In my Oktoberfest post, I mentioned that staying in a hotel close to Theresienwiese was the best decision I made when planning my trip to the festival- and I stand by it!
The idea of navigating a new public transit system while five liters deep is actual nightmare material.
Hotels in the city around this time are expensive. During Oktoberfest, Munich sees an influx of nearly 7 million visitors over the course of two weeks.
Supply and demand being what it is, Munich hotels are able to raise their prices outrageously and still be reasonably sure that the rooms will be booked. Don’t even get me started on Airbnbs!
My first and best advice for booking a hotel during Oktoberfest is to book the accommodation as far in advance as possible. This allows for the widest selection of options as well as the best chance for a good deal.
The Hotel
Hotel Seibel is a basic hotel thats perhaps a bit past it’s prime, but with Oktoberfest right outside, I couldn’t ask for more.
There are a fair amount of stairs in this hotel, and there didn’t seem to be an elevator, so keep that in mind when packing your suitcase! The overall decor is an old fashioned sort of style, but I thought it felt cute and homey- like staying at your grandparents house.
The hotel did store our luggage while our room was being prepared, but all of the luggage was kept in a big pile in the middle of the lobby, where anyone could walk off with it. I wasn’t a huge fan of this, especially with so many guests running in and out all day. My luggage was untouched, but I did make sure to take all of my valuables out before I left it in the lobby.
Breakfast was included in our stay, so we made sure to take advantage of it every day. The hotel serves a buffet with an Italian flair- lots of bread and meats and cheese, plus some hard boiled eggs, and of course, some pretzels. It wasn’t the most filling buffet I’ve ever had, but it did the trick. The breakfast room can get pretty crowded, so it’s helpful to get there early to grab a seat.
The Rooms
I was nervous to book this hotel since it had some mixed reviews, but I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the hotel. It is solidly a 3-Star hotel, so don’t go expecting a luxury property, but the rooms were clean and bright and fairly large by European standards.
There was plenty of space for both myself and my companion to spread out our luggage, and get ready in the morning without tripping over each other. I liked the huge mirror by the door so we could check out outfits before heading out for the day.
It was a little disappointing to get a “basement” room, but there was a huge window looking out to the street so we didn’t feel like we were underground at all.
The room, like most of the hotel, is definitely starting to show it’s age, but it really wasn’t the horror show that some of their reviews implied- you just have to know what you’re getting into!
Location
Hotel Seibel is a three minute walk from the closest entrance to Oktoberfest. It seriously could not get more convenient!
It was genuinely such a luxury to be able to pop in and out of our hotel throughout the day- even for things as simple as grabbing a raincoat that we hadn’t wanted to carry around earlier! We never had to stress to hard about packing for a long day out because we were able to easily grab anything we may have forgotten throughout the day!
We could peek out our window in the morning to gauge how long the lines were and decide when to leave based on what we saw. At the end of the night, we’d leisurely sip our drinks with a sense of superiority as we watched everyone hurry to their trains or Uber pick-ups to begin the trek home after a long day of drinking- suckers!
Given the enormously expensive costs of accommodation in the city, I was very pleased with my stay at Hotel Seibel. Sitting firmly as a 3-star hotel it was definitely still overpriced, but cheaper than a lot of nearby hotels- and its location is unbeatable.
There are some nearby shops, and we had some fun trying on drindls while waiting for our room to be ready, and the nearby Lidl was a great resource for post-drink snacks.
Since it is so close to Theresienwiese, there will be some noise- especially from the nearby Hofbrau tent, but that’s all part and parcel of Oktoberfest. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!
Although I think this hotel is best booked for the Oktoberfest season, it is close enough to city center to walk to Old Town (though it’s a bit of a trek), and a short walk to the nearest U-Bahn station.
Looking for more to do in Munich? Check out these day trips from Viator!
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