Hotel and restaurant advice for Euro Delivery?

[mul1gan]

Originally Posted by apexesm4

I booked with Orbitz about three months ago. Two of the seven nights I'm here are 149 euro due to some event going on. The pool/spa/gym are free, which I didn't expect because I read somewhere they are extra.

Sounds like you got a great deal though! I would have preferred to stay there as it was rated a little higher, but it came out higher for me.

Thanks afadeev and igom3 for the recommendations!

honestly i was flip flopping between hilton park and hilton city, I think the hilton city was closer to all the shops and subway while the hilton park is closer to the WELT. I was also looking at the Marriott as well but was quoted 3 different prices on 3 separate calls made, all of which were higher than the hilton.

give jasmin a call if its not too late.

Jasmin Schätz I Trainee - Reservations

HILTON MUNICH PARK | HILTON MUNICH CITY | HILTON NUREMBERG
t: +49 89 3845 0 I f: +49 89 3845 2555

[Bluex]

Originally Posted by GrussGott

Assuming you're booking an appointment at least 60 days ahead?

Gruss, have done some significant research on this now.

Getting beer at the St. Sixtus Abbey, particularly the holy grail of them, the Westy 12 is beyond difficult. It's almost like the monks make you do a bit of penance first in order to be worthy of the brew

It's not as simple as getting a reservation 60 days out. You *cant* get one, no matter how hard you try. They dont do them. And if you email or call you will be ignored, lol.

Basically, they list on their site what beer will be made available for the next 2 weeks. It may not be the kind you want and you have zero control over that. They could decide to sell the blonde, or the 10 on some days and maybe the 12 (which everyone wants) on another. If you're not there that day you're SOL.

So they post the days 2 weeks in advance and what is available each day, and then they post the TIME you must call to make a reservation for 2 cases. If you are not among the first to call, you may get busy signals or they will just not pick up the phone. People wait till that time comes and still are on hold for hours, or continue trying for hours. If you miss the given time to call the "beer line" they simply will not pick up. If you email to say you missed the time to call in and make your reservation, they will ignore you.

It's like the soup nazi of breweries Place your order, stand to the right! One mulligatawny, Sir, thank you.

Then you need to give them your license plate number (or your name if you're using a rental car) because the plate must match the car picking it up. Or name. You are then not allowed to reserve another 2 cases for another 6 months (hence your 6 month reference).

You don't need to go through all of that just to go to the Cafe/brewery (but they do not do tours)....you can go to the cafe and drink all the beer you want, and they sometimes have six packs to sell, but if you manage to find any of the 12 being sold in 6's, you are either divinely blessed or you got there SUPER early and were among the first to go in.

The St. Bernardus Watou brewery, who makes trappist monk beer, but isn't an actual monestary (like St. Sixtus/Westvlehteren) and is more commercial is only 20 minutes down the road and they do allow tours (and DO respond to emails!). We will do that as well.

[Damasconian]

Originally Posted by Doctor///M

Within walking distance to the Welt, there is a Four Points hotel that should be pretty decent if you book in advance, in November I was getting a $77 EUR rate for a standard double. Other options near the Welt is the INNSIDE hotel by Melia. Very modern upscale at a decent price. Your best bet for restaurants in Munich are on LeopoldStrasse or downtown around the Marienplatz. Can't say for the 'ring and Belgium though. Tripadvisor was a great asset for doing research.

We stayed there! Parking garage was a maze though. Very convienent and allows you to see the Munich Olympic park as well.

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by mul1gan

honestly i was flip flopping between hilton park and hilton city, I think the hilton city was closer to all the shops and subway while the hilton park is closer to the WELT. I was also looking at the Marriott as well but was quoted 3 different prices on 3 separate calls made, all of which were higher than the hilton.

give jasmin a call if its not too late.

Jasmin Schätz I Trainee - Reservations

HILTON MUNICH PARK | HILTON MUNICH CITY | HILTON NUREMBERG
t: +49 89 3845 0 I f: +49 89 3845 2555

Love this hotel for ed since it's has its own train station, great secure parking, good exec club, good location, and an easy ride to the welt.

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by Bluex

Gruss, have done some significant research on this now.

Yeah, it's sad that they're so poplar now.. There's a few tricks I'm sworn to secrecy on but they're no magic and probably only increase chances a few %... If you know someone in Belgium that can help but like I said, not much : (

Good luck, take pictures!

[Bluex]

Originally Posted by GrussGott

Yeah, it's sad that they're so poplar now.. There's a few tricks I'm sworn to secrecy on but they're no magic and probably only increase chances a few %... If you know someone in Belgium that can help but like I said, not much : (

Good luck, take pictures!

Yup, I will.

I can tell you that come hell or high water I WILL be on the phone as soon as the numbers are made available for May 18th and will wait till I get through. Now with my luck they'll only have the blonde available that day......but eh, who knows. That's no slouch either. I'm happy just to sit there and drink it.

Watou will be fun as well

[akbm3]

If you are looking for a place to stay in Stavelot, Belgium (near Spa Francorchamps) check out Romantik Hotel le Val d'Amblève. A bunch of us from the Bimmerpost M3/M4 Euro Delivery Trip Group stayed here back in June the night before our track day at Spa Francorchamps. Very nice hotel. Rates are currently $170 per night on Booking.com.

[nicknaz]

Originally Posted by akbm3

If you are looking for a place to stay in Stavelot, Belgium (near Spa Francorchamps) check out Romantik Hotel le Val d'Amblève. A bunch of us from the Bimmerpost M3/M4 Euro Delivery Trip Group stayed here back in June the night before our track day at Spa Francorchamps. Very nice hotel. Rates are currently $170 per night on Booking.com.

Thanks for the heads up!

I booked Hotel De La Source for USD 120/night for Stavelot and Dorint am Nürburgring for EUR 76/night since they were both right at the track.

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by akbm3

If you are looking for a place to stay in Stavelot, Belgium (near Spa Francorchamps) check out Romantik Hotel le Val d'Amblève. A bunch of us from the Bimmerpost M3/M4 Euro Delivery Trip Group stayed here back in June the night before our track day at Spa Francorchamps. Very nice hotel. Rates are currently $170 per night on Booking.com.

I've never stayed there but my wife and I are big fans of the Romantik hotels - never have let us down!

Also, for anyone that likes spicy horseradish style mustard, definitely stop at Tierenteyn Verlent in Gent. It sounds weird, but seriously I am addicted to this stuff and you can only buy it there. Luckily a big crock will last you at least 3 years. To call it dijon is to insult it ... it's fantastic ... as good of a stop as St. Sixtus in my book.

[Nex]

Originally Posted by nicknaz

Thanks for the heads up!

I booked Hotel De La Source for USD 120/night for Stavelot and Dorint am Nürburgring for EUR 76/night since they were both right at the track.

+1, these are the hotels I stayed at when I was at the Ring and Spa.
Both have safe, gated, underground parking with lots of room to park.
The underground parking lot under the Dorint am Nurburgring can be quite the car show if you're arriving on the days when the Ring is busy.

[Bluex]

Originally Posted by GrussGott

I've never stayed there but my wife and I are big fans of the Romantik hotels - never have let us down!

Also, for anyone that likes spicy horseradish style mustard, definitely stop at Tierenteyn Verlent in Gent. It sounds weird, but seriously I am addicted to this stuff and you can only buy it there. Luckily a big crock will last you at least 3 years. To call it dijon is to insult it ... it's fantastic ... as good of a stop as St. Sixtus in my book.

Good deal.....marking that down. I knew "mustard" and "chocolate" were part of my list, but honestly hadn't done much (any) research into the best places to stop for that. Thanks for this.

~loves his spicy mustard~

[myzmak]

Originally Posted by nicknaz

For the hotels, I'm hoping to keep it under USD $150 per night and my main priorities are a safe/well lit parking area and clean bathroom.

5 Stars all the way, huh??

Hahahaha.

[nicknaz]

Originally Posted by myzmak

5 Stars all the way, huh??

Hahahaha.

For the car, absolutely!

[myzmak]

Originally Posted by nicknaz

For the car, absolutely!

Yeah, fair, those are priorities I get man!

Have a good trip!

[nicknaz]

Originally Posted by myzmak

Yeah, fair, those are priorities I get man!

Have a good trip!

Thanks! I dropped USD 540 (GBP 355) for a track day at Spa and was really happy about it, but still was waffling on whether I should stay somewhere cheaper than De La Source USD 120

I guess I'm just too used to staying in crap hotels thanks to SoCal tracks. When I am going for track days I couldn't care less about hotel quality as long as it's clean and the parking situation is legit

[mul1gan]

anyone make the trek from munich to prague or would it just be safer/easier to take the train due to winter roads and potential snow?

thanks in advance

Originally Posted by GrussGott

I've never stayed there but my wife and I are big fans of the Romantik hotels - never have let us down!

Also, for anyone that likes spicy horseradish style mustard, definitely stop at Tierenteyn Verlent in Gent. It sounds weird, but seriously I am addicted to this stuff and you can only buy it there. Luckily a big crock will last you at least 3 years. To call it dijon is to insult it ... it's fantastic ... as good of a stop as St. Sixtus in my book.

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by mul1gan

anyone make the trek from munich to prague or would it just be safer/easier to take the train due to winter roads and potential snow?

thanks in advance

When are you going? If it's this month, pretty much anything in the area (not in the mountains) is going to be temps in the low 30s. Northern cities like Hamburg will be about 5 degrees warmer (so high 30s, low 40s) due to the ocean. Next month, on average, things get a bit warmer so add 5-10 degrees on.

In short, it's best to stay flexible and keep a close eye on the local weather a week or two out if you're not going to rent snow tires ... that risk drops somewhat for Mar and definitely for April.

[mul1gan]

next week.... it would probably be safer and easier to take a 55min flight or a 5 hour train ride. Hey, at least I wont have to pay to have the car washed before dropping off.

[afadeev]

Originally Posted by mul1gan

anyone make the trek from munich to prague or would it just be safer/easier to take the train due to winter roads and potential snow?

Take the train.

Highways will be cleared of snow, but the roads are rather boring, especially in the winter. Driving and parking in Prague is beyond frustrating (worse than Paris). Especially in a relative large car like M3/4 (by Euro standards).

a

[fishskis]

Originally Posted by mul1gan

anyone make the trek from munich to prague or would it just be safer/easier to take the train due to winter roads and potential snow?

thanks in advance

The other issue with Prague is car theft. Friends (and others) in Germany strongly tried to dissuade me from driving my new BMW into Prague. Organized crime is real there. I did not listen to them, and drove there anyway (I've been there multiple times). But I stayed at a very nice hotel (The Four Seasons) with secure valet parking, and spoke to them before my visit about my concerns. If you decide to go, I would highly recommend staying in a hotel you trust with secure parking.

[mul1gan]

thanks fishskis for the warning. I think I will take mass transit and save the miles for the DC Metro beltway.....

[nicknaz]

Hi all, I just dropped my car off in Munich and wanted to bump the thread with some thoughts on hotels, restaurants, etc. This forum was a huge resource for me when I planned my trip so hopefully my notes are helpful to someone else in return.

Hotels:

• Four Points Sheraton near Welt: 5 minutes walk to Welt and Ubahn station (1hr 15min ride from MUC airport) Great location if you are just picking up the car. Room was nice but not much to do around there. May not be the best option if you are taking the sig other for a "fancy" trip. It is a solid, clean hotel but nothing fancy. No info on parking. I didn't park here.
• De La Source near Circuit de Spa: Perfect for the track (5 min away). Nice garage. Nice breakfast buffet. Highly recommend for Stavelot.
• Dorint near 'Ring: Perfect for the track (5 min away). Nice garage. Very nice breakfast buffet. Highly recommend for Nurberg.
• Element Frankfurt Airport: Parking is ok (well lit, big spaces) but secured only by a barrier arm and not a gate. Good for a stopover or for flying out of FRA. Modern room style. OK breakfast. Similar to four points in that it is clean and a solid hotel but nothing fancy and nothing nearby
• Novotel Munich Airport: Hotel is fine, but honestly, I wish I paid the extra to stay at the Hilton Airport hotel that is right next to the terminals. It is only 1 S-bahn stop but you need to walk 15 minutes through a random field (there is a walking path). Expect to take a cab from the airport or be ok with the walk.

Restaurants:

Honestly, nothing to much to report here. I ate in very random places based on convenience. I was not prepared for how little there was in Stavelot and Nurberg. They really are small towns in the middle of nowhere and the circuits are the main attraction

• Doner shop outside the Four Points: 4euro for a doner box. nice and cheap, good if you are around but not worthy of the trip
• Pizzeria Pinocchio at 'Ring: One of the few things open after 8pm. HUGE portions
• L'Acqua Rossa pizza restaurant in Stavelot: Also one of the few things open after 8pm there. Decent portion sizes. Pizza was pretty good.

Misc items:

• Circuit days was a solid track day club for Spa. It was pretty much all you can drive from 10am to 6pm and they had a relatively low number of people for the track size so there weren't issues with traffic. Highly recommend them. I think Spa is like one of the US tracks in that is it relatively easy to memorize and you can play video games like GT6 to prep for it. If you have some seat time it is pretty reasonable to do an hour of instruction on site and then expect to push reasonably hard.
• Tourist driving at 'Ring. As others have said, it is quite intimidating. I think you either plan to invest 50 laps and get instruction if you want to pick up the pace (as per the Ring Taxi driver Dale) or do what I did and do a lap conservatively to feel like you are a part of the history and then go buy a sticker! (full disclosure: I focused my GT6 time on Spa and only did ~50 laps in GT6 on the Ring to learn where the big 'watch outs' are)
• A8 autobahn going west from Munich has some nice 3 lane sections
• the smaller roads around 'Ring don't have speed limits either! but they are 2 lane roads with lots of tree exposure and no run off....