Stuttgart sits in a valley ringed by vine-covered hills, the kind of place where you can watch grapes being picked a short tram ride from where Porsches and Mercedes-Benzes roll off the line. It's Germany's car capital and one of its greenest big cities, with wine terraces climbing the slopes right up to the edge of the built-up centre.

You might be here for a trade fair, a weekend of car-museum hopping, or just to wander the old town and drink local wine at dusk. Stuttgart has a stay to match each of those trips, from glassy business hotels near Schlossplatz to quieter rooms tucked into the old Bohnenviertel quarter.

Where to stay in Stuttgart

Pick your base by what you're actually here to do. These are the areas that come up again and again:

• Stuttgart-Mitte: the city centre, anchored by Schlossplatz, a square framed by the New Palace's long Baroque facade on one side and a glowing glass cube of a modern art museum on the other. The Königstraße shopping strip and the Markthalle's Swabian food stalls are both within walking distance. Best if you want everything on foot.
• Bad Cannstatt: home to the Mercedes-Benz Museum's spiralling glass-and-steel double-helix building, the Wilhelma zoo and botanical garden, and Stuttgart's mineral baths. Rates run a touch lower than Mitte, and it's the natural base if a soak in a mineral pool is part of the plan.
• Near the Porsche Museum, Zuffenhausen: quieter and more industrial, but the drawcard is a museum building that's a design statement in itself, a cantilevered white structure that appears to hover on three slim columns. The obvious pick if the Porsche Museum is the whole reason for the trip.
• Bohnenviertel: Stuttgart's oldest quarter, cobbled lanes, antique shops and wine taverns tucked in behind the beans that gave the district its name. Good for a slower evening with a glass of local wine.
• West and Süd: café culture, bars and a younger crowd, a few minutes from the centre without the tourist-strip prices.

How much is Stuttgart accommodation?

A double room in Stuttgart averages somewhere around AU$150 a night, though that number swings hard around trade-fair weeks and festivals. Here's roughly what each tier gets you:

• Hostels and budget rooms: from AU$70 a night. Dorm beds and simple private rooms, mostly around Bad Cannstatt or near the Hauptbahnhof.
• Budget hotels and guesthouses: from AU$100 a night. Small, no-frills doubles close to a train line.
• Mid-range and apartment stays: from AU$160 a night. Room for a kitchenette, handy if you're staying more than a couple of nights.
• Boutique and design hotels: from AU$230 a night. Design-led rooms in Mitte or the Bohnenviertel.
• Luxury and business hotels: from AU$350 a night. Five-star rooms geared to trade-fair executives, usually with a spa or rooftop bar thrown in.

Top-rated hotels in Stuttgart

A handful of names come up again and again in traveller reviews:

• EmiLu Design Hotel: a small design hotel in Mitte that consistently pulls some of the highest guest ratings in the city, an easy walk from Schlossplatz.
• Le Méridien Stuttgart: a polished, central pick built for business travellers, close enough to Schlossplatz to walk it.
• Radisson Blu Hotel At Porsche Design Tower Stuttgart: styled by Porsche's own design studio and standing right across from the Porsche Museum entrance.
• Adina Apartment Hotel Stuttgart: apartment-style rooms with a proper kitchen, a good fit if you're staying a week or travelling with family.
• Motel One Stuttgart-Hauptbahnhof: the budget-smart design chain's local outpost, right at the main station and a short S-Bahn hop from both car museums.

Tips for finding the perfect accommodation in Stuttgart

• Check the trade-fair calendar before you book. Stuttgart's exhibition centre pulls in business travellers all year, and rates near the centre can jump sharply during a big fair.
• The Cannstatter Volksfest (late September into October) and the Christmas market on Schlossplatz (late November through December) both push up demand in Mitte and Bad Cannstatt. Lock in a room early for either one.
• If the car museums are the main event, check the actual train line before booking. Bad Cannstatt and the Porsche Museum's Zuffenhausen sit on different S-Bahn lines out of Mitte, so "close to a museum" only ever means one of the two.
• A room in the Bohnenviertel or West trades a short uphill walk for a much quieter night, away from the traffic around Hauptbahnhof.
• Keen for a walk through the vineyards? Basing yourself towards Bad Cannstatt or the eastern edge of the centre cuts the trip out to the wine trails around Rotenberg and Uhlbach down to a short tram ride instead of a longer haul across town.