One of Munich’s most luxurious hotels, The Charles Hotel is perhaps the city’s most exclusive place to stay.  Situated facing a small park that presents a lovely frontdrop of greenery to the hotel’s discreet façade, The Charles is located on a quiet sidestreet just a five-minute stroll from the main train station.

A warmest of welcomes begins at the door.  The porters and concierges at The Charles Hotel are exceptionally personable, as the Rooms and suites at The Charles are graced with comfort and style, with the top-floor suites offering a maximum of both.  A member of Rocco

Panoramic Suite bedroom at The Charles Hotel, Munich

Forte Hotels, The Charles is an apt representation of the company’s ethos regarding the contemporary guest experience.  Aside from the elegant furnishings and strong commitment to service that make a stay enjoyable, the hotel also knows what not to provide.  Unlike many other five-star hotels in the world these days, Rocco Forte properties keep the in-room tech experience thankfully simple; the absence of overwhelming technology is refreshing in a time when turning on a light or turning off a television in a hotel room can require an instruction booklet or a call to the front desk to figure it out.

A lovely home in Germany must have a nice garden.  The Charles takes full advantage of the park’s beauty by having an outdoor terrace in front of the building.  Guests can relax here throughout the day, perhaps enjoying a meal in the calm of the morning, the warmth of the afternoon, or the twilight of a long European summer evening.  The hotel’s restaurant, Sophia’s, serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner indoors in its chic dining room and outdoors on the terrace in fine weather.  The menus change with the seasons but always have an enticing array of dishes.

Sophia’s at The Charles Hotel, Munich

As for Munich itself, it offers an enticing array of attractions.  The formidable Residenz museum complex is one of the city’s most important sights.  The palace is spectacular even by European standards, with the Renaissance Antiquarium and the adjacent Grotto Courtyard imposing.  The complex’s Cuvilliés Theatre stands on the site of the Old Residenz Theatre and today shows visitors just how opulent theatres used to be back in the day.

Another impressive former home worth seeing, albeit more straightforward than a palace, is Villa Stuck (pronounced ‘shtook’).  This unusual former home of Franz von Stuck is a superb example of Art Nouveau architecture (called Jugendstil in German) and is now open to the public, as is its lovely little garden and café.  Villa Stuck is just a few hundred metres away from another of Munich’s must-see attractions, the Eisbachwelle, famous as the swell in the river, where surfers ride their boards in the middle of the city.

The Charles Hotel’s convenient location close to Munich’s main train station makes it a perfect base for exploring Bavaria and beyond.  An easy-to-use Eurail Mobile Pass makes day trips by train to Innsbruck and Salzburg in Austria easy; they are less than two hours away.  First-class rail travel is a charming experience in Germany and Austria, where sleek ICE and Railjet trains are fast, quiet, and comfortable, and seat reservations are unnecessary.  Eurail Passes are available in Australia from Rail Europe.

Written by: Robert La Bua – Global Traveller Deluxe

===================================