I just spent a couple of nights at Koenigshof Munich, a Marriott Luxury Collection property. The hotel just celebrated its one year anniversary, and I’ve been meaning to check it out since opening. While I’ll have a full trip report soon, I’d like to share some initial thoughts.
Continue reading: Koenigshof Hotel Munich: A Great Luxury Marriott Option
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Having just come back from Austria, I ran into the “is it okay if we speak English?” at the hotel front desk at the Sheraton Salzburg. I was shocked that staff in a German speaking area could not speak German.
Then again, stepping into that Sheraton was like stepping out of Austria and into the US.
They probably have a hard time hiring local staff like so many other service industry businesses in Munich.
Just checked out of a Hilton in Berlin. And even though I was speaking German to all the staff nearly all of them responded in english. Its because you won‘t find many Germans who want to work in the hospitality or restaurant business. And in Munich or Stuttgart or southern germany in general this is a particular issue because of the high cost of living.
@ Ben
I think what you’ve noticed reflects some deeper structural challenges in Germany’s hospitality sector. Since the pandemic, the hotel and food service industries lost around 300,000 workers, many left during the shutdowns and didn’t return, often moving to more stable jobs. To keep things running, hotels have had to rely more on short-term or migrant staff, and today about 35% of hospitality workers in Germany are non-German nationals.
On top of that, inflation has pushed service costs up sharply. Wages in the hotel and restaurant sector have been rising faster than the usual agreements in many regions, which means operating costs have climbed significantly. So the international, often temporary workforce you saw isn’t really about Marriott specifically, it’s more a sign of the staffing shortages and the rapid changes the whole industry is navigating right now.
Thanks for the great review. However, I prefer the Hilton inside the MUC Airport. Great Executive Lounge and a short walk to the terminal. Easy walk to the train to the city. Less is more.
I spent nearly a month in Berlin in 2014 and the *one* service industry convo initiated in German to me was ironically from a young American guy from Texas working at the Starbucks near Zoologischer Garten. Dual citizen and totally fluent. Everyone else spoke pretty flawless English and politely waved off my attempts to converse in my elementary German. I think another part of it is immigrants have a hard time learning it; I know English is notorious for its nuance but a functional proficiency in German is no small feat.
It could scarcely be any more different from its outdated, but familiar, predecessor. That's sure to catch me by surprise when I'm walking to the HBf from Stachus next time I'm there. Looks nice inside.
Same in Amsterdam. Locals are too busy to take 3 times as long to serve me in my basic Dutch & just use English.