Review: Koenigshof Munich, Marriott Luxury Collection (I’d Return!)

For the first hotel stay of my trip of downgrades, suspensions, and delays, my dad and I spent a couple of nights at Koenigshof Munich, a Marriott Luxury Collection property. The 108-room hotel opened in the middle of 2024, so it’s still fairly new.

Germany isn’t exactly the world’s most exciting hotel market, so it’s always nice to see new luxury hotels open, especially those that can be booked with points. I honestly had a very nice stay, and would recommend this property. It has a cool design with a nice rooftop restaurant, an extensive breakfast, a solid gym, and a rooftop pool with some quirky access requirements.

While definitely still a tier down from Munich’s top hotels (the Mandarin Oriental and Rosewood), I’d say this is easily the best points hotel in the city.

Booking the Koenigshof Munich

I booked two rooms at Koenigshof Munich, and I sort of split the difference between paying cash and redeeming points.

I booked one room with cash at the rate of €440 per night, and I reserved through the Marriott STARS program. Not only does this offer perks like a room upgrade, a $100 property credit (in local currency equivalent), and a welcome amenity, but this property also has a special amenity for STARS guests.

STARS guests receive a two-hour reservation in the property’s private rooftop spa (with pool, sauna, etc.), which would ordinarily cost a small fortune, so that’s a nice value-add perk.

For the second room, I redeemed Bonvoy points, at the rate of 63,000 points per night. For what it’s worth, I value Bonvoy points at 0.7 cents each. So it wasn’t some incredible slam dunk redemption, but I figured it was a fair redemption while limiting total cash outlay.

Koenigshof Munich history & location

Koenigshof Munich has a lot of history, as a hotel has been operating in this space since 1866. The first hotel in this space was destroyed in WWII, while the second hotel (with the same name) was demolished in 2019, to make room for this 108-room property.

The hotel is located in the heart of Munich’s old town, just off Karlsplatz. Do note that the hotel is located across a busy street from the main pedestrian zone in the area, so you do have to briefly walk through the underground walkway (connected to the subway station) to get to the main stretch of walkable area by foot. There’s also a lot of construction going on immediately around the hotel, though I didn’t find it to be disruptive.

I love the hotel’s design — the modern exterior is quite the juxtaposition to the property’s surroundings. But it’s modern in a fun way, with interesting architecture, rather than just being modern for the sake of being modern.

In terms of getting to the hotel from Munich Airport (MUC), it takes around 40 minutes, whether you take a car or the train. Fortunately there’s a station right by the hotel, so it’s easy to get here by public transportation (that’s what we did, but goodness, it isn’t cheap in Germany).

Koenigshof Munich lobby & check-in

We arrived at the hotel around noon, and were welcomed on the ground floor by the bellmen. I immediately noticed there wasn’t much German being spoken here — much of the staff seem to be foreigners who have just been cycled through the Marriott system, speaking little to no German.

On the ground floor you’ll find the desk for bellmen right by the entrance, and then there’s a hallway leading to the elevators, which take you up to the third floor, where the real lobby is located.

Once on the third floor, the lobby is outside of the elevators and to the left. It’s a decent size, with plenty of seating. Our check-in process was relatively quick, and we were offered cold towels and sparkling wine (we didn’t want to drink, so we asked for some water instead).

We were assigned two rooms near one another on the seventh floor — one of the rooms had been upgraded to a junior suite (for what it’s worth, beyond booking through Marriott STARS, I also have Bonvoy Ambassador status), while the other one room was a standard deluxe room.

Koenigshof Munich junior suite

Koenigshof Munich has a total of nine floors, and both of our rooms were on the seventh floor. Despite having fairly few rooms, the hotel has an atrium that spans the height of the building, so that’s kind of cool.

Due to the design of the building, the seventh floor seems to have a bunch of extra hallway space, so the hotel has some extra seating areas set up there.

Let’s first take a look at room 736, the junior suite that we were assigned.

Junior suites are marketed as being 592 square feet (55 square meters), so they’re a decent size. However, in terms of layout and the amount of furniture, I’d almost view this more as an executive or grand deluxe type room, rather than a junior suite.

The room featured an entryway with the bathroom to the left and some closet space to the right.

I liked the room’s modern design, including the hardwood floors, and use of dark wood. The room featured a king size bed, a TV on a stand in the corner, and a seating area with a couch and two chairs.

I thought the room was maybe a little sparsely furnished, though the seating area was pretty versatile, in terms of potentially being able to use it to just hang out, to eat, or even to work. Still, I’d prefer if there were a dedicated desk, if possible. Otherwise, I thought the design was lovely, from the lighting, to the wall treatments.

The room had a large minibar setup with a Nespresso coffee machine, tea, a variety of drinks (beer, wine soft drinks, etc.), and snacks (chocolate, chips, gummy bears, etc.). What’s cool is that everything in the minibar is complimentary, and is even refilled daily. So that’s a nice feature, especially in an era where so many hotels try to cut costs and take every opportunity to squeeze out more revenue from guests.

The room had a view of the historic courthouse across the street.

The bathroom was back toward the entrance, and felt luxurious, with double sinks, a soaking tub, a walk-in shower, and a toilet with a bidet in a separate room.

Toiletries were from BYREDO, and were in reusable containers.

The welcome amenity was a chocolate pistachio treat, plus a half bottle of Ruinart Rose, which is a very nice drink to offer, in my opinion (the ice was melted because we were out for hours after it was delivered).

For what it’s worth, the second accommodation was room 722, a deluxe room. This followed the same general design concept, but was smaller, as you’d expect, at 398 square feet (37 square meters). Unfortunately the view also wasn’t as nice.

Koenigshof Munich gym

Koenigshof Munich has a gym on the basement level, accessible by guests 24/7. The gym has a solid selection of cardio and weight equipment, and the machines are all quite modern, as you’d expect.

The only downside to the gym was the lack of natural light and views, given its location.

Koenigshof Munich private spa & pool

Koenigshof Munich doesn’t have a traditional spa or pool. Instead, the property has a “private spa,” as it’s called, located on the eighth and ninth floor. Reserving this ordinarily costs €520 for three hours, which is a lot to pay to use a pool! I guess the intent is that this could be nice if you’re planning some sort of special group activity.

However, thanks to booking through Marriott STARS, we received a complimentary two-hour visit to this space. I must admit, this is a very nice setup.

The private spa is set across two floors. On the lower level, you’ll find a seating area, along with the sauna, plus the shower and bathroom area.

There was also a complimentary fruit plate, plus a selection of water and juice.

There’s then a staircase leading to the upper level, which is where you’ll find the pool.

The pool is a decent size (given that it’s privatized), and there’s a bunch of seating. The best part is the views from here, as you’re really looking out over the rooftops of Munich.

It was very nice to have access to this space. Would I pay cash for this? No, because I don’t usually travel as part of some big group. But as a Marriott STARS amenity, I thought it was pretty awesome!

Koenigshof Munich restaurants & bars

When it comes to dining at Koenigshof Munich, there are essentially two venues:

• The Green and The Gold is the daytime lounge on the third floor, open daily from 11AM until 7PM, serving drinks, snacks, pastries, etc.
• GRETA OTO is the hotel’s signature Latin American restaurant on the ninth floor, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner

To start, while The Green and The Gold are listed as two separate venues on the hotel’s website, they’re actually just two rooms that are part of the same venue, based on the vibe that you prefer. For those wondering about the name, apparently it’s named that way because pistachio is often called green gold.

This lounge offers a nice space to sit — The Green is the larger of the two rooms, while The Gold is where you’ll also find an outdoor terrace.

When it comes to food and drinks, you’ll find everything from tea and coffee, to pastries, to alcoholic drinks, to light bites.

One of the cute features of the hotel is that every day between 3PM and 3:30PM, guests can come to this area for the daily “epicurean moment,” which essentially consists of a tea that has been created in-house, plus a torte, named after the hotel. There’s a long backstory to all of this, and that’s explained when it’s served.

I very much appreciate when hotels go the extra mile to offer a nice experience, and this is the perfect example of that.

Beyond The Green and The Gold, you’ll find GRETA OTO on the ninth floor. This is a Latin American restaurant, with a focus on “traditional Amazonian influences combined with modern techniques and an international twist.”

To the hotel’s credit, this seems to be a destination restaurant, and is very popular with locals. That’s always nice to see. However, this whole concept seems to be exclusive to hotels, as you’ll otherwise only find GRETA OTO at the Conrad Hamburg and JW Marriott Frankfurt. There’s something about the concept that feels sort of forced and corporate — still, it’s a nice restaurant, and the fact that it’s popular with locals says something.

I’d say the highlight of the restaurant and bar space is the views, given that it’s located on the top floor of the hotel. As you enter the restaurant, there’s first a bar area, with high-top seating as well as some lounge seating.

The main restaurant area then consists of one large room, with some partitions between areas to make it feel a bit more intimate.

In terms of design, I think the restaurant feels high end yet generic. The highlight is definitely the views.

Weather permitting, there’s also a terrace. Despite us visiting in summer, it was unfortunately raining for most of the time, so it was closed during our visit.

Anyway, let’s start with breakfast, which is served from 6:30AM until 10:30AM on weekdays, and from 7AM until 11AM on weekends. Breakfast is included for Marriott Bonvoy Platinum members and above, plus Marriott STARS guests, or those booking through other programs offering similar perks. Breakfast consists of both a buffet selection and the ability to order a la carte options.

At €55, the pricing sure is steep, for those who don’t have breakfast included. You can find the a la carte selection below.

The buffet was in the back corner of the restaurant, and was reasonably good, especially by German standards. It had more of a continental selection, which makes sense, given the a la carte options.

Buffet options included pastries and all kinds of other bread, yogurt, cold cuts, cheese, veggies, fresh fruit, cereal, hardboiled eggs, fresh juice, and more.

We also enjoyed a few different a la carte options, including the açaí bowl, overnight oats, and “Oriental” selection.

The food was all pretty tasty, and there was also excellent barista coffee, including cappuccinos, lattes, etc.

Since we had a credit to spend (and also since I try to review restaurants at hotels), we also decided to have dinner at GRETA OTO one evening (served from 6PM until 11PM). You can find the full menu here.

To eat, we split the guacamole, the yellowfin tartare taco, the magic mushroom karaage, the grilled cod, and the papas arrugadas.

I thought the food was reasonably good. To be honest, I think it looked better than it tasted, though in fairness, I thought the presentation was excellent. Personally, I probably wouldn’t eat here if not staying at the hotel, but for a hotel restaurant, it was good. It was also cool to see the scene, as the restaurant was packed with locals.

Koenigshof Munich service

I thought service at Koenigshof Munich was uniformly well intentioned and friendly. However, a couple of things to note…

First, as mentioned above, a large percentage of the staff were foreigners. So based on interacting with many of the staff, you may not even know what city you’re in. Many staff were clearly recruited from other Marriott properties in destinations like Dubai. So it just takes away a little bit from the “local” feeling you get at luxury properties in some cities, where staff are actually familiar with the places they’re working.

Second, I’d say service didn’t feel particularly elevated, in the sense that I didn’t think service was anything you wouldn’t expect at a more midscale property. Like, service didn’t feel particularly personalized, and it all felt a bit assembly line-esque.

Again, service wasn’t bad at all, but I didn’t think it was great. There were some exceptions, though, and in particular, the staff at The Gold and The Green were friendly and hospitable.

Bottom line

Koenigshof Munich has been on my radar since it opened, and I’m happy I had the chance to check it out. It’s a beautiful modern property with nicely appointed rooms, a fun design, a solid breakfast, a nice gym, and a cool private spa (if you’re willing to foot the bill, or book through Marriott STARS). I also like the little touches that elevate the experience, like a free minibar, and the afternoon epicurean moment.

I’d gladly stay here again, though don’t expect any over-the-top soft product otherwise. I do think it’s safe to say that this is the best luxury points hotel in Munich…

What’s your take on Koenigshof Munich?