The Hilton Munich Airport

AIM: Our Trip to Amsterdam, Iceland and Munich
Iberia Business Class Between Chicago and Munich
The Kimpton DeWitt, Amsterdam
AIM: Our Time in Amsterdam
The Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel and Conference Center
The Radisson Blu 1919, Reykjavik
The Center Hotel Plaza, Reykjavik
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part I
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part II
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part III
The aloft Munich
AIM: Our Time at Dachau
AIM: Our Time in Munich
The Hilton Munich Airport

While I like to be thorough with my hotel reviews, this one is not particularly in-depth.  We arrived late on Monday evening and had a very early flight back to Madrid so we did little more than sleep and clean up here.  Since our flight was so early - a 7:30 AM international flight meant we needed to check our luggage by 5:30 AM - we had decided a paid stay at a hotel in the airport would be the way to go.  That way we could squeeze every minute of sleep out of the evening.

We took the train from the Hauptbahnhof across the street from the hotel to the Munich airport.  It seemed like a long ride and it's about 45 minutes with all the stops.  Depending on the time of day you're traveling it may be faster to take a taxi as Google maps indicates it's about a 30-35 minute drive.

Upon arriving at the airport we followed the signs to the hotel.  While the signs were easy to follow, it was not a short walk.  Fortunately we have rolling luggage!

Eventually we came to this brightly-lit hall.  We went through the doors at the end and up one level to find ourselves in the main lobby of the hotel.  It was very quiet at 8 PM on a Monday night though we did have to wait for one person to complete their business at the front desk before we could check in.  The friendly associate recognized our Gold status and told us about the breakfast but, wouldn't you know it, we'd be leaving too early to enjoy that benefit.

AIM: Our Time in Munich

AIM: Our Trip to Amsterdam, Iceland and Munich
Iberia Business Class Between Chicago and Munich
The Kimpton DeWitt, Amsterdam
AIM: Our Time in Amsterdam
The Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel and Conference Center
The Radisson Blu 1919, Reykjavik
The Center Hotel Plaza, Reykjavik
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part I
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part II
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part III
The aloft Munich
AIM: Our Time at Dachau
AIM: Our Time in Munich
The Hilton Munich Airport

Our time to explore Munich was a little "chopped up".  We had Saturday afternoon/evening after arriving from Iceland, Sunday afternoon/evening after going to Dachau and all day Monday before returning to the US on Tuesday.  We were blessed with absolutely gorgeous weather the whole time, fortunately.  Though we normally like to do the hop-on/hop-off bus on our first day in a city, just to get the lay of the land, in this case we didn't have much choice but to save it for the last day but it worked out fine.  Here are a few of the sights we saw:

Karlstor

A "tor" is a city gate and this is one of the three original city gates.  Karl Theodor was the elector in the late 1700s and he had the old city walls torn down to create space for a number of new plazas but he did have these gates preserved.  This one was previously known as Neuhauser Tor when it was built in the 14th century but it renamed for Karl Theodor and was integrated into this semi-circular wing of the Rondell am Sacchus.

AIM: Our Time at Dachau

AIM: Our Trip to Amsterdam, Iceland and Munich
Iberia Business Class Between Chicago and Munich
The Kimpton DeWitt, Amsterdam
AIM: Our Time in Amsterdam
The Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel and Conference Center
The Radisson Blu 1919, Reykjavik
The Center Hotel Plaza, Reykjavik
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part I
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part II
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part III
The aloft Munich
AIM: Our Time at Dachau
AIM: Our Time in Munich
The Hilton Munich Airport

I'm not a huge history buff but I do find that visiting historical sites puts things in context for me better than reading about them.  I was a little apprehensive (? not sure that's the right word) about visiting the site of the former concentration camp at Dachau but I thought it was important to see and I am very glad I went.

Just as a refresher, Dachau was the first Nazi concentration camp to open and it was created in 1933, several years before the official start of World War II in 1939.  The grounds once housed an abandoned munitions factory in the town of Dachau which is about 16 km northwest of Munich.  It was an easy 25-minute train ride followed by a 10-minute bus ride from our hotel.

Even before the war the camp was used to house protective-custody prisoners from a prison in Munich and the Landsberg fortress.  In 1935, after laws were passed to institutionalize racial discrimination Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals and immigrants were sent to Dachau.  In 1937-38 the prisoners were used as labor to enlarge the complex to house 6000 prisoners.  Yet in the 1938-1940 timeframe over 24,000 prisoners of various nationalities, ethnicities and religious beliefs were sent to live at the camp.

The camp was liberated on April 29, 1945 by US troops.  They found over 30,000 prisoners, many already sick with typhus.  Two thousand cases had been reported by May 3rd as the troops worked to alleviate the conditions.  Six months later the camp was being used to house war criminals, members of the SS and important witnesses.  In 1948 the Bavarian government established refugee housing in this location which lasted until the mid-1960s.

The Memorial

Entrance

Visiting the site you first stop in the information center.  Touring the site is free but you can join a guided tour or rent an audio guide quite cheaply, less than 5 EUR each.  Then you walk down a lovely wooded path.  It seems such a calm, happy place until you look to your left and see the remains of a railroad spur.

The aloft Munich

AIM: Our Trip to Amsterdam, Iceland and Munich
Iberia Business Class Between Chicago and Munich
The Kimpton DeWitt, Amsterdam
AIM: Our Time in Amsterdam
The Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel and Conference Center
The Radisson Blu 1919, Reykjavik
The Center Hotel Plaza, Reykjavik
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part I
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part II
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part III
The aloft Munich
AIM: Our Time at Dachau
AIM: Our Time in Munich
The Hilton Munich Airport

Our flight arrived in Munich around 1 PM and we took the train into the city center.  The only way the aloft Hotel could be any more convenient to the train station is if the entrance was inside.  We used the station's southern exit, crossed the street and entered the hotel.  Outside the train station many of the above-ground trams have stops and the hop-on/hop-off bus companies have offices nearby as well.  So this is a great central location for sightseeing.

aloft Munich
(photo courtesy marriott.com)

Map made with Google maps

Even though we arrived a little earlier than the official check-in time, our room was ready.  The clerk noted that even though we have Gold status with Marriott, that didn't entitle us to free breakfast.  We actually went to the food court inside the train station and found a wide variety of things to eat and that worked well for us.

AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part III

AIM: Our Trip to Amsterdam, Iceland and Munich
Iberia Business Class Between Chicago and Munich
The Kimpton DeWitt, Amsterdam
AIM: Our Time in Amsterdam
The Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel and Conference Center
The Radisson Blu 1919, Reykjavik
The Center Hotel Plaza, Reykjavik
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part I
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part II
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part III
The aloft Munich
AIM: Our Time at Dachau
AIM: Our Time in Munich
The Hilton Munich Airport

One of the biggest tourist attractions in Iceland is The Blue Lagoon.  This is an artificial lagoon created from water used in a nearby geothermal plant.  Due to its high silica content, the water is a beautiful turquoise color and is quite milky as well.  It turns out that this combination of minerals is actually really good for skin and, in particular, those suffering from psoriasis see great benefit.  The Blue Lagoon now even markets their own line of skin care products.  It's fairly pricey to spend time here and now that I've done it, I don't feel a need to go back.  I don't have photos because the one photo I took from inside didn't turn out well as the windows were foggy and I have a long-standing policy of no people in swimsuits on my blog - to protect both the swimmer and the viewer.

On our last day in Iceland we did the Golden Circle tour.  This is a popular route that follows a circular path among several tourist sites.

Map made with Google Maps

AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part II

AIM: Our Trip to Amsterdam, Iceland and Munich
Iberia Business Class Between Chicago and Munich
The Kimpton DeWitt, Amsterdam
AIM: Our Time in Amsterdam
The Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel and Conference Center
The Radisson Blu 1919, Reykjavik
The Center Hotel Plaza, Reykjavik
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part I
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part II
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part III
The aloft Munich
AIM: Our Time at Dachau
AIM: Our Time in Munich
The Hilton Munich Airport

On Wednesday afternoon we visited the tiny village of Skógar which has a rather surprisingly large museum complex and is home to a very lovely waterfall called, naturally, Skógarfoss.

AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part I

AIM: Our Trip to Amsterdam, Iceland and Munich
Iberia Business Class Between Chicago and Munich
The Kimpton DeWitt, Amsterdam
AIM: Our Time in Amsterdam
The Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel and Conference Center
The Radisson Blu 1919, Reykjavik
The Center Hotel Plaza, Reykjavik
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part I
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part II
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part III
The aloft Munich
AIM: Our Time at Dachau
AIM: Our Time in Munich
The Hilton Munich Airport

A week is a long time to try to condense into a single post, so I've split our time into several posts to help prevent brain overload.

If you sign up for a tour of Iceland that's based in Reykjavik, just be aware of what that typically means.  Reykjavik is located in the southwest corner of the country and is the only city of any substantial size.  Not that there aren't hotels and guest houses around the country, but if you're going to be touring by motorcoach there's pretty much one choice.  And because the city is not centrally located it means you'll spend a lot of time on the bus.  I'm not criticizing our tour operator, just trying to set expectations.  Some of the buses may have USB ports for charging your phone or camera but many do not.  So if you have a charging pack it wouldn't hurt to bring it along.

Map made with Google Maps

The tour as a whole was billed as a Sunday-Saturday trip and we thought it was very reasonably priced.  Of course, after being gone for 3.5 weeks to China, a week-long trip certainly would seem cheap by comparison!  But when you break down the price it does seem like it's not *quite* as advertised.  First there was the hotel, which as I've already discussed was not great.  Then the first day of the trip, Sunday, is the day you fly from the US overnight to Iceland.  The flight lands mid-morning (if there are no delays) and you reach the hotel around noon.  So of the first 2 days of the trip you're only in Iceland for one half-day of it.  Of course the last day, Saturday, is the flight home.  That leaves Tuesday - Friday and they've actually scheduled a day on your own.  So now your week-long tour is really only 3.5 days of guided tour.  Granted, if you want to go even further afield from the city than we did it would likely involve an overnight somewhere but if you're planning to take a tour, just realize what it entails.

If you want to go on your own, I don't think you'd have any problems - especially if you've got a second person along to help navigate.  The Icelandic language has some non-Roman characters and some of their place names are very long so if you're trying to look at printed material to follow driving directions against posted signs it could be a challenge!  But at least in Reykjavik we had no problem with folks speaking English and even out in the country all the signs were in several languages including English.  C and I have even discussed maybe going back some day in a warmer month and renting a car to see some more of the country.

Now, on to our trip!

The Center Hotel Plaza, Reykjavik

AIM: Our Trip to Amsterdam, Iceland and Munich
Iberia Business Class Between Chicago and Munich
The Kimpton DeWitt, Amsterdam
AIM: Our Time in Amsterdam
The Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel and Conference Center
The Radisson Blu 1919, Reykjavik
The Center Hotel Plaza, Reykjavik
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part I
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part II
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part III
The aloft Munich
AIM: Our Time at Dachau
AIM: Our Time in Munich
The Hilton Munich Airport

This is post where I start to sound spoiled.  Our tour of China in 2017 featured 4- and 5-star luxury hotels.  When C and I and our other travel buddy go on our own, we leverage hotel points to stay in nice places.  So this hotel was a bit of a rude awakening though it's perfectly serviceable.  The Plaza is one of six hotels in this area owned by CenterHotels.  The CH website indicates that they have “six first class hotels in the city center of Reykjavik”.  But following that statement are mentions of their 3- and 4-star hotels.  Is a 3-star really a "first class" hotel?  Perhaps I just have a different definition.  Our tour package was very reasonably priced and I assume this hotel is part of the reason.  Hotels are fairly expensive in Iceland (the Radisson Blu would have gone for about $250/night and this one was only about $5 cheaper) but the difference in the Radisson vs. this hotel was huge.

Photo courtesy the CenterHotel website.

I will say the location was great and the staff were mostly young and enthusiastic.  Our rate did include the breakfast buffet each morning which wasn't extensive but had plenty of food to fill us up.

The Radisson Blu 1919, Reykjavik

AIM: Our Trip to Amsterdam, Iceland and Munich
Iberia Business Class Between Chicago and Munich
The Kimpton DeWitt, Amsterdam
AIM: Our Time in Amsterdam
The Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel and Conference Center
The Radisson Blu 1919, Reykjavik
The Center Hotel Plaza, Reykjavik
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part I
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part II
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part III
The aloft Munich
AIM: Our Time at Dachau
AIM: Our Time in Munich
The Hilton Munich Airport

After a delay leaving Amsterdam, we arrived in Reykjavik on a rainy Sunday afternoon.  We would soon learn that there was a chance of rain almost every day in Iceland this time of year.  After the unexpectedly warm hot temperatures of Amsterdam, we had to quickly become accustomed to the cooler temps in Iceland though at least it was not a surprise and we'd packed for it.  C and I could have stayed at the Center Hotel Plaza for the first night, where we'd be staying with the group for the rest of the week, but we decided to use some Radisson Rewards points and stay two blocks away at the Radisson Blu 1919 instead.  Due to construction it's hard to tell that the building is actually rather nice and historic-looking.  In 1919, this building was the headquarters for the first steamship company in Iceland and that's where the hotel gets its name.

The Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel and Conference Center

AIM: Our Trip to Amsterdam, Iceland and Munich
Iberia Business Class Between Chicago and Munich
The Kimpton DeWitt, Amsterdam
AIM: Our Time in Amsterdam
The Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel and Conference Center
The Radisson Blu 1919, Reykjavik
The Center Hotel Plaza, Reykjavik
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part I
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part II
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part III
The aloft Munich
AIM: Our Time at Dachau
AIM: Our Time in Munich
The Hilton Munich Airport


After an enjoyable day and evening in the city, C and I picked up our luggage from storage at the Kimpton and dragged it over the tram tracks and cobblestones to Centraal Station.  After buying our tickets for the airport we made our way to the correct platform which, of course, was on the level above.  The only obvious way to reach the platform was via a staircase so we muscled the bags up only to realize that there was an elevator we could have used.  We didn't see other people with large pieces of luggage but there were a number of folks with smaller rollaboards.  We were not really prepared for how packed the train car was going to be.  It was quite ridiculous and we ended up moving into the first class section without realizing it, just because we needed the space.  Fortunately there was no way anyone official could have gotten through the crush of folks standing in the main part of the car to get to us and make us pay the difference.

Once we reached the airport it was very simple to find the hotel.  The escalator comes straight up into the main terminal.  From there, simply go up one more level toward the parking garage and ground transportation and you'll find the Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel and Conference Center.

AIM: Our Time in Amsterdam

AIM: Our Trip to Amsterdam, Iceland and Munich
Iberia Business Class Between Chicago and Munich
The Kimpton DeWitt, Amsterdam
AIM: Our Time in Amsterdam
The Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel and Conference Center
The Radisson Blu 1919, Reykjavik
The Center Hotel Plaza, Reykjavik
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part I
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part II
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part III
The aloft Munich
AIM: Our Time at Dachau
AIM: Our Time in Munich
The Hilton Munich Airport

Amsterdam is known for its "anything goes" attitude and if you've never been there you might think things are a bit wild.  I'm sure that there are parts of the city where that's true but if you're down in the Old Town which is pretty touristy, it's  clean and safe - just watch out for the bicycles and trams!  We had two full days to check things out so this isn't a comprehensive list, it's just the things we managed to see.

St. Nicholas Church

Though we were up early on our first day, ready to see things it appears a lot of the tourist things don't open until later.  But this church was close to our hotel and since it's the Basilica for the city we thought it would likely be very pretty inside and we were right.  This is the primary Catholic church for the city and it dates to 1887.

The Kimpton DeWitt, Amsterdam

AIM: Our Trip to Amsterdam, Iceland and Munich
Iberia Business Class Between Chicago and Munich
The Kimpton DeWitt, Amsterdam
AIM: Our Time in Amsterdam
The Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel and Conference Center
The Radisson Blu 1919, Reykjavik
The Center Hotel Plaza, Reykjavik
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part I
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part II
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part III
The aloft Munich
AIM: Our Time at Dachau
AIM: Our Time in Munich
The Hilton Munich Airport

Shortly before we started looking for a hotel in Amsterdam, IHG (the parent company of Holiday Inn and Intercontinental, among others) acquired Kimpton Hotels.  That worked out very well for us as the Kimpton DeWitt is in a perfect location for touristy things.  It's practically across the street, er, canal in this case, from Centraal Station and the meeting points for the hop-on/hop-off buses and various canal tours.  Behind the hotel was a long pedestrian street with loads of restaurants and shops. Despite being so close to so many things, noise was never an issue either inside or outside the hotel.

Map made with Google Maps

Iberia Business Class Between Chicago and Munich

AIM: Our Trip to Amsterdam, Iceland and Munich
Iberia Business Class Between Chicago and Munich
The Kimpton DeWitt, Amsterdam
AIM: Our Time in Amsterdam
The Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel and Conference Center
The Radisson Blu 1919, Reykjavik
The Center Hotel Plaza, Reykjavik
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part I
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part II
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part III
The aloft Munich
AIM: Our Time at Dachau
AIM: Our Time in Munich
The Hilton Munich Airport

My friend C lives in the Chicago area so it makes sense to use that as our gateway city.  I bought an American Airlines ticket between Memphis and Chicago and flew up the evening before our overseas flight, just to make sure there was no rush.  As we were driving from her house to the airport I realized I'd left the charging cords for both my tablet and my phone at her house. Oh well, we'd stop and pick up one on the way.  Then I realized I'd left my tablet at her house too! At least I had my phone so we did stop to get a cord but it was not my favorite way to begin a vacation!

Outbound: Chicago to Madrid

Iberia Airlines is a oneworld partner of American so our business class tickets gained us access to the American Airlines lounge.  It's quite nice for a domestic lounge and the food actually looked pretty good.  With a 4:35 PM flight we ate dinner before heading to the airport and knew we'd be served dinner on-board so we just had a few munchies.  The lounge was fairly crowded so I didn't take photos but it was a good place to relax and enjoy free wi-fi.

Iberia 6274
ORD to MAD
Aircraft: Airbus A340-600
Scheduled: 16:35 – 07:35+1
Actual: 16:47 – 06:55+1
Airbus A340-600
Seat: 1G, aisle (Business Class)

We boarded the plane via door 2L so I crossed through the galley and walked down to the front row.  We had seats 1E and 1G so we both had aisle access yet could talk with each other.  Since it was an overnight flight and there was nothing to see out the window this worked well for us.  If you fly on this aircraft be aware that in the center section, the pairs of seats alternate with two closer together with storage on the outside of the seats followed by two seats where the storage area is between the seats and it's more difficult to speak with each other.  This second set of seats would be more useful if you're traveling solo and none of the single window seats is available.

A pillow and a blanket were waiting for us at our seats along with the inflight magazine and the safety cards.  I guess they're hoping people will actually review the safety cards if they have to move them out of the way?

AIM: Our Trip to Amsterdam, Iceland and Munich

AIM: Our Trip to Amsterdam, Iceland and Munich
Iberia Business Class Between Chicago and Munich
The Kimpton DeWitt, Amsterdam
AIM: Our Time in Amsterdam
The Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel and Conference Center
The Radisson Blu 1919, Reykjavik
The Center Hotel Plaza, Reykjavik
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part I
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part II
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part III
The aloft Munich
AIM: Our Time at Dachau
AIM: Our Time in Munich
The Hilton Munich Airport

This vacation was a study in contrasts.  We had guided tours, days with a friend to guide us and days on our own.  We had days of bus travel, days of train travel and days spent walking.  We had warm, sunny days and cold, rainy days. We had days spent with larger groups and days with just a couple of us.  All in all it made for a nice variety on my annual fall vacation.

The central portion of the trip was a guided tour of Iceland that other friends were taking.  When my friend C and I started looking at that trip we realized it was only a week (Sunday-Saturday) and we typically like to take a 2-week trip each fall.  Plus, we've gotten extremely spoiled by flying business class over the oceans and we like our lie-flat seats.  Since it's such a short trip from the US to Iceland, most airlines don't have lie-flat seats.

So we decided to spend time both pre- and post-trip in Europe and just buy flights to and from Reykjavik.  We each had a stash of American Airlines miles to use so we looked for cities with award availability in Europe that also had non-stop flights on Icelandair.  In the end we flew on Iberia (a oneworld partner of American) to Madrid and connected to Amsterdam.  After spending three nights there we flew Icelandair to Reykjavik on Sunday afternoon so that we would be there waiting for the group when they arrived on Monday.  We left early the following Saturday morning and flew Icelandair to Munich where we spent another three nights before flying back to Chicago via Madrid on Iberia and I continued on to Memphis on American.

Our flights ended up looking like this:

Flights in blue were on American/Iberia while flights in yellow were on Icelandair