Hotels

What started with a few student parties in the 1990s turned into a tidy line in hospitality for events and communications specialist Niels Jäger and architect Sascha Arnold. Now joined by another architect, Steffen Werner, the trio run James T Hunt Bar, Bob Beaman Music Club and Stereo Café.  

The Flushing Meadows, their first foray into accommodation, opened in 2014 on the top two floors of a former telecommunications building in Glockenbachviertel. “It’s more of a freestyle approach to a hotel,” says Arnold of the industrial yet relaxed setting. Each of the 11 rooms on the third floor was designed by a different creative – including restaurateur Charles Schumann, DJ Helmut Geier and Cathal McAteer, founder of Folk clothing – and features soaring 4-metre-high ceilings.

During your stay you’ll probably hear the adage of Munich being Italy’s northernmost city – and that’s what inspired Cortiina’s name and ethos. Opened in 2001 as the first hotel in Rudi Kull and Albert Weinzierl’s stable, its 75 rooms span three buildings and include a pair of two-bedroom apartments and a maisonette. The stone-tiled bathrooms and velour textiles are plush but understated. Just across the lane is Italian café Bar Centrale; grab a paper here and drink your coffee kerbside to catch the morning sun.

It was at King Ludwig I’s behest that Bavaria’s maiden first-class hotel opened in 1841. Since 1897 the Bayerischer Hof has been owned by the Volkhardt family. This palatial hotel flourished through years of aristocracy and revelry until air raids in 1944 destroyed most of the building, leaving only the rococo hall of mirrors intact (you can pull up a chair at Falk’s Bar, which now occupies the space). 

The family rebuilt the hotel and, in 1992, Innegrit Volkhardt took over as the fourth-generation owner. There are 360 rooms available, ranging in tone from rustic Bavarian to more muted contemporary designs.