ED suggestion/comments/tips 7/7/15 pick up

[literal]

why hello there,

my wife and I are taking delivery on our vert m4 on the 7th of july. We fly out the 5th and arrive in munich on the 6th, we will be staying at the hotel platzl in city center. we hope to get all of our exploring munich done on the 6th (dachau, hofbrahaus any other suggestions?). we've heard munich is the least exciting of all places people tend to travel through while doing their ED's, so we only plan on spending the two days here.

after taking delivery on the 7th we plan to drive to drive south to hohenschwangau, spending the night in town and doing a castle tour the next day.

after the castle tour, we will head further south toward lake como. we want to spend an evening or two here, google maps says this is about a 4hr30 min drive. (any hotel recommendations that will have easy parking, and in town?)

from lake como we will head toward nice, we don't really know what were going to be doing in nice, other than a touring in Monaco, and eating at some exquisite restaurants. this is where we plan to leave the car and continue our journey to Paris (has anyone left their vehicle in nice, any suggestions on what to do, where to eat etc?).

we will take the train to paris where we will be for 7 days, eventually flying out from there on the 19th, my wife and I have never been to paris so we plan on doing all the touristy stuff while we're here.

as of right now we only have airfare booked, we will be arriving the 6th, and flying out the 19th..

any advice from individuals that have traveled our proposed itinerary would be so helpful!

thanks in advance!

[Bluex]

I'm on the mobile, and in the middle of some Memorial Day chores....so I cannot give a full reply at the moment.

The first few days of my ED were identical to what you are planning. Please see my ED journal linked in the bottom of my signature...,I can help you out in any further questions you may have.

[Miamiboyca]

I too am taking delivery on the 7/7 at the Welt for an MW M3. 10:50 AM although my trip is slightly different than yours since I went south last time and am planning to go North towards Prague this time but that Monaco idea sounds fantastic!

[literal]

Bluex!! I literally got most of those ideas from your journal, the photos looked amazing

[fishskis]

For what it's worth, in spite of its generally good reviews, I do not like the Platzl at all. If you like great contemporary boutique hotels, The Cortiina (http://www.cortiina.com/home.html) is excellent, and in a great central location as well.

[Bluex]

Originally Posted by fishskis

For what it's worth, in spite of its generally good reviews, I do not like the Platzl at all. If you like great contemporary boutique hotels, The Cortiina (http://www.cortiina.com/home.html), is excellent, and in a great central location as well.

My experience at Platzl was fantastic.

The only blemish on it was the parking garage.

Breakfast and friendly service was phenomenal. We stood and talked with the front desk and bar staff about our experiences at delivery and they couldn't have been any more friendly and gracious.

They were always looking to help and the little BMW toys and welcome drink in the room were a nice touch.

BUT as helpful as the staff was in the parking garage, is a risk. If you're not bringing the car there, it's a great place to stay. If you'll have the car with you, I might look for an alternative.

I've heard good things about the Cortina as well.

[fishskis]

Originally Posted by Bluex

My experience at Platzl was fantastic.

The only blemish on it was the parking garage.

Breakfast and friendly service was phenomenal. We stood and talked with the front desk and bar staff about our experiences at delivery and they couldn't have been any more friendly and gracious.

They were always looking to help and the little BMW toys and welcome drink in the room were a nice touch.

BUT as helpful as the staff was in the parking garage, is a risk. If you're not bringing the car there, it's a great place to stay. If you'll have the car with you, I might look for an alternative.

I've heard good things about the Cortina as well.

You are one of the majority that likes the Platzl; I am in the minority, at least according to Tripadvisor. I tend to stay in very nice hotels, and I would say I am a demanding (but not unreasonable) traveler.

I was not happy with my stay at the Platzl (about 5 years ago) at all. I had a very small, utilitarian room, cold bordering on rude service, air conditioning that did not cool the room, and noise at night due to its location. I liked nothing about this hotel, and I could not wait to leave. I left after one night and moved to the Vier Jahreszeiten, which was very nice.

I have been to Munich at least 20 times, and I have stayed at most of the top 5-stars and 4-stars. My advice to people is if you want a 5-star luxury hotel, and price is not a concern, The Mandarin Oriental is great; and if you want a great 4-star boutique/design hotel, The Cortiina, or its sister property, the Louis, are superb, and offer good value as well. There are also some other good options in between, but Platzl is at the bottom of my list.

[OneRib]

Originally Posted by fishskis

You are one of the majority that likes the Platzl; I am in the minority, at least according to Tripadvisor. I tend to stay in very nice hotels, and I would say I am a demanding (but not unreasonable) traveler.

I was not happy with my stay at the Platzl (about 5 years ago) at all. I had a very small, utilitarian room, cold bordering on rude service, air conditioning that did not cool the room, and noise at night due to its location. I liked nothing about this hotel, and I could not wait to leave. I left after one night and moved to the Vier Jahreszeiten, which was very nice.

I have been to Munich at least 20 times, and I have stayed at most of the top 5-stars and 4-stars. My advice to people is if you want a 5-star luxury hotel, and price is not a concern, The Mandarin Oriental is great; and if you want a great 4-star boutique/design hotel, The Cortiina, or its sister property, the Louis, are superb, and offer good value as well. There are also some other good options in between, but Platzl is at the bottom of my list.

Staying at the Louis hotel for my ED in July. Good to know a "demanding" well traveled person recommends it. Do you remember how the parking garage is? I know it's a public one away from the hotel. Just didn't know how secure and convenient it is.

[buckeyesi]

My advice for Paris, be aware that the train and metro stations get VERY crowded and can be a pain to navigate with luggage. My wife and I stayed at a hotel right across the street from Gare de l'Est, one of the major train stations, because we wanted easy access to the city from the airport. We were not prepared for how crowded it was and was a source of stress we didn't need.

Pick up Rick Steves' guide book on Paris, and everywhere else you are traveling; lots of good info.

Definitely study the transit maps carefully. The RER suburban trains and Metro is how everyone in Paris gets around and can be confusing to try to figure out for a first timer. Lines are color coded with the Metro lines designated with numbers and the RER trains with letters, however, many lines overlap so it can get confusing.

Pick up the Paris museum pass. It will get you into the majority of the museums for free or for a discount, including the Louvre. This is well worth it to be able to skip the ticket lines to get in to the Louvre which can get really long. Not sure which train station you will be coming in at, but you can definitely pick up the pass at Gare du Nord and Gare de l'Est at their tourist information booths.

[Bluex]

Originally Posted by fishskis

You are one of the majority that likes the Platzl; I am in the minority, at least according to Tripadvisor. I tend to stay in very nice hotels, and I would say I am a demanding (but not unreasonable) traveler.

I was not happy with my stay at the Platzl (about 5 years ago) at all. I had a very small, utilitarian room, cold bordering on rude service, air conditioning that did not cool the room, and noise at night due to its location. I liked nothing about this hotel, and I could not wait to leave. I left after one night and moved to the Vier Jahreszeiten, which was very nice.

I have been to Munich at least 20 times, and I have stayed at most of the top 5-stars and 4-stars. My advice to people is if you want a 5-star luxury hotel, and price is not a concern, The Mandarin Oriental is great; and if you want a great 4-star boutique/design hotel, The Cortiina, or its sister property, the Louis, are superb, and offer good value as well. There are also some other good options in between, but Platzl is at the bottom of my list.

First of all, i'd like to say "thank you", as I will get great milage from this post....as my wife always has complained that I am the biggest pain in the ass when it comes to being demanding regarding hotels...

Most of my travel is domestic, but we do a fair amount of travel to the UK and China....I really make an attempt to not judge hotel rooms abroad in the same way I would judge them in NA.

For me, I go with service, amenities and overall comfort (note I didn't say size of room). I agree with you on multiple points regarding the 4 & 5 star hotels of Munich. I mentioned this to the wife, but one of the goals of our ED was to try some boutique-ish hotels that were reasonably priced. I, too, have heard great things about the Cortiina and Louis hotels....I couldn't find good info on parking and wanted a private lot/garage.

Regarding the Platzl, our experiences were mostly different than yours, and part of that could be due to the 5 year difference. I will concede the room is on the small side...but I tend to not hold that against them. I've stayed in similar sized rooms in the Hotel Hershey, and that is a fine hotel. It was early May for us, so the room was well cooled, and while the window was opened out into the street, I didn't have any issues with noise at all. Well, maybe the street sweepers early in the morning....but no drunken festivities You said they were cold, borderline rude.....while I experienced nothing but friendliness and a willingness to just chat with me about my experience. Again, this part could be due to changes since the last time you travelled. Maybe I was fortunate in dealing with good staff and having a good room? They were very aware of my ED, and seemed to be wanting to make it a very special experience. Sorry to hear yours was anything but.

However, the point is moot if you are planning on driving your car there as I would NOT recommend the hotel if you are. As enjoyable as everything else was, and how well they took care of us, it's not worth the parking garage experience. Which is really a shame, as everything else hit on all cylinders to be honest.

Remember, two individuals can be equally demanding in their travel expectations and yet still come away with different impressions or experiences.

[IRNM4N]

We did our trip about a month ago and stays in the Le Meridien in Munich, which was very nice and in an awesome location. We spent 3 nights in Como Italy at the Hotel Villa Floria. Both those places had excellent parking. The Villa Floria had a balcony that was bigger than the room (room wasn't that small either for Italy standards). Our last stay was in Nice at the Boscalo Excedira. Nice hotel but felt so closed in after the balcony in Como. I'm sure wherever you end up it will be an amazing experience.

[ben1233]

I just got back 3 days ago from my 2 week ED which sounds like it was almost identical to the one you're planning, minus the Paris part.

Others have spoken up about Munich hotels, so I'll jump right to your drive to the Lake Como region. What town did you plan on staying in? Some of the more popular cities are Varenna or Bellagio. I stayed in Bellagio at the Hotel Metropole. A lovely little hotel with good rates. There is public parking right outside the hotel, demoted by blue parking spaces. 18 euros per day. It's only a 3 star but it beat out the 5 star that I stayed at in Monte Carlo (more on that later). As for getting there, if you are being quoted at 4hr30min, then you are taking the fastest way there. I took a more leisurely pace through a couple mountain passes (one of them was Malojapass, I will get the name of the other one later EDIT: Fernpass). The succession of the cities went Munich->Garmisch->Landeck->Zernez->St Mortiz->Chiavenna, SO->Varenna, LC. If you can swing the time, definitely go this route. The scenery is amazing and I've never done switchbacks down the side of a mountain 6k feet in the air. Being from the Midwest USA, things are pretty flat here! My last town on the drive to Bellagio was Varenna itself. So you could either stay there (Rick Steves has a great recommendation), or you could put your car on a ferry boat and go over to Bellagio. It's only a 20 minute ferry ride that costs 20 euros. I was nervous about driving my car onto a ferry but ultimately it was very easy and stress free. Bilacus was a great restaurant in Bellagio. We also strolled through the gardens and discovered the shops right in Bellagio. It was very cloudy/overcast in Bellagio on the few days I was were (suggest 2-3 max as it is small) but even in this weather it was beautiful in its own right.

From there I went to Milan which I will skip over since it's not on your list. Tolls were around 24 euros going from Milan to Monte Carlo. They'll take a credit card.

I stayed at the hotel Hermitage in Monte Carlo. Gorgeous hotel and generally a nice staff, but they really nickel and dime you. Also the managerial 'policies' are quite absurd. Being the only 5* hotel on my trip, these people extended the least amount of generosity during my stay. I would never stay within the monte Carlo SBM again. There's a nice Novotel up the street from the Hermitage that another forum member stayed at; I suggest looking into that...

I realize there's a lot of nice restaurants there as well, but IMO when I'm overseas any meal is special and different no matter how cheap/expensive, therefore spending north of 300 euros each on a degustation isn't worth it. To each his own though! Another thing about Monte Carlo...It is VERY hard to traverse on foot. Google maps doesn't do it justice but the hills can be extremely steep. I highly suggest studying the bus routes and using them whenever possible. And you have to use them when going to Old Town (princes palace).

Nice was great and beautiful...didn't spend a whole lot of time there but I did conclude i would stay there if I'm ever in that region again. There's a 2.30 toll going from Monte Carlo to Nice.

I'm on my iPad now, and if I can think of anything more yet today I'll let you know. I also intended to do a thread with pics so maybe you'll see that in a few days as well.

Enjoy the planning process!!!

[fishskis]

Originally Posted by OneRib

Staying at the Louis hotel for my ED in July. Good to know a "demanding" well traveled person recommends it. Do you remember how the parking garage is? I know it's a public one away from the hotel. Just didn't know how secure and convenient it is.

When I stayed at The Louis, it was without a car. But I stayed at The Cortiina with a 640 on my ED last year; I emailed them about my car situation, and that it was a large BMW. They have a garage next to the hotel, and I let them park it, since it is a little tight, like many garages there. They couldn't have been nicer or more accommodating. I suggest you contact The Louis before your trip, and I'm sure they'll take care of you, or at least give you explicit instructions about parking.

[OneRib]

Originally Posted by fishskis

When I stayed at The Louis, it was without a car. But I stayed at The Cortiina with a 640 on my ED last year; I emailed them about my car situation, and that it was a large BMW. They have a garage next to the hotel, and I let them park it, since it is a little tight, like many garages there. They couldn't have been nicer or more accommodating. I suggest you contact The Louis before your trip, and I'm sure they'll take care of you, or at least give you explicit instructions about parking.

Good idea and thanks.

[literal]

great advice guys, any more hotel recommendations in nice/Monaco would be greatly appreciated.

another question, would it be worth it to have my 1200 mile service performed in nice and continue to paris with a vehicle versus taking the train? how would the traveling in paris be with a vehicle versus without..

[ben1233]

Originally Posted by literal

great advice guys, any more hotel recommendations in nice/Monaco would be greatly appreciated.

another question, would it be worth it to have my 1200 mile service performed in nice and continue to paris with a vehicle versus taking the train? how would the traveling in paris be with a vehicle versus without..

I would drop the car in Nice and speed-train it to Paris. Reasoning is 3-fold:
1) The drive from Paris to Nice? Not sure if its as epic as the drives through Switzerland, Italy, etc. Maybe if you'd do a short stop in the Burgundy region I would argue opposite. I have no personal experience w/ this one so others can tell me I'm wrong.
2) The French speed trains there are just too efficient to warrant taking the car to Paris.
3) You won't want a car in Paris. I've seen way too many people do the bump-and-go method while parallel parking. Traffic is pure chaos. You'd have the car there, yes, but then you'd just be paying to park it. The city trains (IMO) are easy to navigate. Just watch out for the lines that split and have two end-points. If you do have significant luggage, just keep to one side of the concourse and you'll be fine. I did this at a very high-traffic hour on a Friday night rush hour ALONE and all ended well.

Only reason to maybe keep the car would be if you do a day or two-day trip to Versailles. I loved it out there. Sunday morning market, walking to the Palace, feeding goats a baguette behind the Waldorf Astoria, peace and quiet...It was pure magic. That said, you can get there by train too.

[funk74]

Originally Posted by literal

how would the traveling in paris be with a vehicle versus without..

I am also doing pick up on 7/7, So maybe we will see you there. Are you doing the factory tour that day as well? So now there are at least 4 of us on here doing pick up that day. Should be exciting.

Like the others have said, if you are in the city (Paris), best not to have the car. taking the subway is easy there. Depending on where you are staying, you could possibly walk to most places, and worst case taxi it. Parking is a pain in the a$$.

Since Most people have commented on where to stay, I'll comment on food there.

In case you are interested in some restaurant recs here are mine for you:
1. Frenchie. if you can't get a reservation, they have a Bar a vins across from it which is basically walk in and has great wines and food. Great atmosphere.
2. Spring. Had a great meal there. Veggie's were so fresh and tasted unbelievable. Much better then in the states. But that may be the case with all restaurants in Paris.
3. Depending on your wallet and interest. L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon à Paris in Saint Germain was also really good and rated in the top 50 restaurants in the world.
4. If you are into Steak Frites and Steak Tartar, Le Severo was pretty good. We did a lunch there one day, but it is out of the way a bit.

We tried a few more 3 Michelin Star restaurants while we were there, but these were the best overall and reasonably priced (If thats what you can call it) that we had.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. And make the restaurant reservations early as they fill up, but hate if you cancel them.

[Miamiboyca]

I dont recommend driving in Paris. Its a free for all, think Manhattan on steroids with cursing in French so it sound better.

To those for delivery on 7/7 - maybe we should all meet for breakfast in the morning?

[funk74]

Originally Posted by Miamiboyca

I dont recommend driving in Paris. Its a free for all, think Manhattan on steroids with cursing in French so it sound better.

To those for delivery on 7/7 - maybe we should all meet for breakfast in the morning?

My check in time is 8:30am so i'll be at the Welt early. I believe I saw another with a 7:30am check in time.

[Miamiboyca]

Originally Posted by funk74

My check in time is 8:30am so i'll be at the Welt early. I believe I saw another with a 7:30am check in time.

At the hotel or the welt?

My delivery time is 10:50 but we should meet somewhere for a real breakfast. I'm not a fan of white sausage at 7am which is what the welt provides.

[funk74]

Originally Posted by Miamiboyca

At the hotel or the welt?

My delivery time is 10:50 but we should meet somewhere for a real breakfast. I'm not a fan of white sausage at 7am which is what the welt provides.

I have to be at the Welt at 8:30am for check in. I think my pick up time is 10am.

[literal]

where we meetin??