Where do you stay in Garmisch Partenkirchen?

A few years ago, I stayed at the Best Western Obermuehle in Garmisch and found it to be excellent. The breakfast is ample and delicious and the restaurant is also very good for dinner.
The location is ideal and the views from the balconies are beautiful.
I would go back.
You can check the hotel out by looking at it on Booking.com

Thank you Joan!

Although I visited Garmisch-Partenkirchen for a day to go up the Zugspitze, I've never felt there was enough there to warrant an overnight stay, so I can't recommend a place from personal experience. However, I have spent nights in the surrounding area (Pfronten, Oberammergau, and Mittenwald). I would say avoid GaPa in general as it is overpriced. In particular, avoid using booking websites because they tend to show only the higher price properties, the ones that charge enough to afford to pay their commisions (probably 15%). I generally use the town websites because most show more places, especially on the economical end of the scale. Here is the list of accommodations from the GaPa website. I wouldn't be afraid to stay at any of them. The Germans have such high standards.

If you are going to be touring the general area, not just Garmisch-Partenkirchen, I can recommend Gästehaus Richter in Oberammergau. The price is good, Frau Richter is gracious, it's a block from the Bahnhof/ZOB from which you can get a bus to Hohenschwangau (Neuschwanstein) or GaPa, and the breakfast buffet is all you could want.

Why, the Fraundorfer, of course.

Just to comment on Lee's observations. I was there because I wanted a quiet and beautiful place to stay following some troubling times and that's what I found there.
I can't agree about Lee's observations regarding places listed on booking sites. You will note that the Best Western, listed on Booking.com, is also on the list supplied by Garmisch-Patrenkirchen so kindly provided..
Whatever you decide, I hope you have an enjoyable experience.

When I was there in June 2010 I had found a great deal for the Hotel Mercure. (80€ or so for a double). The breakfast was amazing, truly one of the best I had. The hotel itself was very nice. A bit far back - but still walkable. It is not as cute or quaint as some others, but it worked for me.

Thank you Lee and Joan and Tom and Devon.....Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences and tips!

Greatly appreciated!

I am picturing Garmisch Partenkirchen as being beautiful, beautiful nature, great for walks, quaint, good food, nice for relaxing.

We are not planning on "doing much".
More looking forward to some nice walks and visiting the Zug Spitze.

Maybe swimming.

Dear Lee,
I really appreciate that you posted the link for a German website for finding accomodations!
Thank you!

I just checked the same criteria on booking.com and the German List.
The booking.com price was considerably less expensive.
I have only done this one check.

Wishing everyone Happy Travels!!!

"I have only done this one check."

@Mary Ann

This is something of which I have made a serious study. I have on my computer spreadsheets where I have looked at towns where I have stayed - looked at all the properties on that town's websites and all the properties on booking websites, and I have almost always found 2 to 3 times as many places on the town websites as on the booking websites for the same town. And the places that are on the town websites but not on the booking websites are usually the less expensive places, the B&Bs and mom and pop gasthofs, places that are just as nice as the big places, but more fun to stay at.

I've also studied trips I have taken and the places I have stayed on those trip based on using town website and have compared what I spent with what I would have spent if I had found a place from a booking website, and I find I would have spent about a third more using booking websites.

For example, last fall I made a 3 week trip through the Black Forest and along the Alps in Bavaria. I spent 1342€ for accommodations. I've checked every town with Booking.com and found, for equivalent accommodations I could find on Booking, I would have spent 1982€, 47% more.

In three towns, the places I stayed at were also listed on Booking.com. At one, the price was the same. At the second, the price was 6€ more per night with Booking rather than going direct, primarily because she lists on booking the highest priced room, of which there is only one, but she charges the same for all of her rooms booked on Booking. At the last place, they offered a package deal that included spa entry, which, subtracted from the total price, was 10€/night less than the price on Booking.

In four towns, the place I stayed was not listed on Booking. The place they offered was significantly more than what I paid and sometimes not as conveniently located.

In the last place, there was nothing on Booking in the town I wanted to stay in, but there was a place in another town, not too far away, that was 12€ less.

I haven't analyzed GaPa. Sometimes large resorts don't seem to follow the trend of other places, so maybe the booking websites have something to offer. It's always worth it to check everything.

I often go on Booking.com and filter rooms from low to high price. Then I look for those with the highest customer ratings. Booking.com has something like 66 properties in Garmisch right now, many of which are pretty pricey.

Another good way to find rooms is go on Googlemaps.com for any city. On Garmisch, click on the "+" button 6 times, and you'll magnify the city. You can see little icons all over the city for hotels and B&B's. If you click on the icons, you can research each property and many have links to their direct websites.
I rarely find places in Germany or Bavaria that are unacceptable accommodations. And Garmisch is a pretty popular tourist area.

Hi Lee,
Wonderful that you have done such a thorough investigation and found a way to get really good prices!
That is smart travelling!

I will definitely explore this some more.

I notice that some of the "details" make a considerable difference.
For example:
Is breakfast included?
Parking fees?

I also appreciate when internet is available in the room and not just in common space.

Thank you David!

More helpful tips!

Good point George!

Perhaps I should elaborate. Due to my partner's limited mobility, my first priority in choosing a place was it's proximity to the place where we would arrive using public transportation, not price. In only one place were we more than 500 yds from the public transportation; that was 600 yds away. After that availability of WLAN (WiFi), breakfast included, and price were all considerations. Six out of eight places had WLAN in the room. We stayed in a Ferienwohnungen for seven nights with our own kitchen. We had to buy coffee, butter, preserves, cold cuts and cheese at the local store, but freshly baked rolls were delivered every morning to our front door.

In my experience, almost every "traditional" German place has breakfast included. Only the most expensive places and/or big chains omit breakfast to make their prices look lower, and then add it back at a ridiculous extra price.

One town where we stayed in Baden-Württemberg has eleven "hotel-type" places listed on the town website (plus a lot more Privat Zimmer and Ferienwohnungen). Eight are inside the town. The place where we stayed was ideal, on the town square right under the castle. It was ½ km from the train station. The only place of any kind in town listed on Booking is 1.2 km from the train station and 20% more expensive than where we stayed.

I know what I do is easier for me because I can read German, but I think it is still worth checking out regardless of you language abilities. Many town website can display in English, and, even if they don't, a lot of the individual websites have English.

I agree with Tom, Gasthof Fraundorfer was a great place to stay. I'd highly recommend it. We stayed in the back cottage. The restaurant was excellent as well.

A couple of years ago while visiting Garmisch, my wife and I stayed at the Riessersee Hotel and loved it. It is out of town just a bit so you can't just walk out the door, turn left and head down the street, it is a nice place. While we were there there was a large wedding going on and we couldn't tell, so it was a fairly quiet place. The staff was friendly and spoke English, at least the front desk people did, house services people didn't. The hotel was clean as was the pool. Here are the coordinates: 47°28′39″N 11°4′48″E. The coordinates will be for the lake Riesersee, but the set of buildings at one end of the lake will be the hotel.

Hello Mary!

I actually love to look on Homeaway.com for accommodations. Last time I visited Garmisch I stayed in a nice guest room of an older lady's home whom rented out rooms to people and had an amazing breakfast spread every morning. That website is where I go first before looking for hotels. I've rented entire apartments with kitchens for cheaper than you would pay for a hotel! Let me know if it helps :)