Sheraton Arabellapark, Munich
The Sheraton Munich Arabellapark is opposite the Westin Grand Munich and not in the city center of Munich but a short 10 minutes journey by subway U4 from station “Karlsplatz / Stachus”. The subway stop is approximately five minutes to walk from the hotel. To reach the hotel, take the exit “Rosenkavalierplatz” and walk over the small plaza after the escalator to the street. There are also signs with the directions to the hotel.
The building has 22 floors and was finished 1969. The building does not only host the hotel but also shops, offices, apartments and a small private clinic (Arabellaklinik). The style of the building is not uncommon for the late 60ies but it has balconies and the façade is therefore not as ugly as the Westin next door. It is also a white building and therefore looks friendlier.
A driveway leads to the main entrance.
After stepping into the hotel, the guest stands in a small to average sized lobby. To the right is the desk of the concierge and to the left are the four check-in desks, which are staffed with two to four agents depending on the time of the day and of the occupancy rate of the hotel.
The lobby offers the Link by Sheraton desk and a number of sofas and chairs throughout the lobby. The lobby is modern and using a variation of brown colors. The design of the furniture, sofas and tables are inspired by the 70ies and does fit well into the building. The down is that the lounge is very narrow and during peak times busy and noisy and not the best place if you want to sit down on one of the sofas and talk to someone.
The six elevators to reach the floors are located behind the front desk.
The hotel and all 446 rooms were renovated and refurbished in 2009. The hotel offers different types of rooms: Superior Rooms with a size of 25 square meters which are located on floors 10 to 12 and 20 to 21. Executive rooms are of the same size but with a glass panel between room and bath and located on floor 17 to 18. The Studio rooms are also on floor 17 to 18 but slightly larger with 29 square meters and offer in addition a small kitchenette.
Club Room are also of a size of 25 square meters and equipped like executive room but have a controlled access and also access to the club lounge on floor 22. The Suites are located on different floors throughout the hotel. Junior Suites offer a separate bed room which is not divided by a door from the main room and of a size of 45 square meters. Superior Suites are 60 square meters and the bedroom is separated from the main room by a door. Executive Suites are of the same size and offer also a small kitchenette, sometimes it is an executive room with a separate living room which could be accessed through a connecting door. The largest suite with 125 square meters is the Deluxe Suite which offers a second bedroom with a second bathroom. All rooms over a balcony and all suites have access to the club lounge.
The executive lobby is located on floor 22 and quite small. Chairs with tables are on the left side while the buffet area is placed in the middle of the lounge. Sofas and a large table are available in a corner of the room. The lounge is not completely self-service; beverages are served by the lounge attendant. The lounge serves breakfast in the morning. Warm dishes on the buffet are usually scrambled eggs, sausages and bacon while cold dishes are a selection of cheese, sausage and jam / marmalade. Fresh fruit of fruit salad, cereals and yoghurt are also offered with a selection of pastries, rolls and bread. Tea, Coffee and juices are also available. In the afternoon cakes and fruit are offered along with coffee / tea and juices.
The evening service in the executive lounge consists of different warm items like spring rolls, dim sum, chicken wings, satay, vegetables, etc. Different salads with cheese, antipasti, olives and rolls are also offered. A lounge attendant served beverage, it is not self-service except for coffee / espresso / cappuccino and tea. A selection of different white and red wines as well as beer is available.
“The tropical bathing paradise” as the hotel advertises the pool and wellness area is located on floor 22 and the only covered roof top pool in Munich. It could also be used by people living in one of the apartments in the building. Towels are provided by the attendant at the registration desk at the entrance to the pool. The pool is open from 06:00 to 23:00, but children under the age of 16 are not allowed after 20:00. Locker rooms are available as well.
Surrounded by huge glass windows the pool offers nice views to Munich and the neighborhood, though some windows are slightly becoming blind. The pool is a leisure pool and no lap (sport) pool. Several facilities like the waterfall and massage jets have never worked during my recent stays in this hotel. There are a number of desk chairs around the pool, which are very often occupied by other guests.
The sauna area is one floor down. It offers a Finnish sauna, Turkish bath and cold water pool. The sauna area is dark and offers desk chairs for relaxing after a visit in sauna or Turkish bath.
The fitness room could be accessed through the pool and is quite small. The equipment is very old and there are two bikes, treadmills, bikes and weights. According to the information by hotel staff the pool and gym should undergo renovation in 2013. From my point of views this is overdue as the pool area is also showing its age.
The hotel offers a number of restaurants which are quite good and also visited by locals.
The main breakfast is served as buffet in the “66 Grill and Dine” on the ground floor. The breakfast is an extended Continental buffet with the usual selection of cold and warm dishes like hashed potatoes, scrambled eggs, sausages and bacon as well as fruit salad, cereals, yoghurt and a wide selection of rolls and bread. It is open daily from 6:30 to 10:30 and 18:00 to 23:00.
With white as dominant color the bistro restaurant “Audrey’s Food & Flavour” offers light dishes with a Mediterranean touch. It occupies two levels of the hotels. It is open weekdays from 11:00 to 23:00 and on weekends from 18:30 to 23:00.
During the warmer summer months the hotel has a Beer Garden, which is open from 09:00 to 23:00, depending on the weather.
The Arabella Bar is open from 07:30 to 02:00 on weekdays and from 11:00 to 02:00 on weekends. It offers coffee and espresso in the morning and also cakes in the afternoon. Cocktails are served in the evening together with light international snacks.
The opening times of the restaurants could vary, depending on the time of the year and the occupancy rate of the hotel.
The hotel offers 15 meeting and board rooms for up to 500 participants in different settings, all equipped with W-LAN. If this is not sufficient the hotel partners also with the Westin next door.
Stays: August 24, 2011 - October 21, 2012 - December 01, 2012 -
Arrival Date: August 24, 2011
Departure Date: August 25, 2011
Room type booked: Traditional Room (got Executive Suite)
Rate Plan: Advanced Purchase Rate
Room Number: 1750
Room Rate: 75.00 EUR
Status of Guest Program: Platinum
I arrived quite late around 21:20 in the hotel to check in before heading out again for a late dinner in a nearby restaurant with friends and business partners. A friend had dropped me at the driveway and I entered the still busy lobby, but only one desk was occupied by another guests. I was welcomed in the hotel and I had only to hand over my credit card and check the details on the already prefilled form and to sign it. The check in agent explained the features of the hotel and told me, I was upgraded to a suite – she does not mention the type of suite – and mentioned also, that I was offered access to the club lounge.
My suite was located at one end of the quite long hallways.
A small hallway leads from the entrance of my suite to the main room. There was a glass panel to the room while the entrance to the living room was on the right hand side while to the left was the bedroom with entrance to the partly open bathroom.
The bedroom featured a king size bed with two bedside tables with reading lamps and a phone on one of them. Closet with in room safe was located close the entrance to the bedroom. I missed a place to store my carry on and so I placed it on the rack at the window over the heating. Probably not the right place, but the bedroom was very narrow. The mattress was comfortable (Sweet Sleeper mattress) and the air condition could be noticed but the windows could be opened and I preferred fresh air over the air conditioned one during the night.
The bathroom was partly open the bedroom but it could be closed by a sliding door. The toilet was divided by a door from the bathroom. The shower was large and offered a wall mounted rainforest shower head and a separate hand shower. It was large and water pressure was good.
There was also a bath and a sink with vanity mirror. The hairdryer was placed in a drawer under the sink. Bathroom amenities were the Sheraton brand and towels were provided for three people in small, medium and large size.
The living room was large and could be divided into three parts (not literally, just from the arrangement of the furniture in the room). There was the dining part at the entrance to the room with a small dining table along with four chairs. The kitchenette could be closed by folding doors.
The middle part of the room was the living part with a sofa with a table opposite the Flat TV on a sideboard. On both sides of the sofa were small table with lamps; a third lamp was standing left of the sideboard with the TV on it. All lamps could be controlled by the switches at the entrance to the room which was nice and superior to the many US hotel rooms where you have to turn each lamp off individually.
The working part at the window consisted of a work desk with a chair, LAN connection and second phone. The desk was large enough to work on it and a lamp was also available. Tea and coffee facilities were placed at the window on the rack above the heating.
The design of the room was using warm brown colors. The furniture was in good condition and there barely and stains or scratches. The furniture used design elements of the 70ies and since this was the time the hotel was built, it fit well – but it was no retro design, I would describe it as somehow timeless – it is not out of style after a short time which is certainly not bad for a hotel. Pictures at the wall gave a nice touch. The bedroom used the same design as the living room but was darker due to the large sliding door / wall made from dark Canadian Oak wood. I would have preferred a brighter color scheme for the smaller bedroom.
I used the pool in the morning for a quick round in the pool, which was empty as I was there shortly after the pool opened. Towels were available at the front deck but as there was no agent at the desk. What I noticed was that the pool was not up to date and is showing its age. Some features of the pool like massage jets and the waterfall were not working and some tiles were also broken.
The gym, which I did not use, was used by other guests and all bikes and treadmills were occupied by other guests.
Breakfast in the lounge was nice, the selection was good and I had only a croissant, some fruits and a coffee. But scrambled eggs, pastries, cereals were also offered. The lounge, which is quite small, was surprisingly not very busy and I was with friend the only guests before a couple joined us. The attendant was attentive and used dished were cleared quickly.
Check out was fast and efficient, but I had to queue a few minutes before it was my turn. It is not possible to check out in the lounge which is a disadvantage, as this means everybody has to queue as the SPG desk is used as regular check in / out desk and there is no priority given to guest holding elite status in the guest program SPG.
It was a nice stay though a bit short and I could not really try everything the hotel offers. The location at Arabellapark not a disadvantage for me, public transportation is quite good and the hotel is easy to reach by car. The pool is nice but showed its age and the need for a renovation becomes more and more evident. The gym looked even older but my impression might be wrong, as I was not able to try the machines. Nice are the rooms and of course the upgrade to a suite with lounge access. The lounge seemed quite small and I can imagine it could become crowded during evening service. I will definitively visit the hotel again.
Arrival Date: October 21, 2012
Departure Date: October 22, 2012
Room type booked: Traditional Room (got Junior Suite)
Rate Plan: Beatthetimer Rate
Room Number: 2132
Room Rate: 89.00 EUR
Status of Guest Program: Platinum
I arrived around 16:30 at the hotel. Check in was not busy and two agents were on duty. One was checking in another guest, while the other agents were available. The agent welcomed me and pulled the reservation out of the system. He thanked me for being Platinum with SPG and mentioned that I was upgraded to a Junior Suite with access to the club lounge on the top floor of the hotel. He also gave me an overview of the features of the hotel.
My Junior Suite was located on the 21st floor of the hotel. It opened to a small hallway leading to the bathroom and the small living room / work area, which was equipped with a desk, a flat TV, two armchairs and the large closet. The bedroom was in a separate room, which was not divided by a door but open to the living room. There was barely space enough for the king size bed along with two bedside table and another TV.
The bathroom, which could be accessed from the hallway, was quite small, especially compared to those of the suites in the nearby Westin hotel, where I spent the night before. The bathroom had a sink with a big mirror, a wall mounted hairdryer and a vanity mirror. This part was a bit cramped, but nevertheless there was enough space to store the usual utensils. The bath had a small glass panel and a hand shower. The shower head was in good condition but the glass panel was way too short to avoid flooding the bathroom. It does also not really help that the hand shower was a rainforest shower which was quite heavy. The tube for the showerhead was too long and it was difficult to keep if off the way. Overall the bath was very narrow and it was difficult to avoid water dripping on the floor of the bathroom, keeping the tube of the shower out of the way. In the end I have up and put one of the two towels on the floor before the bath.
Towels were provided for two persons in small, medium and large size. Bathroom amenities were also available. A nice touch was the loudspeaker in the bathroom which was connected to the TV / radio in the living room and listening to music was possible.
The desk in the main room was large enough to work on it. It had built in plugs and a lamp. It could be rotated which was good since the place between desk and wall was quite narrow and the desk chair does not really fit there. Overall it was very cramped and far from an ergonomic work place.
Tea and coffee facilities were placed close to the desk.
Nice to have was a balcony which offered views towards downtown Munich and the nearby Westin Hotel. Especially now in autumn with nice weather in the evening it was a great benefit..
The design of the room was contemporary and modern using warm light and dark brown colors, though a bit impractical in some aspects, especially desk and bathroom.
I experienced the evening service in the executive lounge and also had a quick cup of coffee in the afternoon. A lounge attendant served beverage, it is not self service except for coffee / espresso / cappuccino and tea. A selection of white and red wines as well as beer was available. The food offerings were cold items like cheese, olives, salad, and bread. Today the hot offerings were dumplings and chicken wings. Bread and rolls were refilled frequently. The service by the lounge agents was attentive and it was a nice a relaxing atmosphere and the lounge was not very busy.
In the morning breakfast consists of the usual selection, the service was attentive.
I have been in the gym for a quick round on one of the treadmills. The machines are very old and I missed quite a few functions which I used to have at more modern facilities. The pool was not very busy but not everything was working (waterfalls, jets).
Check out was quick around 08:30 in the morning but I had to queue a few minutes before it was my turn. The folio was correct and I was asked if everything was okay.
I have mixed impression. The upgrade was nice, but the junior suite is quite small and the layout and arrangement of the furniture not very good. It is especially difficult to work at the desk and the bathroom is quite small. On the other hand it was an upgrade and it was nice to have a bit more space and okay for one night. If I had to work in the room, I most certainly would have asked for a room change. Very good in terms of service but also of food quality was the lounge and this is for me one of the highlights. The lounge is small and not as big as for example in the Westin. I have so far never encountered the lounge overcrowded, but I have been there mostly on the weekends and I fear it might be different on the weekday. The pool and the gym are aged and in the strong need of a renovation.
Arrival Date: December 01, 2012
Departure Date: December 02, 2012
Room type booked: Traditional Room (got Superior Suite)
Rate Plan: Starpicks Rate
Room Number: 2121A
Room Rate: 89.00 EUR
Status of Guest Program: Platinum
I arrived around 14:30 at the hotel and there were long lines at check in. Three counters were used while a fourth agent was working at the desk and avoided to make eye contact with the waiting customers. From the eyes of a customer queuing in the long lines, it is not really a good idea to work at the front desk but not to serve customers. It would have been better to either work in the back office or help to shorten the lines. And it was very annoying that the remaining check in agents promoted the SPG program and explained everything to the customer and even signed them up and filled out the form for them. As much as I understand this, doing this with over 10 customers queuing is never a good idea. Especially as there was no dedicated SPG desk. And waiting as a SPG Platinum is not what you would like to experience arriving in a hotel. Finally after close to 17 minutes it was my turn. The agent welcomed me back in the hotel and began to introduce the features of the hotel. Well, regarding the long lines and being a returning guest I would have thought to ask if I know the features of the hotel or need some information. My last stay was only 5 weeks ago and I assume there had not changed much. So I was not overly friendly and interrupted him and asked, if anything had changed since October and if not he can skip the explanation to save some time. Do not get me wrong, I think it is important to introduce the features, but as returning guest with the last stay not long ago, a different and individual approach would be better as the standard procedures.
But this was one of my worst check-in experiences and not so much because of the waiting time but that the front desk did nothing to reduce the waiting time. As a side note, as I passed the lobby an hour later the lines were even longer and quite a few guests were very annoyed; Check in in the lounge is still not possible.
My Superior Suite was located on the 21st floor of the hotel. It opened into a small hallway leading to the bathroom and the living room/ work area.
From the entrance a short hallway leads to the living room. In the hallway was one of the two large closets of the suite, the second one was in the bedroom. The one in the hallway featured also the in room safe. The bathroom, which could be accessed from the hallway, was quite small, especially compared to those of the suites / rooms in the Westin hotel. The bathroom had a sink with a big mirror, a wall mounted hairdryer and a vanity mirror. This part was a bit cramped, but nevertheless there was enough space to store razor and other utensils close to the sink. The bath had a small glass panel and a hand shower, which was in good condition. The tube for the showerhead was attached to the wall which was very convenient and an improvement to the time this was not done and one had problems to get the tube out of the way while taking a shower. The glass panel was a bit too short and one could barely avoid water dripping on the floor.
Towels were provided for two persons in small, medium and large size. Bathroom amenities were also available. A nice touch was the loudspeaker in the bathroom which was connected to the TV / radio in the living room and listening to music was possible.
The living room had a sofa on the one side with a table. The flatscreen TV was wall mounted and placed at the wall opposite the sofa. A desk was placed in front of the window. A small spot and a larger lamp were at the desk with a few built in power outlets, a phone and LAN adapter. The chair at the desk was more an arm chair and a real desk chair.
The bedroom was separated by a door from the living room. There was another closet with iron and ironing board. The bed was large with two bedside tables, a phone and lamps. There was a central switch to turn on / off all lights in the room. Opposite the bed was another wall mounted flat TV. Next to the closet was a place to store luggage.
Tea and coffee facilities were placed next to the desk in the living room. A balcony was also available offering nice views towards downtown Munich. Especially in summer this is a great benefit as one could enjoy the views and get fresh air. Smoking is nevertheless not allowed on the balconies.
The design of the room was contemporary and modern using warm light and dark brown colors. It had not Bavarian elements and could also be in Frankfurt, Berlin or Hamburg. If you look for typical Bavarian style, this is not the right hotel but on the other side Munich is a big city and not a village in the Alps.
I experienced the evening service in the executive lounge. A lounge attendant served beverage, it is not self service except for coffee / espresso / cappuccino and tea. A selection of white and red wines as well as beer was available. The food offerings were cold items like cheese, olives, salad, and bread. Today the hot offerings were spring rolls and dim sum samplings. Bread and rolls were refilled frequently. Service was attentive and the lounge agent did also some small talk with guests and it was a nice a relaxing atmosphere.
In the morning breakfast consists of the usual selection, the service was attentive.
During my visit of pool and sauna I noticed that one sauna was off. But since the sauna was empty this was no issue.
Check out was this time quite quick. The folio was correct and I was asked if everything was okay.
If I did not know the hotel from a previous stay, my first impression of the hotel would have been a nightmare with a waiting time of 17 minutes. This should not happen. Luckily this it more the exception than the rule and the room was nice. The offerings and service in the lounge was personal, attentive and friendly and the offerings (dim sum and spring rolls) were quite good. I enjoyed the stay very much and made also user of steam room and Turkish bath.
