3 days in Frankfurt

The Steigenberger gets my vote, too. I intentionally end most of my trips there, just so that I can have one final, relaxing night in a good hotel, and be right near the airport for my flight the next morning. Best of all, I always enjoy a delicious dinner in their restaurant. It's called Unterschweinstiege, and is in an old lodge building just outside the main hotel. Nice setting, excellent regional food.

If you are budget-conscious, the Ibis Centrum is a good deal. The rooms are basic, but provide all you need except toiletries - so grab a couple of those little bottles from one of your other hotels. All the Ibis has is the all-in-one hand/body soap, shampoo and conditioner. It's about a 10-minute walk from the train station (or a €5 euro cab ride) and less than 5 to the tram stop or 20-25 minutes to Old Town. The "Frankfurt on Foot" walking tour on your first morning will give you an overview of the sights the city has to offer - along with an enjoyable tour. Budingen is a lovely little town that you can see as a day trip, if you can tear yourself away from Frankfurt.

Well first of all, I have never, ever said that the Frankfurt airport is a hellhole or that staying out there is one either. It just doesn't make sense to stay at a hotel near the airport when the city with all of its restaurants, museums and attractions is only 11 min. away with the train. Frankfurt has over 20 musems to match any interests your family might have. If you let us know what those interests are, we can make better suggestions. We don't know if you like medieval churches, German history, modern architecture, art, nature, Roman history, WW2, Jewish history, etc. For hotels, if you give us a budget and what kind of hotel you like, this would also be helpful. The dates of your trip would be good to know too. There are a ton of upcoming fests in Frankfurt and the entire Rhine-Main area. Near-by towns to visit include Mainz, Wiesbaden, Buedingen, Idstein, Bad Homburg, Gelnhausen, Eppstein, Kronberg, Seligenstadt, and so on.

Thank you for the helpful responses. My original post had a small typo "My family and I have a 3 day layover in Frankfurt, Germany...". I expect to spend in the vicinity of $100/night for the hotel stay. Would love to experience the city, so a location close to important places to see in the city and close to train stations would be ideal. We would love to see the country around. You folks have suggestions - Mainz etc. How does one go around? Are there trains to take, can we walk around? We are not planning to rent a car and we would like to avoid taxis given the expense. My son, 12 years old is very interested in some of the factory tours e.g. Daimler Benz, Porsche, BMW. Are there any that we can visit that is a day trip from Frankfurt? Thank you for all for being so helpful in what will be our first visit to Germany.