Altstadt / Viktualienmarkt

LOUIS Hotel

★★★★★

The LOUIS is the hotel for travellers who want to wake up in the middle of Munich's daily life rather than in a grand-hotel bubble. It stands at Viktualienmarkt 6, directly on the city's famous open-air market, a few steps from St. Peter's church and three minutes from Marienplatz, in a building more than a hundred years old that was adapted by the Munich architects Hild und K and opened as a hotel in September 2009. A member of Design Hotels, it has 72 rooms with a calm, warm look built around handcrafted furniture in natural materials, oak and stone, with comfortable beds and well-designed bathrooms; the front of the building has a clear, modern rhythm with French balconies, and many rooms look out over the market or the old town roofs. The hotel's public spaces are small but excellent. Breakfast is served with a view over the Viktualienmarkt, and the hotel uses the market on its doorstep for a Viktualienmarkt breakfast and brunch. The LOUIS Grillroom is the in-house restaurant, a grill concept for steaks and seasonal dishes, and there is a Sparkling Bar. Best of all is the LOUIS Rooftop, the roof terrace, which serves food and drinks with a view over the market and the church towers, one of the most appealing small rooftops in the city in good weather. The hotel also offers private dining and event spaces, and it has parking, which is unusual this close to Marienplatz. Rates are in the upper-middle range for Munich, below the grand hotels but above the chains, and for couples and food lovers who want a stylish, intimate base in the most characterful corner of the old town, the LOUIS is hard to beat.

Rooms: rooms are designed as calm retreats from the busy market, with natural-wood furniture, good lighting and quality bedding. Market-view rooms are the ones to request, especially if you like to watch the stalls set up in the morning; courtyard or rear-facing rooms are quieter. Room sizes are generous for a city-centre boutique hotel, and the design is consistent rather than flashy. Service is friendly and personal, as you would expect in a hotel of this size.

Eating and drinking: the location is the amenity. You can buy fruit, cheese and pastries at the market for a picnic, grab a Weisswurst at a market stall before noon, or settle into the beer garden under the chestnut trees. The hotel's breakfast with a market view is a pleasure in itself, and the rooftop terrace, in season, is the place for an aperitif. The Gaertnerplatz quarter, with its bars and restaurants, is a five-minute walk south, and the Hofbraeuhaus about the same to the north-east.

Location and drawbacks: you are at the very centre of the old town, with Marienplatz, St. Peter's tower, the Frauenkirche and the Residenz all within ten minutes on foot, and the Deutsches Museum about the same across the Isartor. Marienplatz station, with S-Bahn trains to the airport and the main station, is around the corner. The market is quiet at night but busy by day, and the market is closed on Sundays, when the area is calmer. For travellers who want the full grand-hotel facilities, such as a pool or a large spa, look elsewhere.