Le Méridien Stuttgart (Stuttgart, GERMANY)

We’re staying in the fourth city in the last four days. It’s my second visit to Stuttgart, the first since 2012. Despite being the 6th largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has very few accommodation options close to the city centre. I managed to find a few possibilities — mostly boutique hotels in the area but in the end, I chose to stay at a reliable international chain instead. The decision was mainly about its underground parking, something any boutique hotel couldn’t have offered. And with heavy construction going on in the area, that’s an important factor to consider.

We arrived in Stuttgart from Ulm by car in the late afternoon and immediately noticed the ongoing construction of the "Stuttgart 21 central railway station" project, which I heard has been going on for years. Luckily, we didn’t have to search for parking.

Le Méridien Stuttgart was pretty empty when we arrived, so the check-in process didn’t take very long.

Most of the rooms here are the same size (30 sq. metres), but our superior room looked a little smaller than what they indicated. 

Especially with the designer chair, coffee table and desk, there was no room for our luggage and the walking space to the window.

The building that houses Le Méridien Stuttgart was first built in 1988 and later underwent a couple of major renovations after it was rebranded from an InterContinental hotel to a Le Méridien. Nevertheless, its age is starting to show — particularly in the finishes on the walls, among other things.

The bathroom in particular looked as if it had missed the recent renovation (2016). It’s the first part of the room that’s due for a major facelift.

The hotel itself is within walking distance of some of the major attractions in the city, but with multiple major construction sites around, getting there was a nightmare. Instead of a straight line walk, we had to navigate around construction, past Schlossgarten park, and over connecting stairs and footbridges while also avoiding bikers.

The only thing worth reporting was the breakfast buffet, which was outstanding. 

They offer a really good mix of hot and cold dishes, including an egg station where scrambled eggs were prepared to order.

This wasn’t an ideal stay. When I asked my team members to identify their least satisfactory accommodation of this trip, not surprisingly, Le Méridien Stuttgart ranked near the top of everyone’s list. The numbers don’t lie.

P.S. The “Not bad” rating also takes into account the overall experience, including service from the front desk, location, facilities, parking, and breakfast so they kind of counterbalance the negatives.

Rating: ❤❤❤

Price: €€€€

Address: Willy-Brandt-Straße 30, 70173 Stuttgart, Germany

Tel: +49 711 22210

Website: https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/strmd-le-meridien-stuttgart

Boutique-Hotel Bayerischer Hof (Kempten, GERMANY)

Right before this trip while I was still in the planning stages of our itinerary, I suddenly realized how much little nugget has grown over the past six months. As most European hotels only offer a queen bed or two single beds (unless they have family rooms), it became apparent that this would be an issue. Not to mention our incredible appetite for space and more space.

One solution was to shift our attention toward aparthotels as much as possible. It’s become my strategy going forward.

Our first aparthotel of the trip was in Kempten.

Boutique-Hotel Bayerischer Hof is about an hour’s drive from the amazing Neuschwanstein Castle. 

Set on the historic grounds of a former tavern dating back to 1472, Boutique-hotel Bayerischer Hof is now a stylish boutique hotel with 50 modernly designed rooms, a fitness room, a recreation room, a small wellness spa, and on-site parking. Apart from the amenities, what I loved most is the convenient location — it sits directly along the Iller River, just a short walk from Kempten’s historic old town. Everything is easy to reach on foot.

While the location, chic design, and facilities caught my attention right away, it was their apartment suite that truly sealed the deal. Upon arrival at the hotel entrance, little nugget and I were already itching to see our room.

Check-in was in the main building. At first, we didn’t realize there was a separate annex building until after getting our room keys, our friendly hotel staff led us to the annex next door.

Our final challenge was getting our heavy luggage to the front door of our apartment suite without an elevator. Thankfully, it was only on the first floor.

The suite was everything I hoped for and more. Once we passed through the entrance area...

... there was a beautifully decorated living room. 

The living room led directly to the first bedroom, which was spacious, warm, and inviting. 

On the other side of the living room, we found the second bedroom, featuring a similar décor but without a separating door. Behind those curtains was a nice view of a busy road leading into the old town. 

The bathroom and toilet, which have a narrower layout, sit slightly away from the main living area.

I loved the modern chic design of our apartment. I only wish we could have stayed here a few more nights.

Breakfast was served every morning starting at 6:00 am, and we decided to check it out before heading to Ulm.

The breakfast hall wasn’t as big as those in a five-star hotel, but it definitely checked all the boxes. There were eggs cooked in different ways, bacon, ham, pancakes, smoked salmon, and a variety of drinks, including juices and milk. It was a lovely way to end our stay here before hitting the road again — for just €8.5. 

Talk about value for money.

Boutique-hotel Bayerischer Hof was a great find for a one-night stay in a lesser-known Bavarian town. Its cozy, homey atmosphere made all of us feel right at home. In fact, none of us wanted to leave the place for dinner after we checked in. That’s how impressive the feeling was.

Rating: ❤❤❤❤

Price: €€€

Address: Füssener Straße 96, 87437 Kempten (Allgäu), Germany

Tel: +49 831 57180

Website: http://www.bayerischerhof-kempten.de/

Hotel Maximilian's Augsburg (Augsburg, GERMANY)

The moment I drove up to the entrance of Hotel Maximilian’s, I was absolutely stunned. The cobblestone street was a living art-history book, highlighted by the monumental Renaissance-era architecture water fountain. It’s almost as if we’ve fallen into a time machine, traveling back in time.

Hotel Maximilian’s is a premium, historic 5-star hotel located in the heart of Augsburg. Situated directly on the iconic Maximilianstraße, the refined property features 139 elegantly decorated rooms and suites, a top-notch spa, a fine-dining restaurant, and a stylish bar. The premise is directly connected to a multi-story parking garage through an indoor passage.

The hotel is best known for its impeccable service, luxurious spa facilities, and of course, its central location. These were the primary reasons why we handpicked this hotel in the first place.

After picking up our key cards at the reception, it was time to explore our room on the first floor.

They were everywhere... paintings and sculptures seamlessly transformed the corridors into a curated art gallery, turning a functional pass-through space into a striking visual experience.

Our spacious room was beautifully decorated and well appointed with a touch of modern elegance.

To make sure that we had enough sleeping space, we have notified housekeeping to set up an extra bed for us.

But after seeing the king-sized bed (or is it super king?), this might have been unnecessary.

Deep inside the room was a walk-in closet that also housed the refrigerator and more. Not many hotel rooms we’ve stayed in before have boasted a walk-in closet.

The comfortable bedding earned a really serious amount of praise from us.

Apart from the generous space in the bedroom, the massive, luxurious bathroom stood out just as prominently.

The toilet and shower areas, placed side by side, seemed to reflect the “in” design style these days.

Even with a shower room in one corner, they still managed to fit a large bathtub of this size at the other end.

Of course, we did find time to check out the swimming pool on the rooftop of the “new” building—yes, there’s a new building right next to the parking garage.

Maximilianstraße is one of Germany’s most historically significant and architecturally stunning boulevards. Tracing back to an ancient Roman trade route, it grew into the majestic heart of Augsburg during the Renaissance and Baroque golden eras.

Rating: ❤❤❤❤❤

Price: €€€

Address: Maximilianstraße 40, 86150 Augsburg, Germany

Tel: +49 821 50360

Website: https://www.hotelmaximilians.com/

Dorint City Hotel Salzburg (Salzburg, AUSTRIA)

Salzburg isn’t the best place to find 5-star hotel accommodations in Austria, so during our stay, I was mainly looking for more space and easy access to Old Town Salzburg.

The Dorint City Hotel Salzburg came onto my radar largely because it offers larger room sizes. For a family with a big appetite for space, it was the top priority.

As a proper 4-star hotel in its own right, the Dorint City Hotel Salzburg is located slightly outside the city’s historic town centre. A walk to most attractions takes around 15 minutes. But since Salzburg is very walkable, that wasn’t a big issue (until we were hit with heavy rain).

Check-in was very efficient, and the staff were among the friendliest I’ve seen on this trip.

We booked a junior suite with a living-room area and a separate bedroom.

The bedroom layout worked well, but I didn’t like the yellowish lighting, which made everything feel dated.

The junior suite also had a sofa bed, which was more comfortable than it looked.

Like the bedroom, the bathroom was really spacious.

The only unusual part of the design was that the toilet was located right near the entrance rather than inside the bathroom. So, we had to walk a bit to get to the toilet.

While we were happy with the amount of space, the room itself looked tired and dated. It’s definitely due for a renovation.

Rating: ❤❤❤

Price: €€€

Address: Sterneckstraße 20, 5020 Salzburg, Austria

Tel: +43 662 882-0310

Website: https://hotel-salzburg.dorint.com/

Stay Kooook Munich City (Munich, GERMANY)

I had a hard time trying to figure out where to stay in Munich. We needed a place close to München Hauptbahnhof (Main Station) to pick up our rental car in a couple of days, and at the same time, its ideal location should be within walking distance to the Old Town. And oh yes, we needed more than two single beds as little nugget has grown a little more than we expected. Not easy.

Stay Kooook Munich City came onto my radar thanks to its convenient location between the Main Station and Karlsplatz. Walking to either station takes no more than three minutes. The best of all, it’s an apartment-style hotel so for some of the more premier rooms, we get three beds for maximum comfort.

As we have drawn it out, we arrived at the front of the hotel at 10am after taking the train from the airport. As expected, our room wasn’t ready yet (check-in time is 3pm) so we dropped off our luggage at the 1/F public area (there’s a room for storage of luggage) and off we go to explore Munich’s Old Town.

We didn’t get to check out the public area personally, but judging from my first glance, it features a kitchen area and lounge for guests to chill out.

One thing worth noting is that, like many hotels in Munich, Stay Kooook Munich City uses an app or website for guests to control the access to both the front door and the room door. When our room is ready, there’s an alert notifying us that we could come back to complete our check-in. That was pretty efficient.

Our room was a family suite and one of the biggest suites of its kind in the hotel. 

It features a queen bed with two bunker beds on the side, easily accommodating up to four guests.

There’s a small kitchen area with a stove, sink and cabinet full of cutlery, pots and more. Also available was a washing machine for guests staying a bit longer.

The bathroom was a decent size. 

Toilet 

All in all, we really loved the bright and sleek interior. It feels comfortable and surprisingly homey.

Our room was directly facing the pedestrian street so there’s no noise throughout the night.

The real question is, would I stay here again if I ever decide to visit Munich in the future? Let me sleep on this one a little… 

Rating: ❤❤❤❤

Price: €€€

Address: Schützenstr 9, 80335 Munich, Germany

Closest Metro Station: Karlsplatz / Hauptbahnhof

Tel: +49 89 5419-0310

Website: https://www.staykooook.com/munich-city/