Hotel Monaco

The two-star Hotel Monaco, located a one-minute walk south of Central Station, offers well-priced rooms with more charm and personality than any other option in the neighborhood.

From the street, the Monaco (which means “Munich” in Italian) looks a bit dated--its sign perched on a rather non-descript apartment building on the edge of the city’s red light district. However, inside on the top three floors, the hotel’s 24 spacious rooms are decorated with a peachy countryside warmth that combines cute wooden beds and tables, lace curtains and doilies, and floral bedspreads and dried arrangements. And, as if that’s not enough, the friendly female management trio have hung hearts, roses, and framed witticisms in the rooms, bathrooms and hallways. (For example, on our bedroom wall: “If you’d like breakfast in bed, sleep in the kitchen.”)

All rooms are equipped with TV, telephone, and free Wi-Fi. All but four of the rooms have their own private bathrooms that are tiled in white, clean and functional, and almost all of these have showers (a few bathtubs are available). Bathrooms are in great shape, and were renovated in recent years.

Rooms facing Schillerstrasse will have more light and an interesting view, but these will also get a bit of street noise. Light sleepers should ask for a room on the large neighborhood courtyard.

The Monaco offers a delicious breakfast buffet (with plenty of homemade cakes and sweet treats), in a suitably sunny (and be-doilied) breakfast room.