Hilton Hotels in Munich and Stuttgart

Not sure if you already picked your hotel for Munich but the Hilton Munich City hotel on Rosenheimer Platz is the one I would recommend based on locations and ease of access to public transportation.

DJ

The absolute most amazing hotel breakfast I have ever had was at the Hilton Munich City hotel. This was several years ago, but I still remember it. Rooms were clean and refreshing after an overnight journey.

Location of the Munich City Hotel was excellent. There was a direct entrance from the s bahn station .

Thank you DJ and Carol. DJ. Carol, I am a breakfast person so hopefully it is as good as it was when you were there. Thank you both for your input.

You intuition is correct. The two Garden Inns and the two Hamptons are all the newer Hilton properties in Munich and are located in rather bland/industrial settings and really geared for business travelers visiting companies in those areas. The two Hiltons (Munich City and Munich Park) are really your best bet if you are there for vacation. The on advantage to the Park location is it's proximity the the Englischer Gartens but it is not very convenient to public transportation (it is not even on a tram line).

The neighborhood around Hilton Munich City, Haihausen, is well worth an afternoon exploring. I put a short walking tour recommendation of Haidhausen in this thread: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/germany/10-hour-munich-layover-what-to-do-and-see.

DJ

Thanks again DJ. I appreciate your help with this.

We stayed at the Hilton Munich City in April, 2022. As mentioned, you come up the escalator from the S Bahn and are right at the front door. There is a parking garage underneath the hotel, as well as a way to get into the subway station from the hotel without going outside.
We had a Junior Suite that faced the internal courtyard. Note that is was nothing like the pictures on the website. It was two nearly identical connecting rooms. One of the rooms had a small microwave on a table, and a couch where the bed would have been. We had to have two different room keys. While a bit odd, it was nice to have two full bathrooms. Breakfast was okay, but pretty typical for a large city hotel. Extensive buffet, cook- to- order station etc. If you are a Hilton Honors Gold or higher it is included. I don’t know that I would have paid for the breakfast had it been an upcharge. It was very crowded, so unless you wanted to stand in a long line you just ate the pre- prepared eggs, meats, etc.

We went to a laundromat that was a few blocks away. There was great public transport access, including tram lines at the corner. If you like classical music, the hotel is right next door to the Gasteig concert venue.
I would recommend this hotel for its location, cleanliness, and fairly updated rooms/ bathrooms.

I haven't stayed at the Hilton in Stuttgart but the area it's in is a long walk from anything other than a couple sub-standard overpriced restaurants - it's where big stadium and concert venues and the fairgrounds are. During events there is a U-bahn that goes from nearby into either Bad Canstatt (which has an unpleasant area around the train station but actually has an older and more interesting in some ways city center than Stuttgart proper), otherwise you're dealing with a bus or driving.

Stuttgart has underappreciated charms and the Mercedes Museum might be the best automotive museum in the world, but Stuttgart is not a great hotel city, add that to the need to stay in a Hilton and it's not ideal.

There isn't another actual Hilton in Stuttgart but maybe you're referring the Hampton by Hilton Stuttgart City Center? I would take that one in a heartbeat, yes, it's at mall but it's VERY convenient to the Stuttgart main train station (even with all the construction going on because of Europe's biggest public works project going on right outside your front door) which means it will be easier to get to the museums but there's also 2 U-bahns that can whisk you into the downtown in just a couple minutes.

Thank you @Sarah and @TravelingMom. I have picked the Munich City hotel and now I am trying to remember if I stayed there in 2007. Sarah, yes, I was looking at any Hilton family of hotels. You are right the the Hampton City Center appeared to be the best choice. I wasn't keen on staying in a more commercial area. I will be flying out of Stuttgart. How much time should I give myself to get from the main train station to the airport?

I don't go to the Milaneo mall to eat often, but there are a handful of "real" restaurants there including a decent Italian one popular with the business lunch crowd. Honestly, you could do worse - Stuttgart again is just a terrible hotel city for reasons I still don't understand. You are even walking distance from downtown from the hotel, it's just not exactly a quaint walk (but perfectly safe). And you're at the Stuttgart Library which is actually a very famous architectural gem - do go inside and explore!

I will be flying out of Stuttgart. How much time should I give myself to get from the main train station to the airport?

This is a tough question, you don't say when you're coming. Right now the airport chaos is affecting our normally very efficient and wonderful airport. Transit time from Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof (2 minutes U-bahn or 7 minute walk from your hotel) is a little under 30 minutes. There are a chunk of stations that are closed in-between right now but that won't affect you getting to the airport. There is also a U-Bahn but it takes 15-20 minutes longer and drops you off a bit further away so I'd ignore that option UNLESS there's a problem with the S-bahn, it's good to know about as a backup.

For morning flights (including early early morning) you need to be at the airport 2.5 hours in advance if you need to use a check in counter. Maybe 3. Things seem to settle down in the afternoon before picking up a bit in the early evening but still not as bad as morning. This is current for this summer travel season - if you're traveling later, hopefully things will get back to "normal". Your two issues are check in lines (have been atrocious all summer any time of day but especially mornings) and security lines (normally just bad in the morning - you can check wait times online at the airport's website). Do note that all 3 security stations are within a couple minutes' walk of each other so if they're advertising shorter wait times at another terminal, just head over - it's not a big airport.

Really missing the days when I'd show up literally an hour before my flight...

@Sarah. I have never flown into or out of the Stuttgart airport so thank you for the suggested leave time to the airport. I will be departing sometime the first week of November. I understand this was a little early to ask but if I don't ask when I think of it, I will forget :) Hopefully all of the airlines can get their current issues under control. I am making a note of the Stuttgart Library, it sounds interesting. Regarding getting to the airport with little time to spare; our best "close shave" was pre September 11 I believe. We got to the airport 20 minutes before our flight. We are still very fortunate here at DTW (Detroit, Michigan, USA). We can arrive to the airport 1 hour ahead of our scheduled departure and still have time to sit before boarding.
So many great tips! Thank you.
John

Oh November? You should be fine! I think we'll get a break in the chaos by late September or possibly earlier.

Enjoy my adopted hometown - I recommend doing Porsche first, then Mercedes, for reasons that will become clear!

@Sarah. Interesting that you should mention the order of the Stuttgart Museums. I will now have to change my plans ;)