I am a frequent traveler for business and the Hotel Drei Löwen was one the worst hotel experiences I have ever had with the worst hotel manager I have ever encountered. I booked a room at the hotel for the last weekend of the Oktoberfest. After a very exhausting trip to Munich, I arrived at the hotel to be told by reception that they couldn't find my reservation. Obviously, I was disappointed, but things like this happen from time-to-time and usually the manager can help resolve the situation. This, however, was absolutely NOT the case at the Hotel Drei Löwen... When the manager arrived at the desk, she looked though their reservations and then rudely told me that I didn't make a reservation. I was completely flabbergasted by her rudeness and for the record we were speaking German so this wasn't an issue of her English being bad. I paused for a moment and told her that I have a booking confirmation. She bluntly asked to see it. When I pulled out my laptop and showed it to her, she looked at it and then in an even ruder tone asked me why I didn't have it printed out. Again, I was blown away by her rudeness. She then told in a matter-of-fact tone that I should have booked from their hotel directly. At this point, I had to laugh. I told her that the only reason I knew her hotel existed was because it was on Priceline.com, the website I used to book the room.
Unfortunately, my experience only gets worse from here. The manager called another hotel and told me (with the other hotel on the line) that I could have a room for 167 euro. When I started to ask her which hotel it is and where it is located, she interrupted me and said she needs an answer right then. Of course, I said no seeing as I had no information about the other hotel and I had already prepaid over 200 euro a night at the Hotel Drei Löwen. When the manager hung up, she asked me why I said no to the room. I told her she gave me no information about the other hotel and that I chose her hotel because it is close to where a group of my friends are staying. In an angry tone she loudly tells me that I should just trust her. I tell her that I want to call Priceline.com and that we can resolve the problem with them. She then just walks away.
This is where my experience it gets even worse (and weirder). I ask the receptionist to use their phone to call Priceline and the girl nicely hands me the phone. As I am on hold the manager returns and asks what I am doing. I told her that I am on the line with Priceline. She walks away again. Once I was able to connect with the customer service, I explained the situation to them and they asked to speak directly to the manager. The receptionist got the manager and after less than a minute on the phone, she told the customer service rep in English "I can't really understand your English. I have to go." then handed me back the phone and walked away. The customer service representative told me that he had never experienced anything like that before and he began looking for a replacement hotel for me. After a couple of minutes, the manager returns to reception and tells me I can no longer use one of their phones lines and that I need to use my cell phone. I showed her that my cell phone was not working in Germany and told her I needed to get this issue resolved. She walked away for another 2 minutes before returning to the lobby and telling me that if I don't get off the phone she will hang up. I get a direct number for customer service and then I am forced to end the call. I then ask the manager, what I am supposed to do now? She told me to take the other hotel so at least I will have a roof over my head. I ask where it is and she says very close. With no other options, I agree. She then calls the other hotel again and I overhear her say "oh, which location is this?", which was the first red flag. She then writes down the address and tells me to find a taxi outside, the second red flag for a "nearby" hotel. Once I am in the taxi, I ask the driver if the hotel is far away. He tells me it is a 15-20 minute subway ride from my old hotel! I realized the manager completely lied to my face. I asked the taxi driver to pull over at the next hotel he sees. I walk into the reception of the hotel I wasn't even staying at, explained the situation, and the kindly let me use their phone to call customer service at Priceline and get a new hotel booked, even though I wasn't staying or going to stay at that hotel.
If you are thinking about booking a room at the Hotel Drei Löwen, think twice. When Munich isn't busy, you aren't likely to have the same issue I had, but if anything does happen, you don't want to have rude and dishonest managers who don't care about their guests. And, obviously AVOID BOOKING AT ALL COSTS DURING THE OKTOBERFEST. It simply isn't worth the risk. read more