated Barcelona to earn a spot in the final against Northern Germany's Borussia Dortmund. Little C&G has Saturday circled in red on the calendar and has already requested ahead of time that his soccer (football) jersey is clean. Hard to do since he rarely takes it off.

Our hotel for the first leg of our summer 2012 adventure was the Munich Marriott, just north of the city center and conveniently down the road from the Allianz Arena, home to FC Bayern München. Had I known ahead of time that Little C&G would turn into such a soccer nut, I would have planned accordingly, bought tickets to a game and booked a tour. Instead we watched games from the comfort of the hotels' executive lounge (free snacks, beverages, and help yourself wine bar) every night.

Our room was never this clean, so thanks marriott.com

Marriott has a generous rewards program and we used a bunch of points to stay five nights in Munich for free. Located in a quiet neighborhood and just two blocks from the U-bahn (subway) it was easy to get in and out of downtown Munich. It was also nice to retreat to a lovely tree lined neighborhood after a full day of bustling about town.

Our room was a bit of a tight squeeze but we weren't there for much more than sleeping.We didn't have that extra space with the couch that shows up in the photo to the left, which we happily could have put to good use. When we needed some room to roam we headed down to the lobby or out into the neighborhood for a stroll. We arrived in Munich just as the Olympics were starting so there were televisions on and people congregating and cheering almost everywhere throughout the hotel.

The neighborhood was very residential so there wasn't a lot to do and very few restaurants, but we did find a delicious bakery between our hotel and the U-bahn. I thought it was a mirage when we got up out of the subway on arrival from the airport, and pretzels and coffee have never tasted so good. Most days we ate breakfast at the vast buffet in the dining room (included with the room) and then stayed out till after dinner.

Steakhouse 93 in the Marriott lobby

At the end of our day trip out to Legoland (trust me, I will post about it!) the four of us were completely exhausted and didn't want to venture any further than our hotel in search of dinner. We decided to try the American style steakhouse in the lobby, Grill 93, and we were pleasantly surprised at how good it was. Hotel dining isn't usually worth the calories (unless it's room service in the comfort of your bathrobe) but Mr. C&G and I enjoyed some great steaks and several glasses of very tasty local weissweins (white wines).

The little C&Gs kept busy with their Legoland purchases while we sat back and enjoyed our wine. They were so happy to see a menu in English filled with all their favorites, and even more amused that each dish had a silly cartoon name. The boys got a kick out of our waitress' strong German accent when they ordered the "Schpunge Bob" of grilled sausages and french fries. The perfect ending to our long day was heading over to the lounge after dinner to watch Bayern München defeat Dortmund, and we all have our fingers crossed they'll do it again on Saturday!