Munich Family Hotels with a Swimming Pool

Munich is a city of public baths more than hotel pools: the city utility SWM runs indoor pools and summer baths across the districts, and the river Isar is lined with gravel banks where families paddle in summer. A hotel pool still earns its place on a winter weekend, after the Christmas markets or a day at the Deutsches Museum, when an hour in warm water before dinner keeps children happy. The trick is knowing which hotel pools are built for a family swim and which are small spa basins, and which hotel puts a public wave pool on your doorstep.

WunderLocke at Gmunder Straße 27 is the hotel I would book for a summer stay with children. It has a heated outdoor pool, a gym and a yoga studio, and its Loft Family Apartments come with a full kitchen, which matters with small children and early dinners. The building looks over the Isar valley in Sendling, and Locke says the nearest U-Bahn is five minutes away and Marienplatz fifteen. With 8,847 reviews averaging 8.5, it is the most reviewed hotel here. It is not central, so plan on the U-Bahn every day, and check that the pool is open on your dates, since the hotel does not publish its season.

The Westin Grand Munich on Arabellastraße in Bogenhausen has a large indoor pool open all day, family rooms and children's meals, and the U4 reaches the centre in about ten minutes. What makes it the best winter choice is its neighbour: the Cosimawellenbad, a public bath run by SWM on Cosimastraße, shares the Arabellapark U4 stop. It has a wave pool and a large children's splash area with a little boat canal, a slide, floor fountains and water jets, and it opens from 7:30am to 11pm every day. The hotel pool covers mornings; the wave pool covers the afternoon.

Time the Cosimawellenbad visit to the waves. From Monday to Thursday there are none. On Fridays they run from 3pm to 5pm, and on Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays and Bavarian school holidays from 11am to 6pm, each time on the hour for fifteen minutes. During the school holidays one of the two swimming lanes in the wave pool is kept, so the pool is busier. Paid parking is on site, but from the Westin it is a short walk, so leave the car in the hotel garage. For children too young for the waves, the splash area with its slide is the better bet.

The Munich Marriott on Berliner Straße in Schwabing-Freimann has a heated indoor pool, family rooms for four and a children's breakfast, and the Englischer Garten is about ten minutes on foot, which turns a swim into an afternoon outing to the Kleinhesseloher See. The Sofitel Munich Bayerpost on Bayerstraße, two minutes from the Hauptbahnhof, has a spa pool with water jets and a waterfall in a 19th-century post office building, plus babysitting with English-speaking sitters. It suits families arriving by train who want a short swim, not a long one: the pool is part of the spa rather than a lap pool.

GREFIS Hotel in Gräfelfing, on Lohenstraße west of the city, has a pool and wellness area, a garden and spacious rooms, and the S6 takes you to the centre in about fifteen minutes. With 2,978 reviews averaging 8.8, it is the best-rated hotel on this page, and it works for families with a car who want quiet evenings. The Novotel München City in Haidhausen is the one to choose for a rainy day without a swim: it has family rooms for four and an indoor play area, but I could not confirm a pool there, so do not book it for one.