My Deutsches friend Otto recommended we stay in Munich when we found we had an overnight layover on…read morethe way back to America from the Algarve. Due to a bunch of issues, both personal and Facebook (did anyone else have a couple of weeks where it would lock up for no discernible reason?), I couldn't avail myself of his recommendations. We might have to try again next trip. Or maybe not. Hotel Isar was pretty nice.
Our room was typically European-small, but not at all terrible - America, y'all are pretty spoiled, and what do we do with all that space, anyway? OK, lots of stuff, but seriously, the room we got was fine. Better than fine, in fact - functional, comfortable, attractive and with a lot more storage than any hotel I've stayed in in the States. The lighting was excellent, with a very nice reading lamp - when was the last time you could say your room at the Hilton had enough light?
The bathroom was pretty tiny, but Marriott has the same issue, and the engineering of the placement of the fixtures was (German-) excellent, so it didn't feel cramped. The shower WAS small. Whacked my elbow pretty good. Ow. But the water was hot. And very much so when my wife turned on the sink to brush her teeth. Funny that there wasn't a temperature-control faucet...
The staff was helpful, friendly and very cheerful. We got excellent recommendations from the night manager for what we might do during our short stay. The breakfast and breakfast staff were great. The scrambled eggs were real, and they supplied not only fresh oranges, but a juice reamer. There were a half-dozen kinds of dry cereal, eight different breads, cheese, yoghurt, sausage, milk (whole, skim and soy), lots of fruit and an espresso machine that would make you any of ten different coffee choices (knowledge of German or a quick question asked of one of the staff members helps if you want to choose the right one). Take that, Holiday Inn Express!
The TV choices sucked. Similar channels to America. American TV doesn't get any better when it's in another language. Bring a book or a Netflix disk. (I don't know if they had internet.)
The neighborhood was beautiful, just a block from the swift, crystal-clear Isar River. There are lots of natural areas, apparently well-enjoyed by local residents. There's a bike trail along the river and bike lanes along the roads. Freising old town is just across the river, about four blocks down. We loved the Weissbrau Huber, a local Bavarian restaurant in that area - try the Jaegerbier and, if they've got it, the Gulasch, and sit outside if it isn't going to rain.
It's 15 minutes away from the Munich airport by taxi (EU26.00) or bus (EU2.80/ rider from the main terminal). I'd choose the bus. In fact, the taxi driver was puzzled why we didn't, but we were too tired to fool with trying to figure out which bus to take when we arrived. The taxi driver was courteous and his vehicle was very clean. He brought us directly to the door without any fuss. (Thanks!)
We took the bus back to the airport. We could have caught a 622 bus directly across the street to bring us to the main station and then transfer to the 635 airport line, but it was a 10 minute walk down quiet back streets to the main station and a beautiful cool morning, so we walked. The ride to the airport was well-used by courteous people, and it only made a half-dozen stops on its way to Terminal 2.
Go there. Might recommend staying more than one night.
