Frankfurt Hotel for Short Layover

Hey, Jeff: last December when we missed a connection in Frankfort flying home from Espana, Iberia put us up for the night at the NH Hotel-Frankfurt Airport. A shuttle from the hotel collected us at the airport...about 15 minutes away. Was very nice. Unfortunately, Frankfort's city center is located a long way from the airport area, and it would have cost us about 50 Euros to take a taxi downtown, but that would be true of anywhere near the airport for an easy AM connection. No idea what the rate is, since Iberia gave us a voucher...but as I said, was a very nice place. The email address is [email protected]. Good luck.

I certainly would not stay near the airport when it is so easy to get into town. Are you arriving by train or plane in Frankfurt? You can buy a group ticket to get out to the airport on the S-bahn for 14 €. A taxi from the city center to the airport will run about 30 €. The sun does not set until quite late in July (it will still be light out til almost 23:00), so you will still be able to sightsee a bit, sit outside and enjoy the summer weather.

For budget hotels, I like the Hotel Monopol which is right next to the main train station, or Hotel Excelsior,or Hotel Ibis on the Friedensbruche (ask for a room with a river view), or Hotel Bornheimer Hof if you want to be in a great neighborhood location with plenty of cafes to sit at outside.

Check all of these out on www.hrs.com for prices and reviews.

I agree with Jo; it is very easy to get into town (Frankfurt or Mainz) with the S-Bahn. There is an S-Bahn (S8 or S9) headed into Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof every 10 minutes; the trip takes 12 minutes. Headed the other way (S8), the trip to Mainz takes 27 minutes, every 20 minutes.

The S-Bahn leave from the Regionalbahnhof, which is under the building across the access road from Terminal 1. You get to it by going down steps just inside the outside wall of the terminal, then through a passageway under the road.

In either direction a one way ticket costs €3,70 for an adult (15 years and up) or €2,20 for a child from 6 to 14. Under 6 are free. Or you can get a group day ticket for up to 5 people for €14. The day ticket would allow you unlimited travel in either Frankfurt or Mainz. You might, for instance, want to get a day ticket when you arrived and use it for more than the trip to the hotel, but get single trip tickets for the trip to the airport in the morning.

For a place to stay, I like Hotel Königshof, right across the Bahnhofsplatz in Mainz.

Clearly, I defer to Jo and Lee in terms of the ease of the train to the city center. And normally, I also believe staying near airports is a waste of good travel time...a chance to at least see something of a town. BUT arriving at 8:30 PM with a family of four Thursday, and then needing to be back at the airport by about 9:00 AM Friday (again, readying a family of four in the morning), depending on the age of the kids, you might only see the hotel room, anyway, so the location of your hotel becomes your judgment call, entirely.

Looks like the NH hotel is pretty pricey. (IMO, any hotel in Germany that advertises their best price as accommodations only (breakfast not included) is trying to pull something.) As an alternative, you might try the Best Western Atrium in Rüsselsheim. They are a short distance from the airport. I don't know if they have a shuttle, but they are a short walk from the S-Bahn station and from there only a few minutes to the airport.

Is there a Yotel at the Frankfurt hotel? You can rent a room by the hour.

Thanks so much for all the help! After a little research I think we will take Jo's advice and venture into Frankfurt and stay in town. This will be the end of our 5 week trip and it seemed easier to just stay near the airport. But hey; you only live once! Might as well take advantage of every opportunity.

Great, Jeff! Go for it! (: