ROOM FOR TWO – ADINA MUNICH

By Matthew Brace

Intro

The Adina Munich is a stylish property in a hip part of East Munich and the highest-located hotel in the city, so expect stellar views over the rooftops and to the Alps.

Overview

We love preparing picnics with delicious food we have picked up at the open-air Viktualienmarkt food market, so having a fridge and a small kitchen in our hotel room to keep everything fresh is ideal. It cuts down on the pricey restaurant spend too. Each studio and apartment at the Adina Munich is equipped with a kitchen, along with a comfortable living and working area.

The hotel’s main bar and restaurant shares the 14^th floor with the lobby and offers some of those great views through floor-to-ceiling windows. There’s also a wellness area with fitness room, 12-metre pool and sauna, all on the 15^th floor, with yet more great views.

Location 

The Adina Munich is a seven-minute walk from the Ostbanhof train station in the former industrial and recently gentrified Werksviertel-Mitte district, now one of the city’s hippest hoods. You get views northwest over the city’s rooftops and church spires, and south to the Alps.

Look and feel

The property is modern and urban… oh, and there are sheep on the roof – read on for details! Because the lobby is on the 14^th floor, the first space you encounter on arrival is the lift, which is emblazoned with floor-to-ceiling images of Australia (a reminder that Adina is an Aussie hotel brand). For non-Australian guests this must be a quirky welcome to a German hotel but for those of us who live Down Under it is not exactly ‘Munich’. But don’t worry – a few steps from the lift in the 14^th floor lobby you get one of the best views of the 868-year-old city and suddenly everything is very Bavarian again. From the lobby we looked for miles, to the lofty church of St John the Baptist, the Olympic Tower and the twin, domed towers of the Frauenkirche (Munich Cathedral). We were tired from our overnight flight from Tokyo but instantly came alive at the sight of this magnificent vista.

Now, about those sheep. As we drew our eyes closer to home, we looked down on the neighbouring building, called WERK3 (Factory 3), which used to produce food but now houses offices. The roof is a working urban farm called Stadt-Hochalm. It has a meadow of around 2,500 square metres with fruit trees, raised beds, beehives, an ant hotel and a small flock of sheep. The idea is to create nature in an urban space and help teach people about eating well, being sustainable and protecting the environment. The by-product is that Adina Munich guests get to watch sheep from their rooms. We did this – for hours – and it was extremely relaxing.

Service

We didn’t interact with the staff in this hotel as much as we normally do; we were either out and about in the city or doing our own thing in the hotel. When we did interact with them they were super efficient – of course, this is Germany.

Best room for two

The Adina Munich has 179 studios (30sqm), 49 one-bedroom apartments (up to 42sqm), and six two-bedroom apartments (up to 77sqm). Along with a kitchen, there’s also a washer-dryer in every room. This turned out to be essential during our rather wet and snowy pre-Christmas stay when we had some damp sock incidents. Either a studio or a one-bed apartment would be good for couples. We had the latter and spent a good amount of time sitting on the sofa with our feet on a cute little ‘sheep’ footstool, gazing out of the windows at the real sheep on the rooftop next door.

Sadly the door to the room next to ours seemed to lack a hydraulic closing system and its inhabitants seemed to lack common manners, so when they let it slam shut our bed really shook. One night we actually had to drag the bed away from the wall a few inches to limit the movement. This is a design and construction flaw and no fault of the hotel team, of course, but it did detract a little from our otherwise very pleasant and romantic stay.

Food and drink

The hotel’s bar and restaurant, Fitzroy, is named after the Melbourne suburb and it’s a great spot to have an evening cocktail – or an afternoon one if you’d rather; you’re on holiday after all! We slid into a booth at about 4.30pm – which is sunset in Munich in the week before Christmas – and ordered two Sydney Margaritas (tequila, Cointreau, jalapeño syrup and a hint of pineapple and lemon). We knew we would be indulging in several mugs of gluhwein in the city’s Famous Christmas Markets later in the evening so we thought we’d start with something light and fluffy.

We had an early dinner: crispy octopus tentacle with green asparagus, parsnip cassoulet, cannelloni beans and jalapeno dressing, plus sesame-glazed tofu with kimchi salad, cauliflower puree and chickpea brittle. Both delicious.

Fitzroy has some really healthy options on the menu and an excellent variety of vegetarian dishes too. However, it claims to serve ‘ ModOz’ or ‘modern Australian’ food, which we thought was a bit confusing – if anything, the menu is Asia- and Europe-inspired and there’s neither a wallaby loin nor pepperberry in sight.

Sustainability

The hotel is Green Key certified, as are all Adina hotels in Europe. It is also a partner of Too Good to Go, an initiative to fight food waste, and supports Munich-based aid organisation HORIZONT, which provides safe housing, a sense of security and holistic care to children and their mothers who suddenly find themselves on the streets. Guests can donate at reception. 

Couples will love

Cocktails with a view over the Munich rooftops, swimming in the pool with views south to the Alps and cosying up on the sofa after a big day exploring the city and watching the small flock of rooftop sheep.

Book via the hotel’s website https://www.adinahotels.com/en/apartments/munich/, call +49 89 2555 5190 or email munich@adina.eu.