For my Munich trip, I had a great stay at the Euro Youth Hotel, a hostel with dormitories and private rooms near the central train station. I decided based on a rec that I read on a blog and generally good reviews from the web; I had contemplated getting a hotel room, but I was going to be on my own for this Munich leg and I wanted to socialize a little, and hotels/bnb/apartments generally aren’t great for that. Also, hotel rooms weren’t that cheap, so I compromised by getting a single room in a hostel instead.
Getting There
It was around 6am when my flight from Abu Dhabi through Doha touched down in Munich airport. The ticket counters were closed at this early hour, so I just bought myself a day-pass from the ticket machine (English translations available, the machines are fairly easy to navigate) and took the S8 to the hautbahnhof (Central) station. The trains come every 10-15 mins, and it took about 40 minutes give or take (you can take the S1 too, but it takes slightly longer).
Was a little disoriented getting off the train because I got off at one of the platforms and not at the main entrance, so I spent a short while finding my bearings before I finally managed to locate the street and the hotel. That being said, the location of Euro Youth Hotel is quite excellent as you’re right next to the central station, so whether it’s the subway or a train service out of Munich’s main city, it’s really convenient. Also, there’s a bunch of food stands at the train station so you can get a bite any time of the day.
Here’s how you get to the hostel. The info on the website is quite comprehensive as well.
- Cross the Bayerstrasse road from the main entrance of the Hauptbahnhof on the surface or via the underpass, but it’s a staircase so if you have luggage take the road. There’s a tram stop here as well.
- Turn left on Bayerstrasse and look for the junction of Senefelderstrasse.
- You should see a cheery stretch of 3 hostels along Senefelderstrasse – Wombats, Jaeger’s and at the far end…
Wombat, Jaeger, and just after that with the little blue sign… EYH
The hostel and the room
While it’s name is the Euro Youth Hotel, this place is really more of a hostel than an actual hotel. Checking in was pretty easy, the reception staff are friendly, speak good English and are generally knowledgeable so no problems there. When I was booking, I had to book a twin room for one night because the single rooms were booked, but the staff were quite proactive in helping me tweak the bookings so I didn’t have to check out and check back in on my last night. It cost me 162 euros for 4 nights (that’s about 41 euros per night), cheaper than any hotel rate I was looking at online.
Check out Euro Youth Hotel on booking.com [affiliate link] – I may get a small % if you book through this link which will go to help keeping this site running!
Also, I had stuff delivered here from some online shops and they were safely stored by the hostel staff in the luggage rooms, so very good service indeed.
The single room was snug but comfortable and private – bed near the window a little table, TV, phone and chair and my own sink. To the right of the doorway is a cupboard where you can hang up your clothes and a safe
I had a single room with shared toilets, and was assigned Room #517 on the fifth floor. Thankfully there was a lift because I wasn’t looking forward to lugging my stuff up 5 levels! Security in the hotel is generally quite good, with a keycard needed to access the lift, stairwells as well as the room. The corridor was like a square spiral, and my room was all the way at the end.
It’s not a very large room, but it was clean and neat and spacious enough for me, and I had enough room to spread out and pack my bags. The sink was useful for washing up in the mornings, but the only pain was that the ladies shower and toilets were right next to the lift, so getting up in the middle of the night to pee was a fair walk! But the toilets and showers were impressively clean, especially for a hostel, so no real complaints there.
The cleaning staff emptied my bins everyday, but didn’t touch my bedsheets, and after the first day my hostel-provided towel mysteriously disappeared so I just used my own. There’s a heater if you get cold, a window you can open (but not climb out of) if you want to air the room, and a TV if you get bored.
There is a bar area on the first level (I had a free gluhwein to redeem, but man that was headache inducing), and it was pretty hoppin’ in the evenings, but I was usually pretty knackered by the time I got back to the hostel so I didn’t hang out there much. For the single/double/twin rooms, breakfast coupons are provided but I never made it down to breakfast each morning, because I was usually late (before 11am) or went out to look for proper German food instead. Also great, FREE WI-FI, even in the rooms, though you can pay 1 euro to use the computers in the lounge area.
Because this stretch has 2 other hostels as well, the free Sandeman New Munich Tours (I recommend you do the free city tour around Munich at 1045am or 1pm) will actually send someone every morning to pick up those interested from the EYH lobby at 10.10am. Alternatively, you can head to the meet-up point at Marienplatz at 10.45am.
Around the area
I took a walk around the area on the first day I arrived, too early to check into my room (check-out is at 11am, and check-in usually is at 2pm. you can leave your luggage in the luggage area and do the 1045am free city tour like I did to kill some time). It was pretty early, so most places were still opening up.
Along Goetherstrasse I spotted many restaurants and grocers opening up, but when I came back via the Schillerstrasse road I saw a number of ‘Table Dancing’ joints and casinos, so I guess it might be a little seedy at night. The good thing is that the hostel is pretty close to the train station, so if you don’t wander around these other streets at night, you probably won’t encounter any of these places – I generally found it quite safe, even as a solo traveller. Here’s a Google Map for your reference.
Too early for people to be up and about
Overall a very positive experience with the Euro Youth Hotel, and if you’re visiting Munich on a budget and want a decent and convenient place to stay, this is a pretty good option. I’m a little bit sorry I didn’t get to experience their famous bar as much because I was out most of the time.
Check out more about my posts on Munich in Winter and see some of my favourite things including beer halls and Christmas markets.