Review of Leiners Boutiquehotel für Familien: A Family Hotel in Garmisch-Partenkirchen

A family hotel where your stay begins before you arrive

A while before we got to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, an email from Leiners landed in our inbox.

Along with the usual check-in details, we could tick off the baby and toddler equipment we wanted waiting in the room: a baby bath, baby toys, a play mat, bed guards for the parents’ bed, a potty and more.

There was also a packing list that told us what we could safely leave at home because the hotel already had them, a handful of car game ideas for the drive and the beginning of a story that continues once you’re at the hotel.

We hadn’t even packed yet, and the kids were already excited.

We have visited Garmisch-Partenkirchen several times over the years, but this was our first time with children. It was also our first stay at Leiners Boutiquehotel für Familien, a families-only hotel on the Partenkirchen side of town.

From the moment we took the lift straight from the parking area up to the reception, it was clear what kind of place this was.

Prams and strollers are ready to borrow right by the entrance, there are bikes with helmets and boxes of games, and the staff greeted us in excellent English (which is not always a given in Germany).

At the same time, everything is kept clean and modern. This is undeniably a children’s hotel, but it’s not a chaotic one.

See prices and availability at Leiners here (adlink).

Where is Leiners and how to get there?

Leiners is located in Partenkirchen, a five-minute walk from the Olympic ski stadium and the valley station of the Eckbauerbahn lift.

We loved waking up with the mountains on our doorstep.

City buses stop at Wildenauerstraße right by the hotel, and in about 20 minutes on foot you’re either on Ludwigstraße in the historic centre of Partenkirchen or at the entrance to the Partnach Gorge.

If you arrive by car, there’s parking at the hotel, and a lift takes you and your luggage straight from the parking area to the reception.

For everything else about the area, see our full Garmisch-Partenkirchen travel guide.

The room

Layout and design

The rooms at Leiners are two-room family apartments with a separate parents’ room (plus two solo apartments for single parents), and ours was pleasantly large.

The parents’ room had a big double bed with a firm mattress and, because we had ticked the box before arrival, bed guards on each side, so a small child could sleep without rolling onto the floor. A very nice plus.

There were two comfortable plush chairs and plenty of floor space for playing.

The children’s room had a bunk bed, and two plush hedgehogs were waiting on the beds, each with one of our children’s names on it.

There were more toys in the room, and the kids started playing before we had even put the bags down.

The balcony deserves its own mention. It was huge, honestly way bigger than we needed, with room for the whole family and then some. Zoe claimed the egg chair out there the moment she saw it.

A bathroom built for small children

The bathroom had a large bathtub and all the details that make life with small children easier.

There was a potty by the toilet along with a small step stool, so little ones could reach the toilet or wash their hands at the sink.

Opposite the toilet, there was a proper baby changing station, stocked with baby products. We felt so welcome.

Facilities and activities

The three playrooms

There are three playrooms, and they’re open around the clock. The childcare centre has rooms of its own on top of these.

The first is for babies and toddlers. It has lots of Montessori-style toys and plenty of things to explore at floor level.

The second is a soft-play room for toddlers and slightly bigger kids who need to let off some steam. Everything in here is plush and padded. There’s a slide, balls, big soft blocks you can stack and jump around on, a cool swing and a surprisingly long climbing wall.

When we first entered, Adrian immediately pulled off his sandals and started going down the slide in increasingly daring ways.

The third room is for the bigger kids, with air hockey, ping pong, table football and darts.

The outdoor playground

The outdoor playground has a big trampoline, two small football goals, spring riders for the smallest children, a seesaw, two swings (one of them great for babies) and some cosy corners.

The centrepiece, though, is the playground tower with a big slide, a medium slide attached and lots of things to climb on.

There’s another medium slide on the spacious grounds too.

The pool

The pool area has two sections, and the water is pleasantly warm.

The first section is very shallow and genuinely baby- and toddler-friendly, with a small elephant slide and a clever non-slip floor, so the kids don’t skid around when they inevitably start running.

The second section is much deeper and better for actual swimming.

Water toys and buoyancy aids are everywhere, and there’s plenty of space to chill out between dips. Swim nappies are even included.

There are saunas too, one of them child-friendly, but we never made it that far.

Childcare and activities

Childcare is included in the stay, organised by age group from early morning until the evening.

We didn’t really use it, except by accident on the last evening. We were all in the childcare centre playing together when Adrian wandered into the room next door where the childcare was.

Zoe followed, and suddenly both kids were playing with one of the staff while we got a few minutes to actually talk to each other. Pretty nice! Next time we’ll likely take advantage of it a bit more.

The programme is on every day. During our first full day, it included an outing to a climbing gym (for that particular one, a parent had to come along).

The full programme is posted a day ahead, in both German and English, and runs all the way from 8:00 to 20:00.

The older kids get proper excursions with limited spots, like minigolf or a walk to a park with an ice cream at the end. Sign-up is at reception, and kids can even eat dinner with the childcare group instead of with you.

Parents are welcome to join their children in the childcare room for a few hours each day. The rest of the time it’s just the staff and the kids.

Near the reception, there’s a disco for the kids every day a little before 18:00.

Reception also posts a daily outing recommendation. One day it was a stroller-friendly walk on the Kramerplateau above Garmisch, with a note about where to get giant cream puffs afterwards.

What stayed with us, though, was the staff. Everyone was genuinely kind, and every time our kids said hi to someone, they got a playmate out of it.

Whenever we just wanted to be left to ourselves as a family, we were.

Borrow whatever you need

One of the nicest things about Leiners is that every kind of baby and child gear can simply be borrowed, free of charge.

A pram, a double pram, a child carrier backpack for hikes. It’s all there at the snap of your fingers, and the same goes for games, balls and sports equipment of every sort.

We have filled enough car boots to the brim to appreciate what that does to the packing list…

Up the Eckbauerbahn with the guest card

Staying at Leiners comes with the GaPa Card (the local guest card), and it includes a free ride on the Eckbauerbahn, the lift that leaves five minutes down the road.

You can use the free ride as either the ascent or the descent, so a round trip only costs a single ticket. Children under six ride free with their parents anyway, so the whole outing cost us very little.

The ride up was very pleasant, and the kids loved catching all the views on the way.

The highlight at the top is the huge playground with mountain views in almost every direction. Adrian just ran around in mountain playground heaven.

A five-minute walk from the top station, there’s a hut with grand views over the Wetterstein range. It looks like a fine spot for a meal or a drink.

Alex also walked on to the Aussichtspunkt Bergkamm, about 15 minutes from the top station without much up or down. It’s not a view that will bowl you over, but it’s a nice little leg-stretcher with somewhere to sit at the end.

The Eckbauerbahn climbs quietly over the forest, and the kids were glued to the windows the whole way up.

Food and drink

Leiners is all-inclusive, apart from alcohol. That means breakfast, a lunch buffet (or a packed lunch for days out), an afternoon snack with cake and a four-course evening menu with a salad buffet.

Soft drinks are available around the clock, and there’s even ice cream most of the day (which Adrian quickly picked up on…).

The packed lunch simply means loading up from the breakfast buffet before you head out. Aluminium containers and water bottles are free to borrow.

You get the same table for the whole stay, at breakfast, lunch and dinner. With small children, that’s worth more than it sounds.

High chairs can stay in place, the staff know where you sit, and you’re not finding a new spot three times a day.

On the first day, we arrived just in time for the afternoon snack, with cakes, bread and spreads. Not a bad first impression.

Breakfast

Breakfast is served as a buffet from 7:30, and as vegans, we had plenty to work with.

There were lots of organic juices, coffee and tea, and plant milks for the coffee.

We had plant-based yoghurts (coconut and almond), and there was a huge range of mueslis and cereals, plus fruit, jam, bread and a toaster.

A microwave means you can make porridge for the kids or, let’s be honest, for yourself.

From the second morning, there was also a spread of vegan cold cuts: vegan salami and ham-style slices, Simply V sliced cheese with pepper and chilli, a Simply V cream-cheese-style spread and a little jar of tomato spread (Aufstrich).

Dinner and eating vegan at Leiners

Dinner is a four-course menu with a salad buffet on the side.

As we eat vegan, we let the kitchen know on arrival, and then each morning we chose which of the evening’s dishes they should make vegan for us. The kitchen handled it without fuss.

Everyone picks their courses from a little menu sheet (in English too), with gluten- and lactose-free dishes marked.

The restaurant is full of families in the evenings (though it’s never loud!), and there are colouring books and pencils at the tables. Our kids were often busy drawing while we ate.

There’s also a mini “playground” in the restaurant with baby/small-toddler-friendly toys. Adrian happily walked over by himself to play with the other kids, often with Zoe crawling right behind him.

Oh, and did we mention the child-friendly cutlery? In several sizes, naturally.

The baby corner

Next to the restaurant, there’s an always-open baby corner with shelves of baby food, everything you need to make porridge and a microwave.

This is not only thoughtful – it’s an actual lifesaver for a hungry, picky baby.

Who should stay at Leiners?

Leiners is a small, families-only hotel with room for just 29 families, and it’s built first and foremost around babies, toddlers and younger children. That’s where it shines.

If you’re travelling with small kids, the thinking that has gone into every corner, from the pre-arrival equipment list to the potty already waiting in the bathroom, takes away most of the usual hassle of a family trip.

Older children have the games room and the mountains, but the hotel is clearly built for the little ones.

The all-inclusive setup means you barely think about meals, snacks or drinks, and the location, with the Eckbauerbahn five minutes away and hiking in every direction, makes it a great base for active families in both summer and winter.

Partenkirchen’s centre is a 20-minute walk away and Garmisch’s a short bus ride, so this is not the choice if you want cafés right outside the door.

For us, it worked exactly as a family hotel should. Travelling with a baby and a toddler rarely feels this easy.

Planning a stay? See availability and prices at Leiners here (adlink).