Hotel Bayerischer Hof

Every February the Promenadeplatz fills with police barriers and black cars, and the heads of government of half the world walk through the same revolving door. The Munich Security Conference has met at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof since 1963, which tells you most of what you need to know about the hotel's place in Munich.

History

King Ludwig I of Bavaria wanted a hotel in which to lodge his guests, since the Residenz was full. His court architect, Friedrich von Gärtner, who also built the Ludwigstrasse and the Siegestor, designed the building on the Promenadeplatz, and it opened in 1841. In 1897 Hermann Volkhardt bought the hotel, and his descendants have owned it since. Innegrit Volkhardt, the fourth generation, has run it since 1992.

The hotel was largely destroyed in the bombing of 1944 and rebuilt in stages after the war, with the Spiegelsaal, the mirrored hall, among the few rooms to survive. In 1969 the family acquired the Palais Montgelas next door, the eighteenth-century town palace of the Bavarian minister Maximilian von Montgelas, and joined it to the hotel. In 1963 Ewald von Kleist held the first Wehrkunde meeting at the hotel, the gathering that became the Munich Security Conference.

Architecture and design

The facade on the Promenadeplatz is a reconstruction of Gärtner's neoclassical front, and the Palais Montgelas beside it keeps its rococo staircase and state rooms. Inside, the hotel is a sequence of commissions. Andrée Putman designed the Blue Spa on the roof in 2005. Axel Vervoordt reworked the rooms and suites of the Palais Montgelas in 2018 in his pared-back manner, with lime plaster and antiques. The Falk's Bar occupies the Spiegelsaal. The hotel also has its own cinema, the astor@Cinema Lounge, in the basement.

Rooms and suites

There are 337 rooms and 74 suites, the largest count of any luxury hotel in Munich, spread across the main building and the Palais Montgelas. Styles differ by wing: traditional rooms with Biedermeier pieces, contemporary rooms, Vervoordt's rooms in the palais and the suites under the roof beside the spa. Rooms on the front look over the Promenadeplatz and its monuments.

Dining

Atelier, the gourmet restaurant, held three Michelin stars under Jan Hartwig and continues as the hotel's formal dining room with a new chef. Garden is the all-day restaurant in a glass-roofed courtyard. Trader Vic's, in the cellar since 1972, serves Polynesian-style food and the original Mai Tai. Palais Keller, under the Montgelas palace, is the Bavarian restaurant with vaulted brick ceilings. Falk's Bar in the mirrored hall and the Night Club, with live jazz, complete the set. The Blue Spa has its own rooftop bar and lounge.

Wellness

The Blue Spa on the roof, by Andrée Putman, has a pool under a retractable glass roof, saunas, a steam bath, treatment rooms and a terrace with a view over the roofs of the old town to the Frauenkirche towers. A fitness centre is alongside.

Weddings and events

The hotel has around 40 function rooms, the largest the Festsaal ballroom, and hosts the Munich Security Conference, balls, congresses and society weddings. Wedding receptions take the Festsaal, the Spiegelsaal or the state rooms of the Palais Montgelas, which also hosts civil ceremonies in partnership with the city registry. The hotel's own cinema and the Night Club are used for private events.

Location

The address is Promenadeplatz 2-6, in the Altstadt, between the Frauenkirche and the Maxburg. Marienplatz is five minutes on foot, as are the Residenz and the opera. Munich airport is about 40 minutes by taxi or 45 minutes by S-Bahn from Marienplatz station. Munich central station is ten minutes away on foot or two stops by tram. For visitors the Promenadeplatz address puts the whole of the old town within reach without a car.