Frankfort Airport Hotel

I hate spending that kind of money for a hotel that I'm not going to take advantage of. Is there anything cheaper?

Check out the Steigenburger Hotel. I believe the prices are moderate.

Here's a whole list by star rating you can check out. It shows which ones have an airport shuttle. http://frankfurt.airporthotelguide.com/airporthotels.html

The amount of time you spend getting to one of the "airport" hotels, if not the Sheraton or the 2 Hiltons, will be more than if you just came into town and stayed at one of the budget hotels near the train station. The shuttles do not run so often, and the cheaper the hotel, the less often the shuttle runs. Some of them even charge you. Instead, take the S-bahn into the city. They run every 15 min. and it only takes 11 min. to get there. All the trains leaving from track 1, at the Regional train station, located in terminal 1, go to the main train station in Frankfurt. Look at hotel prices for the Excelsior, Hotel Monopol, Holiday Inn Express Hauptbahnhof, Hamburger Hof, Bristol Hotel, Concorde, or the Ibis on the Friedensbrucke. It is light out until almost 23:00 in June, so you can still do some sightseeing that evening. There is a small fest going on in the city center that week, and a street festival on the Schweizer Str. in Sachsenhausen on the 22nd, that would also be fun.

We stayed at the Ibis Airport. Very clean, modern, free shuttle. Breakfast not included, but you can pick something up in the airport.

I've stayed here and can recommend it. Single room 68€/nt weekday, 63€/nt weekends. Great breakfast! Mainz is a little farther from the airport, but still very accessible, and less expensive.

If I were arriving a little earlier I would definately take your recommendation about staying in town - I still might. Just one question: for a person who gets easily disoriented, is it difficult to find the train, manage my luggage, and find one of the hotels near the station?
I like the idea of being able to just wander through town and maybe have a nice dinner near the hotel. Any recommendations for dinner spots (for one person)?

It is very easy to come into town. Lots of people do this who speak no German. Signs are in English and most people you run into are going to speak enough English to help get you where you want to go. Just follow my directions to the Regional train station, track 1. The ticket machines switch to English, it will still be daylight so you won't be wandering around in the dark. I would eat at one of the festivals. If you want a sit down meal with some schnitzel, or some Frankfurt Green Sauce, then give "Leib & Seele" a try. It is right around the corner from the Hauptwache and the Fest that will be going on there. This is smack dab in the middle of the city.
http://leibundseele-frankfurt.de/da-will-ich-hin/

Thanks for the advice, Jo. I'll give it a try.

One suggestion is not to deal with luggage. Check it all the way through to Seattle from your originating point. Just carry a change of clothes and toiletries to suffice for the night. This may cost you a few extra minutes at baggage claim in Seattle but saves you the hassle of dealing with luggage. I am doing almost the same thing on my return to the US from Africa in July.

I can tell you how to find a closeby hotel around an airport. Go to GoogleMaps.com and put in the airport's nameFrankfort Main Airport. Then click on the "+" and magnify the map almost to its strongest level. Scroll around the airport to see what hotels and B&B's are available. Click on the bed insignia, and you can link into the hotels' websites and reservation system.
You'd be surprised of the hotels around airports nobody really knows about. Some accommodations closeby are actually well priced, in comparison with the hotels on airport property.

If you are going to google the name of the airport, then you must at least spell it correctly -- FRANKFURT FLUGHAFEN.