Finding a room in Munich is comparatively easy, but tabs tend to be high. Bargains are few and hard to find, but they do exist. If you arrive in town without a hotel reservation, go to the Munich Tourist Office on Platform 2 at the Hauptbahnhof (tel. 089/233-96-500; www.muenchen.de), where general information about Munich and its attractions is also available; it's open Monday to Saturday 9am to 8pm and Sunday 10am to 6pm. The English-speaking personnel, with access to more than 300 hotels (and collectively about 35,000 beds), will come to your rescue. Tell them what you can afford and they'll pick a suitable hotel in that price range. There's no charge for the reservation, but you must make a 10% down payment on the room, an amount that will be deducted from your final hotel bill.
Be sure to get a receipt as well as a map with instructions on how to reach the place they've booked for you. Keep your receipt. If you don't like the room, go back to the tourist office and they'll try to find you other lodging.
Frankly, we find that this reservations service is most appropriate for travelers arriving at Munich's railway station without a reservation -- the last-minute arrangements the staff can make, especially during periods when many hotels are full, can be very useful. But they'll also arrange reservations weeks or months in advance of your arrival, without charge, if you want them to.
Written correspondence describing your needs and preferences should be addressed to Landeshauptstadt München, Fremdenverkehrsamt, Sendlingerstrasse 1, 80331 München. The hotel reservation service can also be reached by phone through the tourist office or through its direct line (tel. 089/233-96-500), by fax (089/233-30-133), or by e-mail (hotelservice@muenchen.de). Note: The hotel reservation service maintains different hours than the main tourist office: Monday to Thursday from 9am to 5pm and Friday 9am to 3pm.
All hotels raise their prices for Oktoberfest and for various trade fairs. Some hotels announce their rates in advance, while others prefer to wait until the last minute to see what the market will bear. In general, prices during the festival rise about 15% or more. Prices listed under hotel reviews are for non-Oktoberfest stays. For the most up-to-date information, call the specific hotel where you'd like to stay.
