Jessica K.
Yelp
So far, aside from the friendly staff, this has been the most disappointing "luxury" hotel experience I have ever had. We deeply regret choosing this hotel for our first visit to Munich, as our moods have been greatly soured.
We booked months in advance and were promised "free spa access". Before checking in, we were very much looking forward to swimming and relaxing in their heated pool which is part of the "Kempinski The Spa", only to arrive and find out that it is closed from 9/2/19 to 9/6/19 for cleaning (who takes this long to clean a single pool...?). What does this free spa access get us? It seems like absolutely nothing because with the pool closed, every other spa option is an additional charge. In my opinion, a truly first class establishment would have made sure that guests had an option for relaxation, such as a jacuzzi, despite the pool being unavailable. Instead, we get a "sorry you're SOL" note left in the room for us to discover.
But wait, there's more! The restaurant is ALSO closed for renovations and they have a pop-up replacement in a converted conference room. Luxurious.
Breakfast is NOT included in the rate. The continental breakfast (you know, the style that's usually free or very low cost at most hotels) can be had for €31. In the meal description it is specified that you will receive ONE hot beverage and ONE glass of fresh juice, but don't worry, you can order an additional, single glass of orange juice for the sensible price of €12. (That was sarcasm, for the record). Fortunately, there are other options within walking distance of the hotel.
As for the room, it feels as though they've tried to make things feel high end and high tech, but there are far too many shortcomings for me to consider this truly high end. First off, the furniture looks and feels like stuff that you can purchase at IKEA. The beds are so firm that it feels like we are sleeping on the floor with a mattress pad for comfort. Also, despite setting the air conditioning to 18C, the provided comforters are so warm that we both woke up during the night. It seems that the mattress traps a lot of heat. Super.
The bathrooms are visually appealing at first, but when it came time to take a shower, even more problems became apparent. First, the shower door does NOT seal completely, which causes a lovely puddle to form after the floor mat has reached maximum hydration. Stepping on a sopping wet bath mat feels disgusting. Next there's the color-changing LED lights which make you think that you could have a nice "mood lighting experience". However, the reality is that you must keep the rest of the bathroom lights on else the shower lights automatically turn off as well and you're left in the dark. To top it off, you have ZERO control over the flow of water. What should be a calming, peaceful rainfall shower experience is instead a torrential downpour of high water pressure. The only things that you can control are the temperature and whether the overhead "rainfall" or the more traditional detachable shower-head is on. Also, the buttons in the shower have zero tactile response and there is enough lag from when you touch a button to when something happens that it's easy to have nothing happen at all if you touch the buttons 2+ times. I don't understand how one could design such a bathroom like this and not realize how badly they've messed up after actually using it.
In short, the user/customer experience here is abysmal once you get past the facade of decadence. Spend your hard earned money elsewhere. If we could do this all over again, then we'd be staying at the Bayerischer Hof without question.