Frankfurt and surrounding area. Where to stay night before flight to US

This hotel is right across the Bahnhofsplatz from the Mainz Hbf. From the Mainz Hbf, it's 26 minutes to the airport Regionalbahnhof by half hourly S-Bahn, a little faster by the occasional regional train. When I was there they had a great breakfast buffet.

Thanks Lee, that looks perfect! Figure we could get there by 3 and relax around town for a few hours before having a nice dinner. Need to do a bit of research but see Am Holztor is highly rated in Mainz.

Thanks to everyone on the site for all your help with my many questions!

Jed

I would stay in Frankfurt in a hotel that might have some atmosphere in a pretty residential area rather than the hotel in Mainz that Lee recommends. The surroundings there are tacky unless you like betting parlors and tiny casinos. There are no decent restaurants in this area either. I know cause I have walked through there dozens of times. Check out Google street view to see. The ride to the airport is longer than coming from Frankfurt. There are 100's of hotels in Frankfurt that offer a delicious breakfast. I like Mainz a lot, but there are truly far better places to stay and staying in Frankfurt with an early morning flight makes more sense to me. A train every 15 min. and it only takes 11 min.

See if this hotel might be nicer: http://www.hotelbeethoven.de/about.htm
or this one: http://www.hotel-goelz.de/

What is your day of travel? There may very well be a fest in Frankfurt.

Hi Jo,

Thanks for the feedback. We are needing a hotel for the night of July 24. Will look into these options as well.

Thanks!

Jed

The Hotel Königshof Mainz gets decent enough reviews overall, which coincide with my own experience of one stay there. It did the job for me at the time, but like anything won't suit everyone. I wouldn't want to be there for a week though ...

My wife and I recently stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn. It's at the airport, a short walk, a shuttle bus and you're there. It's inexpensive, too. It's a short walk to fast foods, convenience stores, etc. It also has parking.

Seconding the recommendation of Hilton Garden Inn at the airport -- you could take the train in to Frankfurt, walk around the city, have a "green sauce" dinner and sleep soundly that night knowing you are within walking distance of your gate.

Jo, your financial interest in Frankfurt tourism hardly makes you an objective critic of Mainz accommodations.

Königshof has a 4 star rating on Google (6 reviews, 1 @ 3, 3 @ 4, and 2 @ 5*).

There are a number of restaurant within a few blocks of Königshof, including Irish Rover pub, which by address looks like it is in the same building with Königshof. There is also an Italian restaurant, Calabria, 2 doors away, and a Spanish restaurant, Besitos, across the street. Bavaria (German), and a Chinese restaurant are on the same block. Google Maps shows these places. Within a half mile walking is an Indian restaurant.

Jo, all you can do is "badmouth" any place that is not in Frankfurt.

On a previous visit, I stayed in Mainz and, being on a railpass, I took the S-Bahn into Frankfurt. I looked around the area around the Frankfurt Hbf, and, after seeing the hotels there, I came back to Mainz, confident that I had picked the right place to stay.

I agree that I would not pick the Mainz Hbf area as the place to stay for a week, but neither would I pick somewhere around the Frankfurt Hbf. This is only an economical place to stay for a night before flying out of FRA. I found Königshof totally adequate for this purpose.

The point is you don't have to spend a hundred dollars (or hundreds of dollars) for a hotel near FRA.

Gosh Lee, I do not earn any money from Frankfurt tourism when someone comes here and stays overnight. Unless you think I get a commission from all the hotels that I suggest to posters. Depending on their budget, my suggestions cover a variety of 20+ different places, ranging in price from 59 € per night and up, including a variety of cheap hostels. Actually I could say the same for you as you only ever suggest this one hotel in Mainz anytime someone says they are coming to Frankfurt. Are you earning a commission from the Königshof?

I am very open about liking and enjoying Mainz and have never once bad mouthed this beautiful city nor any other city. Where did that wild idea come from? In fact I make suggestions about things to see here, something I have never seen you do. You never give a good reason for someone to stay here, just this single hotel recommendation. Have you actually seen anything in Mainz? Been to any of the museums, seen the Chagall windows in St. Stephens, the beautifully painted ceiling of St. Augustine, of the 1000 year old Dom, or been to the Isis Temple?

It is only the area of this hotel that I find rather tacky and the lack of restaurants, and not the hotel itself. Considering you have never stayed anyplace but this one single place, nor even visited Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, Höchst, Bad Homburg, Kronberg, Bad Soden, Eltville, etc. your advice is not very objective.

So, when I make a city or hotel suggestion, I read the post of the person and make a suggestion depending what they are looking for, price, location, early or late arrivals, kids, desire to sightsee, have a good German meal, as well as any festivals that might be in the area and this includes Mainz too. Your responses don't seem to take any of that into consideration.

Fortunately, Jo, not everyone agrees with you. TripAdvisor gives Königshof a 4 rating (out of 5) and rates it at 9th of 42 hotels they rate in Mainz. Of the 170 reviews by our fellow travelers, 77% are "excellent" or "very good".

And I have stayed at other hotels "near" the airport. Years ago I selected the area around the Mainz Hbf as the place where I wanted to stay for a flight out of FRA early the next day. I based it on convenience and price. I was not looking for a place to spend an extended vacation. I stayed at another place in Mainz twice. The second time, while walking to the station, I passed Königshof and thought it looked nice. When I got home I looked it up on the Internet and liked what I saw. I have stayed there once, but will stay there any time again in the future when I fly out early from FRA..

On my first time staying in Mainz, we walked about ¾ mile to the Rhein Promanade. Then walked along the river until we got to the 800 year old cathedral and toured it. There were lots of restaurants between the Hbf and the river.

Once, I almost stayed at the Best Western in Rüsselsheim, but it's a half hour walk to the S-Bahn station. They might have a shuttle to the airport, but their website doesn't say so.

@ Jed...So far, on the the night prior to flying from FRA to SFO, I've stay in Frankfurt itself, once at the HI hostel, the more recent times in a hotel/Pension close to Frankfurt Hbf. so that I can just walk 2-3 mins over. My decision is based on the time of the flight departure, it's in the afternoon, not an early morning flight. Several hotels of different luxury levels are at the station. .

"B) surrounding towns for an easy/relaxing last night with easy access back to the airport. Thanks!"

Mainz is great, an exceptionally nice town with a large pedestrians-only zone for sightseeing, shopping, strolling. My preferred location is the Mainz Ibis on Holzhofstrasse, 1 block from the Mainz Römisches Theater train station (formerly "Mainz Südbahnhof") one stop closer to FRA than the main station. This station was renamed after an ancient Roman theater was unearthed right next to it.

This location is closer to the pedestrian zone, Marktkplatz, the Rhine promenade, the old town and Augustinerstrasse, the Stadtpark, the Dom (cathedral) and most of Mainz' other more interesting sights. The MRT train station is labeled "Südbf" - an abbreviation for its former name. By contrast, the area near the main station (Mainz Hbf) is a busy and modern one that borders on forgettable.

You can see the Ibis location on THIS MAP where Holzhofstrasse intersects Neutorstrasse. From there just walk down Neutorstrasse a couple of blocks and you're in the pedestrian zone streets (in pink on the map.)

Augustinerstrasse
Augustinerstrasse near the Marktplatz
Augustinerkirche
Mainz, half-timbered old town
Mainzer Dom
Marktplatz
Stadtpark

This photo grasps the mood in the area near the main station.

We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport and it was quite nice. Spacious room, ultra modern bathroom, and truly exceptionally pleasant staff. After several weeks of travel, late arrival in Frankfurt and early flight home, we just wanted the easy way out. We were happily surprised with the price we paid and it was incredibly convenient. Aside, having just read another post: After the same several weeks, I had had all the beer and wine I could handle and in a nearby restaurant asked simply for a glass of water with dinner. The waiter looked very grave indeed as he explained, "Well, you know that we do get our water from the airport." I told him "Danke, but I will take that chance." I figured if they could fly a jet across the ocean I could trust their water. I lived to tell the tale.

"We were happily surprised with the price we paid..."

When I go to their website, it looks like the only way you can get breakfast (included at Königshof) is with a fully flexible, cancelable rate (also standard at Königshof for 85€) of $200 (182€) per night Is that what you were happily surprise with?

Sorry, I'm not trying to be overly critical, but I am forever amazed at what American's think is a reasonable price to pay.

Price at Hilton Garden Inn in January (excluding breakfast) wasn't bad at 75 euros -- and since we were only going to be sitting on a plane for 10 hours, not marching around looking at museums, a sweet roll and coffee (2 euros ?) from one of the many bakery kiosks in the concourse on the way to the gate was adequate. Lovely to be able to stroll to the gate rather than worry about whether the train/taxi would be on time.

Well, if you can find a room at 75€, take it, but I don't see anything anywhere near that price on their website or Booking.com.

Thanks all! Some good research for me to do on the options. When I looked briefly at the Hilton Garden Inn I saw the same thing for our night. Rooms were really expensive. Need to look around Mainz some more as well as around the Frankfurt Hbhf. I do like the potential of a smaller place like Mainz with a bit more relaxed atmosphere than a larger city. Will share with my wife and decide probably this weekend. Grateful for all the feedback on my posts! Been so helpful with our planning!

"I do like the potential of a smaller place like Mainz with a bit more relaxed atmosphere than a larger city." Mainz is a pretty sizable city in it's own right. I never found it significantly more "relaxed" than Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, Darmstadt or Mannheim.

We spent 2 nights in the Königshof in May 2009. It is a nice hotel with a friendly staff and a good breakfast buffet. The only downside for us was the street noise coming through the open windows. The area is seedy. The bar and railroad traffic kept us from sleeping well. Though the area is seedy, we never felt threatened.

We really enjoyed the city. The Chagall windows and the Landesmuseum were my favorite parts. The Cathedral was closed for a camera shoot.

http://mcchelsea.smugmug.com/Germany-2009/Mainz-2009/8285709_jkCdVw

I still have Frankfurt on my todo list and I am pretty sure that we enjoy it as well. Now, we tend to visit Germany during the Frankfurt book fair, making rooms extremely expensive.