Commissioned by Ludwig I in 1841 to house the guests his palace could not, and run by the same family since 1897.
01 / 03
Overview
Eighteen Forty-One
Three hundred and thirty-seven rooms, including seventy-four suites, on the Promenadeplatz.
King Ludwig I wanted somewhere to put visiting royalty when the Residenz was full, and the Bayerischer Hof opened in 1841 to solve that problem. It has been in the Volkhardt family since 1897 and is still run by them. There are 337 rooms and 74 suites, and the striking thing is that they refuse to match: some are done in black and wine, some in ochre and yellow, some in the florals and chintz of an English country house. Above them all, Andrée Putman’s Blue Spa was added on a new top floor in 2005, with a rooftop pool that opens to the Munich skyline.
Falk’s Bar is the survivor. The bar sits in the 1839 Hall of Mirrors, which came through the war largely intact. The mirrors are the originals.
1841
Year It Opened
337
Rooms
74
Suites
1897
In the Same Family Since
Rooms
Deliberately Unmatched
Rooms that change character floor by floor, and suites with vaulted ceilings.
Suite — Bayerischer Hof
01
No House StyleRooms run from elemental black and wine to ochre, yellow, and English country florals.
02
Vaulted SuitesThe suites carry vaulted ceilings and sprawling sitting rooms of a scale modern hotels do not build.
03
Rooftop Blue SpaAndrée Putman’s spa on the top floor, with a pool that opens over the skyline.
04
City CentreOn the Promenadeplatz, minutes from Marienplatz and the Residenz on foot.
Experiences
Munich, Around the Corner
The old town, the royal palace, and the Alps within a morning’s drive.
Old Town
Marienplatz
The central square and its Glockenspiel, five minutes from the hotel door.
Palace
The Residenz
The Wittelsbach city palace, and the reason this hotel exists at all.
Market
Viktualienmarkt
The daily food market, and the correct place for a mid-morning beer.
Art
The Pinakotheken
Three galleries side by side, running from the Old Masters to the present.
Park
Englischer Garten
Larger than Central Park, with a standing wave that people surf all year.
Onward
The Bavarian Alps
An hour south to Garmisch, Neuschwanstein, and the lakes.
Dining
Five Restaurants, and a Hall of Mirrors
From a rooftop grill to a jazz club in the cellar, all inside one building.
01Atelier, the hotel’s Michelin-starred dining room
02Falk’s Bar, in the 1839 Hall of Mirrors
03Blue Spa Restaurant, on the roof beside the pool
04Night Club and jazz bar in the cellar, running late
Falk’s Bar — Bayerischer Hof
Location
On the Promenadeplatz
In the old centre of Munich, a few minutes from Marienplatz.
On the Promenadeplatz in the heart of Munich’s old town.
Five minutes on foot to Marienplatz, the Residenz and the Viktualienmarkt.
Roughly 40 minutes from Munich Airport by private transfer.
An hour by road to the Bavarian Alps and the lakes south of the city.
Fly
Arrive at Munich Airport.
Drive
Roughly 40 minutes by private chauffeur into the old town.
Arrive
Check in, then a drink in the Hall of Mirrors before dinner.
Munich
The Hotel a King Commissioned
Since 1841, in the same family since 1897, with a Putman spa on the roof.