Where to stay in Munich during Oktoberfest

Consider staying in Augsburg and just using the train to get to Munich. Augsburg is lovely and I doubt it will cost you an arm and a leg. I would ditch the travel agent altogether ($500 a night is ridiculous, sorry). It's not hard booking your own hotel rooms - look on www.booking.com. It's way too early to worry about a hotel room a year out unless you really want to stay very close by to all the action.

I haven't stayed in Munich during Oktoberfest but did stay in an AirBnB during June. It worked perfectly well, was in the centre and everywhere was within walking distance. Didn't cost anywhere near $500 a night however I accept prices increase during Oktoberfest. I say go for an apartment but definitely book early.

We stayed at Novotel Arnulfpark early October. Quiet, safe, easy access to centre by tram or 5 minute walk to Donnersbergerbrucke station. Breakfast was great & they make their own breads & pretzels. Some nice local restaurants nearby as well.

Motel One is a great option for Oktoberfest. They have several locations around Munich, prices generally less than €200 a night during Oktoberfest, and they have a generous cancellation policy with no risk cancellation up to three weeks before your arrival. It's where we always stay when we go to Oktoberfest. I prefer the Ost location as you can get to the fest grounds using the U5 without any changes but you're far enough away from the fest grounds that the neighborhood is nice and peaceful when you need it to be.

Last year you had to call and make reservations over the phone as they did not except online reservations for Oktoberfest. So even if the online reservation system shows that they're booked try giving the hotel a call.

Edit: i'll add that even though motel one is a chain, they are a local chain based out of Munich.

DJ

Last May, we stayed in 4You Hostel. Although it says hostel, there are a lot of private rooms, which were quite reasonable. During Octoberfest? I have no idea. It was very nice, near the HBH, and close to lots of sights.

To take off on a previous poster, at least consider staying a short distance away as opposed to in Munich. I suppose it depends on your age and what you want to experience at Oktoberfest as well. If you want to party into the wee hours and need help getting to your bed as a result, then do an Air BNB (keep in mind, it may not be an apartment, for Oktoberfest it will be more likely a room) or a hotel. But if you are willing to ride the train a half hour or so, then the options improve greatly.

Augsburg, as was mentioned, is a good choice, Freising is nice as well, but we have chosen Tegernsee in the past. Maybe a bit further, but quiet, beautiful setting on a lake and in the foothills of the Alps. They have a well recognized brewery, good hiking, a great spa/bath, overall a nice place to stay.

I am not sure I understand. Have you actually looked on-line at smaller, non-chain hotels? Travel agents usually steer you to chains because thats what they know. Plenty of them in Munich.

smccauley: You need to do some homework. Use booking.com. I checked Aug 22-Aug 30 of next year, and got total costs of between $300-$1000 FOR THE ENTIRE PERIOD. Use some of these booking services. Once you find a hotel, contact the hotel directly, and see if you can do better. Travel agents often have hidden agendas, like finders' fees for getting you to book at specific places. You don't have to settle for that these days.

A general rule is hotel prices are 3x during Oktoberfest so $500 for a higher end chain like Hilton sounds correct. Don't expect prices from the end of August to represent what you will find during the fest itself.

Booking.com might be useful but you should also call any hotel you are interested in as well. A lot of hotels have different booking channels for Oktoberfest to keep people from blocking rooms only to cancel later.

DJ

Ditch the Travel Agent (who's probably never even been to Germany) and do some simple searching yourself. You'll get better results and be in control of your own destiny. TAs are just another level of red tape to deal with.

Hi there smccauley2001, my brother & I are going to Oktoberfest next year too! A lot of places have already sold out lately. For what it's worth, I just booked a nice apartment on Airbnb for $750 for 5 nights. It's a 10 minute walk to the Oktoberfest grounds & 10 minutes walk the other way to Marienplatz. I've also stayed in apartments in Paris & Kauai, as well as a couple other times on the mainland U.S. Always a great experience to be more of a temporary local :-) Best of luck!

Thanks so much for the advice. In comparing the reasonable hotels that our TA gave us and looking at apartments I decided to just go ahead and book a studio apartment on Airbnb just outside the city center. I'm nervous about it but thinking of it as an adventure. Will be fun to figure out public transit in Munich (hopefully). I get very overwhelmed when planning so that is why I tend to use a TA for bigger trips. But you all have been very encouraging that I can do most if not all of it on my own. ;)

We used a TA on our trip this May-June to buy tickets. We separately priced them. The difference was that the TA charged a booking fee. While there are some situations in which a TA may be of help (large trips, many people), my wife and I won't use one again.