Hotel Review: Hilton Munich Airport, Germany
The night before my flight from Munich to London, in order to get an early start on things and because I love great airport hotels, I stayed at the Hilton Munich Airport which, the last time I stayed there, was the Kempinski Munich Airport.
I’ve always looked forward to my stays at the airport in the past. While they signify the end of visit to one of my favorite cities in the world, it’s always been a treat to stay here. This was my first visit since the hotel’s reflagging in 2015 and a renovation last year that added 190 rooms and additional meeting space to the hotel, so I was curious what, if anything, might have changed.
First, some background. The Hilton Munich Airport is one of the relatively few airport hotels that is fully integrated into an airport, much as a terminal building is. It opened as the Kempinski Munich Airport two years after Munich Airport opened in 1992 replacing Munich-Riem Airport. Designed by Helmut Jahn, who also designed the airport itself, the hotel was recognized for its striking architecture that echoes the nearby Terminal 1 building. It features a 79-foot-high (24-meter-high) and 15,100-square-foot (1,400-square-meter) grand atrium with a glass roof. The airy atrium is decorated with 59-foot-high (18-meters-high) palm trees from Florida and glass cubed walls filled with potted red geraniums. At night, it is bathed in color.
It is a bit of a walk from Terminal 1 to the hotel (the hotel is immediately adjacent to Terminal 2, however, which is Lufthansa’s home), but an enjoyable one since it takes one through the airport’s main courtyard, the site of many interesting events including a wonderful Christmas market around the holiday season.
Once inside, I noticed that little had changed. The reception desk was busy but there was a line for Hilton Honors members with Gold and Diamond elite status where I had virtually no wait at all. Check-in formalities were efficient (this is Germany, after all) and I was on my way to my room in a matter of minutes.
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