This hotel is a city within a city, a world of its own

The hotel

Hotel Bayerischer Hof, Munich

The hotel and its old facade.

Check-in

A historic landmark, the Bayerischer Hof is a short stroll from Munich’s bustling central square, the Marienplatz, on the gentler-paced Promenadeplatz. The rooftop view with its skyline of spires and domes reveals a special closeness to sites of cultural significance. There are many beguiling footnotes in this monumental building, but it’s hard to top the one about King Ludwig I of Bavaria who came twice a month for a bath after the hotel opened in 1841. Aristocrats and celebrities have been regular visitors to this Munich institution, owned by a local family over four generations.

The look

One of the hotel rooms, revamped by interior designer Alex Vervoordt.

An ensemble of 337 guestrooms (including 74 suites) come together behind a 19th-century facade that’s the quintessential grand dame hotel, reconfigured by one of the world’s most progressive interior designers, Axel Vervoordt. Spaces vary across categories but, in many, the Belgian designer has replaced the stereotypical historic template for gilded luxury with a humble medley of earthy tones and natural textures. The imperfection of age is a simple beauty here. Some rooms blend the classical and contemporary in the newly restored 15th-century Palais Montgelas while others are traditionally romanticised with Laura Ashley florals.

The room

Inside the hotel’s Penthouse Garden Suite.

A heavy brass key fixed to a remote control opens the door into a Vervoordt room that is a bubble of tranquility and comfort. It’s a minimalist and eclectic combination of inconspicuous decorative elements with gorgeous old things celebrating the patina of past lives. It’s like inheriting happiness and, in some undefinable way, it feels a bit like home – only better. Most Vervoordt double rooms have modern walk-in rain showers and/or baths surrounded by natural Valverde stone moulded like kneaded putty. All mod cons are as expected in a five-star hotel that’s a longstanding meeting place for locals who genuinely love the place.

Food + drink

One of the hotel’s five restaurants.

Food is an adventure that starts on the seventh floor in the Blue Spa Bar & Lounge. At breakfast, there’s an excellent buffet (with champagne) or dining a la carte, looking out to the distant snow-capped Alps (on a good day). At day’s end, have a Mai Tai here, or consider one of five restaurants. There’s the quirky South Pacific experience at Trader Vic’s; the two Michelin-starred Atelier restaurant; the friendly Palais Keller under 15th-century vaulted ceilings for Bavarian classic fare. The Garden brasserie is a Vervoordt redesign with an industrial-styled finish that seems almost underdone until the waiter appears with an old wooden serving table to lend authentic rusticity to the dining experience. He lifts the silver lid on a buttery soft Dover sole, debones in one deft movement, and flips it onto my plate as if flicked straight from the sea. A nightcap, for me, comes in the exquisite white-plastered mirror hall with origins to 1839. Falk’s Bar was the only room left standing after a bomb destroyed the hotel in 1944, so it remains at the atmospheric heart of The Bayerischer Hof.

Out + about

The hotel is a city within a city, a world of its own, with a theatre and screening room, basement nightclub, swimming pool, sauna, fitness room and spa, but step outside for a medieval feel where the Glockenspiel rings in the old town hall. A lively restaurant scene dwells in the higgledy-piggledy streets around the Gothic cathedral Frauenkirche. Beer is integral to daily life in the stylish Bavarian metropolis known for its grand boulevards adorned by statues, shops and galleries. If you miss the beer-swilling locals in dirndls and lederhosen at the Oktoberfest, there’s a bon-vivant bierkeller that’s a 16th-century beer hall and Bavarian restaurant, Hofbrauhaus, about 15 minutes’ walk away.

The verdict

A leading luxury hotel with distinguished history over 182 years; a magnificent balance of modernity and history; cherishing the past but sitting comfortably in the present.

Essentials

Rates for a standard room from €400 ($655) and a Vervoordt room €680 ($1115). Promenadeplatz 2-6, Altstadt-Lehel, 80333 Munich, Germany. Phone [phone]. See bayerischerhof.de

Our rating out of five

★★★★½

Highlight
Pride is a real asset in a cosily elegant hotel where staff are polite, knowledgeable and exhibit exceptional professionalism with genuine warmth.

Lowlight
Timing isn’t quite right when a renovation precludes use of the pool and the cinema, which usually has a fantastic program of newly released films.

The writer stayed as a guest of Bayerischer Hof.