The Charles Hotel

The Charles Hotel is Rocco Forte's purpose-built Munich address, rising beside the Old Botanical Garden between the Hauptbahnhof and Königsplatz's museum quarter. Where much of luxury Munich trades on Bavarian heritage, The Charles offers something different: light-filled contemporary interiors by Olga Polizzi in the family's signature style, generous glazing towards the greenery, and rooms that count among the largest standard offerings in the city.

The mood is more relaxed Italian than starched Teutonic. Sophia's, the restaurant and bar opening onto a garden terrace, cooks a botanical-inflected Mediterranean menu, and service throughout carries the warmth the Forte family cultivates across its European houses. Families are genuinely welcomed rather than merely tolerated, with connecting rooms and thoughtful amenities.

The subterranean spa holds the trump card: a 15-metre indoor pool generally cited as the longest of any Munich hotel, flanked by saunas, steam baths and a well-equipped gym. The Pinakothek museums, Lenbachhaus and Königsplatz are a short walk, and the central station's airport links are close without the hotel feeling like a station property. For museum-goers, families and business travellers wanting space and light, it is a quietly compelling choice.