BEYOND by Geisel Reviews

Believe it or not, this new boutique hotel occupies only the 5th and 6th floor of the building that sits in front of MarienPlatz, Munich’s Old Town central market square. At first, you’d be stumped to find out where it was – you had to enter a nondescript but locked door then ride the lift to the 5th. A glass door announced the hotel and immediately, you saw the reception desk., manned by Corina, the senior receptionist That led to the kitchenette on the left side and the library in the center, then the lounging-dining area that overlooked MarienPlatz. There were only 19 rooms in the two floors. The whole ‘hotel’ is very modern in design – the central ‘library’ area with its bookshelves that stacked to the open central skylight is a prime example. All their chairs in the dining room as well as the guest rooms are similar – rotating, cushiony with armrests, and leather backing. The tables are all low in height, topped with green granite slabs. The room is wood tiled, and wood is carried into the whole headboard wall, the floor to ceiling wardrobe cabinets, the work desk, and the washbasin area which also looked like a desk, though topped with a stone slab. Interestingly, the work desk was in the middle of the room in front of the bed. There was also no separation between the bedroom-workdesk area and the T&B; only a glass pane on top of the wash basin that reached the ceiling provided a barrier of sorts. In the middle of the glasspane was the mirror – quite innovative. The toilet and the shower had their own privacy stalls made of floor to ceiling frosted glass. The handsoap, shampoo and body wash were all by Aesop, a high-end product line. My wife’s once complaint though was that the hanger bar for clothes was too high for her – she stands 5 feet flat and she needed 4-5 more inches to reach for the hangers. The large TV was on a heavy and stable floor pedestal. The bed, also framed in wood had great accent lights at the bottom, pinlights from the top, and hanging lamps that reached to just a foot above the might stands. Even the light switches were differently designed – and took some getting used to. There were two pieces of sheepskin – we weren’t sure if you used it to warm yourself further. There were floor to ceiling glass doors that opened onto a balcony with its own tables and chairs – what a nice design touch. The staff are very accommodating and work in two shifts. Our main issue was with the breakfast. Since there were only 19 rooms, we understood that Beyond could not provide buffet and instead, all guests could order from their menu. However, this took too much time and there were only three staff so there was a lot of waiting. Also, guests had to eat using the recliner chairs and small low tables, which was not too practical. Clearly there is room for improvement in this area. So for the next day, we decided to pre-order the night before and have it room serviced. And we specified the time for the breakfast to be broug