We're Just Not Cool Enough

A sleek hotel room at the Louis

During our time in Munich we stayed at the centrally located and uber-cool Louis Hotel.  Usually Glenn picks the hotels when we travel; he will spend hours researching and comparing the amenities, location, and price of numerous hotels in our destination city before finally making a decision.  Although I always love his choices, I've learned that I can't be in the room when he does his research since his painstaking efforts are just too difficult for me to watch.  For a variety of reasons I ended up picking the hotel for this trip and did so with my usual cavalier criteria.  Using Trip Advisor and Expedia as my research tools any hotel I select must be clean, get mostly positive reviews (there are some nuts out there who pan every hotel they stay at), and be in a good location.  Because I love a good deal and I had an Expedia coupon that expired the day I began to look at hotels, my search was rushed.  Much to my surprise, even in September there weren't a whole lot of hotel rooms in central Munich available for the days we would be visiting.  I actually booked our room at the Louis Hotel because it was a deal and one of the few rooms that was located within walking distance of Munich's subway system (I knew we wouldn't be traveling lightly).  I typed in my credit card number, clicked submit, and didn't give the hotel any more thought.

Louis Hotel (with Beluga Chocolate below it!)

Fast forward three months and we find ourselves on the subway headed Marienplatz station.  Little did I know at the time but Marienplatz is the center of Munich's old city and a very cool place to stay.  Filled with traditional beer halls and restaurants,  upscale shops, and Viktualienmarket, a spectacular open air market selling everything from flowers and cheese to wines, meats, and traditional crafts.  My haphazard hotel search had placed us in the perfect location for exploring the city.  And as we found out, our hotel matched the location.  I also realized that I had never looked at any pictures of the place before booking........

My immediate thought upon entering the sleek white with black accented lobby was that we were in over our heads.  We came trudging in pulling our over sized suitcases with a hyperactive child in need of an immediate nap. I half expected the model like women behind the reception desk to turn us away.  From appearance to Sidney's behavior, we just did not fit in with the cool image the hotel projected.  Instead of being turned away they checked us in with German efficiency, gave us a free upgrade to a room large enough to accommodate a roll away bed for Sidney, and ushered us up to our room which was just as modern and streamlined as the reception area.  The room was all polished wood floors accented with modern furniture.  Laying on the pillow was a small vial of "sleeping mist", canvas cubes hid the entertainment center, mini bar, and closets and the large white on white bathroom had a picture window over looking the bedroom (which was actually handy for allowing Sidney to have a bath while we were protected from his copious splashing).  The room was true to its boutiquey design hotel roots.  The room, like the hotel itself with its modern Japanese restaurant and sophisticated lobby bar, was simultaneously not child friendly and surprisingly so.  There wasn't anything that screamed "child friendly" yet the room lacked knick-knacks and other doodads that inevitably attract small children.  A close examination of the hotel guide revealed that they did offer special pricing for children and babysitters could be summoned upon request.  Perhaps the place really was more child friendly that it first appeared.  In another life I would have loved the entire feel of the hotel.  Now it just made me feel like a country bumpkin who fell off of the turnip cart into the land of sophistication.  My friend Marcelle would have fit into the surroundings in a heartbeat; me and my tribe of boys, not so much.

Sidney bathing in a tub with a view

We are so not cool enough to stay here but we loved it just the same.  It was clean, had an endless supply of hot water (with good water pressure), extremely friendly staff and a fabulous location.  The sound of church bells tolling on the hour added to the neighborhood's charm and reminded us that we were really in Europe.  And of course it didn't hurt that there is a chocolate shop located on the street level below the hotel.  Yes, despite my initial skepticism, I loved the hotel.  Heck, if they will have us we will even come back.