Cortiina Hotel

Munich, Germany

Cortiina Hotel Ledererstrasse 8 Munich Germany

Local #: +089 2422490 Fax #: +089 242249-100 http://www.cortiina.com

Built in 2001, this hotel has quickly gained a foothold with loyal business clients, most of whom hail from Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Britain. Rising five stories above a centrally located and historic neighborhood in the heart of Munich, its cozy and warm design may remind you of a high-alpine retreat as it might have been reinvented by Frank Lloyd Wright. There's a sheathing of intricately crafted dark-stained oak and exposed flagstones in both the public areas and the bedrooms, and a careful allegiance throughout the design to the Chinese principles of feng shui, wherein objects, windows, traffic patterns, and doors are carefully balanced for a maximum of emotional and psychic harmony. When pressed, the staff will confide that even the aberrant spelling of the hotel's name, Cortiina, was adopted because of its greater sibilance and harmony than what was inherent in the more conventional spelling.

The hypermodern bathrooms are partially sheathed in slabs of stone from the Jura mountains of France, and each has a shower-tub combo. There's no restaurant on-site, but an honor bar is in the lobby, where small snacks can be brought in for munching and as an accompaniment to the drinks. Fittingly, this hotel attracts a good number of European architects, including French-born design superstar Andrée Puttman, who seem to feel at home within the artfully rustic, carefully designed venues.