- Introduction: An Unforgettable Trip With My Parents
- Review: Turkish Airlines Business Class A350 (ORD-IST)
- Review: Turkish Airlines Business Class A330 (IST-FRA)
- Review: Hotel Bartmanns Haus Dillenburg, Germany
- Review: Marriott Heidelberg, Germany
- Review: Roomers Baden-Baden, Marriott Autograph Collection
- Review: Maison Rouge Strasbourg, Marriott Autograph Collection
- Review: Lufthansa Panorama Lounge Frankfurt Airport (FRA)
- Review: Lufthansa Business Class A319 (FRA-MUC)
- Review: Hilton Munich Airport, Germany
- Review: Lufthansa Business Lounge Munich Airport (MUC)
- Review: Lufthansa Senator Lounge Munich Airport (MUC)
- Review: Lufthansa CityLine CRJ-900 Business Class (MUC-ZRH)
- Review: Lufthansa First Class Airbus A380 (MUC-BOS)
During my recent trip to Germany with my parents, I ended up having an unscheduled overnight in Munich. I had flown Lufthansa’s Airbus A319 business class from Frankfurt to Munich, and then my connecting flight to Zurich on SWISS that evening ended up being canceled.
I spent the night at the Hilton Munich Airport on SWISS’ dime, along with receiving EU261 compensation. I was only at the hotel from around 8:30PM until 4AM, so my review will be a bit shorter than usual. However, I think it’s worth giving this hotel some love.
Let me just say upfront that the Hilton Munich Airport is one of my favorite airport hotels in the world. It has an incredibly convenient location, beautiful renovated rooms, and a very nice club lounge with an outdoor terrace.
I also want to give the hotel a shoutout because I stayed there twice during the early stages of the pandemic, and the hotel treated Hilton Honors elite members exceptionally well at the time, when other hotels didn’t. At the time the club lounge was closed, so the hotel basically let club guests order food and drinks in the restaurant in the evenings at no cost, which was extremely generous (this isn’t the case anymore).
Anyway, let me get into the review, though I want to emphasize this review will be shorter than usual, as I didn’t have the chance to check out the gym, the food and beverage outlets, etc.
In this post:
Booking the Hilton Munich Airport
When my SWISS flight was canceled, I just immediately booked the Hilton Munich Airport, which is the most convenient hotel (I’d be reimbursed by SWISS, as the cancelation was due to a technical fault). My booking was last minute, and the rate was €266. When planning in advance, it’s usually possible to find a better rate than that.
Hilton Munich Airport location
The Hilton Munich Airport has an unbeatable location, as it’s situated between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. Regardless of which terminal you’re arriving at, just exit and go to the central part of the airport, where you’ll find many of the airport’s services, ranging from restaurants to the rental car center.
If coming from Terminal 2 (which Lufthansa uses), just make a sharp right, and you’ll see signage for the Hilton Munich Airport.
You can then either take the stairs or elevators up a level to the lobby. During my stay, the elevators were being repaired, as I think the hotel is wrapping up its renovation.
Let me emphasize that the hotel is landside and not airside, so you’ll need a Schengen visa (or passport eligible for Schengen access) to stay here.
Hilton Munich Airport lobby & check-in
The Hilton Munich Airport has a grand atrium lobby, that lets in a ton of natural light (well, at least in the daytime). In terms of the public spaces, this hotel reminds me a lot of the Hilton London Heathrow Terminal 4, as it has a similar atrium.
Even though the hotel has 550 rooms, I found check-in to be efficient. There was a dedicated priority check-in line, though that wasn’t even needed, as there wasn’t a wait to be helped by an employee. I was thanked for being a Hilton Honors Diamond member, and offered an upgrade to an executive room.
While I didn’t have the chance to check out any of these amenities, just off the lobby you have Mountain Hub Social (the all-day dining restaurant), Mountain Hub Gourmet (the fine dining restaurant), and Nightflight Bar (the lobby bar). I hope to have a more detailed review the next time I stay here, though in the meantime I just want to mention how much I enjoyed the live music that was being performed in the lobby as I arrived. If I hadn’t been so tired, I would’ve come back down for a drink.
Hilton Munich Airport executive room
My room at the Hilton Munich Airport was located in the north wing. Rather than taking the elevators right near reception, I instead had to walk past all the conference rooms, and then the elevators were behind that and to the right.
The hotel has six floors, and I was assigned a room on the top floor. I believe the north wing was recently renovated, and I was particularly impressed by the design. It felt modern and quite luxurious, and I loved all the mountain and cloud art, given the hotel’s location in Bavaria.
I was assigned room 6202, one of the first rooms down the hall and to the left.
My king executive room was beautiful. The room had an entryway with the bathroom to the right, and the rest of the room straight ahead.
The room was functionally appointed, with a king size bed, a chair with a table (which could act as a desk or dining table), a chair in the corner, a luggage storage rack, and a dresser.
On the table was a kettle with tea and instant coffee.
The room also had a minibar with a limited selection, including a couple of free beers, sodas, water, and a candy bar.
The bathroom was modern and quite spacious, with a sink, a soaking tub, a walk-in shower, and a toilet.
Toiletries were in reusable containers from Crabtree & Evelyn.
The only other thing I can report on in the room is the beautiful sunset view that I had right as I arrived. Unfortunately the room didn’t really have any views of airplanes, but rather it faced a (quiet) parking lot.
Hilton Munich Airport executive lounge
The Hilton Munich Airport executive lounge is located in the north wing, on the ground floor (level zero). Just walk down the hall, and you’ll see the entrance to the lounge on the left.
As far as the lounge’s hours go:
- The lounge is open daily from 7AM until 10PM
- The lounge serves breakfast from 7AM until 10AM
- The lounge serves soft drinks and snacks from 10AM until 10PM
- The lounge has an evening happy hour with complimentary alcohol from 6PM until 8:30PM
Unfortunately I only arrived at the lounge as they were cleaning up from the evening service. The lounge also still had quite a few people in it, so I wasn’t able to get great pictures of the entire space. The lounge had a nice indoor space, with dining tables, communal high-top seating, and sofas.
My favorite feature of the lounge was the huge outdoor terrace, with dining tables and high-top seating. There’s nothing quite like sitting outside on a beautiful summer night in Germany.
The buffet and self-serve drink area were also quite nice.
The evening happy hour selection was just being cleaned up as I arrived, but I snapped a quick picture of the printed menu.
Below you can see some of the leftovers.
Like I said, I hope to stay at the hotel longer next time, and have a more comprehensive review.
Bottom line
The Hilton Munich Airport has everything you could ask for in an airport hotel. It has an ideal location directly at the terminal, the rooms were recently renovated, and the executive rooms and executive lounge are very nice. This was my third stay at the hotel, and I’ve always had good experiences here. Hopefully my fourth stay will be a bit longer, so I can write a more thorough review!
What do you make of the Hilton Munich Airport?
My wife and I travel annually to Austria via MUC for the Mid-Europe Music Festival and it has become a tradition to spend our final night here as our return flight is invariably around 7AM and we don't want to deal with the vagaries of having to get to the airport from elsewhere that early. The service is excellent, even the non-executive rooms are of a high standard, the morning breakfast spread is exceptional even...
My wife and I travel annually to Austria via MUC for the Mid-Europe Music Festival and it has become a tradition to spend our final night here as our return flight is invariably around 7AM and we don't want to deal with the vagaries of having to get to the airport from elsewhere that early. The service is excellent, even the non-executive rooms are of a high standard, the morning breakfast spread is exceptional even for Germany, and quite frankly it's convenient as hell. The executive lounge with its outdoor seating is very nice as well.
If Hilton treated its Diamond members in the US as well as they do here, they'd probably get a lot more business.
Echo everyone else's comments - this is a fantastic airport hotel. Near perfect.
I'm curious why you booked the hotel yourself, rather than letting Swiss giving you vouchers for it. I'm wondering if you might have issues getting them to refund you the full rack rate of Euro 266 when airlines typically have a contract for rooms at less than half of that. Or were you told to do your own thing and reclaim?
Yes, good point. LH booked me with Hilton MUC with a voucher due to a flight cancellation. It's a great hotel!
Mountain Hub Gourmet has a Michelin star now, which will add to the appeal for some (me included!), though I will always opt to stay in the city itself given the distance to the airport.
Wow. Is this the only airport restaurant in the world with a Michelin star???
Thanks Lucky for the review. Staying here next month.
We stayed in Feb 2023. Singularly the best airport hotel we’ve stayed in and that’s a message from frequent travellers.
It´s a nice hotel. But then again MUC is roughly a million times nicer than FRA to fly in and out of. Things work at MUC while they dont at FRA.
Used to stay here every month in the early 2000's when it was built as the Kempinski
It became a Hilton some time back and they built a NEW Northern Wing (it wasn't a renovation but an entire NEW building)
The new wing has much nicer rooms - have stayed here a few times pre-pandemic and once in the last month. Still a great property for an on airport hotel.
I was going to ask about the lounge food to see if it was back to normal, pre-pandemic levels as far as choice and variety from what you remember but since you came at the tail end, you may not have been able to see it all. I remember it being very good. BTW, I came during the pandemic in late December 2021, and b/c the lounge was closed, they moved club guests (I’m a...
I was going to ask about the lounge food to see if it was back to normal, pre-pandemic levels as far as choice and variety from what you remember but since you came at the tail end, you may not have been able to see it all. I remember it being very good. BTW, I came during the pandemic in late December 2021, and b/c the lounge was closed, they moved club guests (I’m a HH Diamond) to the back corner of the restaurant to a roped off area. There was an open buffet of drinks but the food was a single appetizer plate of a few small bites (think a mix of amuse bouche tastings) and was very disappointing. Unfortunately, other hotels have adopted that model (some before, others after the pandemic) as a way to cut costs. Sounds like you went early on before they implemented that abbreviated service offering.
Nice review. I enjoy hotels when they are at the airport. It's so easy to stay there. I've used this hotel for tour group business events. During Oktoberfest, they have a market in the open airport canopy area as well. The hotel is decent and well-located for sure.
Stayed here last November, one of the better airport hotels I have stayed at. Good value when I booked, and quick and efficient service. The location can't be beat, and it was nice having a supermarket near to get some food before my early morning flight.
lol at the secret unblogged 2020 trips here.
I concur, stayed here multiple times, last time this July with the whole family in a fantastic King executive suite. Best airport hotel ever. Also the breakfast buffet at the restaurant is very good and included with Hilton Gold status. Compare that to the credit I get at Hiltons in the US for crappies food, For some odd reason, Gold status also allows entry into the lounge - very surprising but not a fluke, the sign specifically said so.
Have to fully agree with @Lukas.
I've been there also a few times on layovers (mostly because I choosed to) but only on Standard rooms. No idea what the cost for the "king executive" room would have been at the time but clearly I would never pay more for that "extra." The only thing I see which you can call "extra" is the bathroom.
I have a complete different expection and experience of...
Have to fully agree with @Lukas.
I've been there also a few times on layovers (mostly because I choosed to) but only on Standard rooms. No idea what the cost for the "king executive" room would have been at the time but clearly I would never pay more for that "extra." The only thing I see which you can call "extra" is the bathroom.
I have a complete different expection and experience of an Executive room in any 4 or 5* hotel I stayed worldwide.
But it is true that for a tier hotel on an Airport, certainly in Germany's second busiest Airport, the average rates are very affordable.
I love this hotel.
We've stated there on a few occasions and the front desk staff has always been terrific.
Stay on a Saturday night/ Sunday morning and watch the football match show live in the lobby.
Stayed there twice in August. I agree with your review. The executive lounge is great and was not crowded. I would add the Beer Garden between terminal 2 and 3 is good place for lunch or drinks.
Great review for such a short stay and a timely one for me, as I’ll be staying there for a night next month for a connection. Looks WAY better than the Hilton at ZRH! Thanks Ben.
Best part is its right next to Airbräu :)
The hotel originally was a Hotel Kempinski but changed to a Hilton a bit less than 10 years ago (possibly around 2014 or so)
”My king executive room was beautiful.” - ehh…? Looks like your typical, run-of-the-mill mid-tier Hilton property in Europe, cramped and with a small TV? :)
I stayed here in May, FANTASTIC. Highly recommended.