Review: Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport

Review: Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport

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My family is from Frankfurt, so I’m quite familiar with the area, and seem to have quite a few overnights there. Back in the day I’d just spend those overnights with family, though they all live a bit further from the airport now than in the past. So now I just stay at hotels.

My go to hotel for quick overnights is usually the Sheraton Frankfurt Airport. The location of the hotel can’t be beat (it’s literally a minute walk from the terminal), the club rooms are renovated, and the club lounge has one of the best spreads of any Sheraton I’ve stayed at.

That being said, I’m always looking to try out new hotels. In the past I gave the Hilton Frankfurt Airport a try, back when it was brand new. While it was a nice enough hotel, it wasn’t as conveniently located as the Sheraton, and the club lounge didn’t have as good of a spread either.

This time I figured I’d finally give the Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport a try. What’s interesting is that the Hilton and Hilton Garden Inn are connected to one another and share many of the same facilities. The Hilton simply has higher rates.

For whatever reason the rates for the one night I was staying were outrageous throughout all of Frankfurt.

The paid rate at the Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport was 489EUR(!!!!!!!). Since there was reward night availability for 40,000 Honors points, that was a no brainer. Not that I would have ever paid that much, but regardless it was a great use of points.

Hilton-Garden-Inn

The Hilton Garden Inn is located in The Squaire, which is on top of the Frankfurt Airport train station. The area has a bunch of shopping, office buildings, etc.

From a branding perspective it’s sort of funny, since the entrance to the Hilton Garden Inn is located immediately to the left to the entrance of the Hilton.

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Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport exterior

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Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport entrance

The lobby to the Hilton Garden Inn is fairly modest, with bright furniture and a reception desk immediately through the door on the left.

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Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport lobby

The associate that helped me was friendly. She thanked me for being a Diamond member (which I have thanks to spend on the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card) and informed me I’d receive complimentary breakfast, Wi-Fi, etc.

I was assigned a room on the 9th floor.

The elevators are located at the opposite end of lobby as the reception desk, and when you take them up you get some cool views of The Squaire office space.

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Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport view from 9th floor

Once off the elevator I turned left, and then took another left down the hallway towards my room, #9215.

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Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport hallway

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Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport room entrance

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Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport floorplan

The room was fresh and a decent size. Truth me told, it felt remarkably similar to the room I had at the Hilton right next door.

The room had a bathroom to the left and then the rest of the room further down the hallway.

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Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport room entrance

The room featured a queen size bed with four pillows.

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Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport room

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Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport room bed

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Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport room entrance

On the right side of the room was a large desk, which is also where the flat screen TV was located. I appreciated that the desk had a “real” office chair, rather than just a random chair.

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Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport room desk/TV

On the left side of the desk was a kettle with instant coffee and tea.

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Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport room kettle

Then in the far left corner of the room was a chair with a side table.

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Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport room chair/side table

The room faced a forest. With airport hotels I’m always conflicted as to the view I prefer. On one hand I love a good view of the airport (as I had at the Sheraton Skyline Hotel London Heathrow), on the other hand I also love a view that’s a bit quieter.

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Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport room view

Back near the entrance was the bathroom, with a sink, shower/tub combo, and toilet.

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Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport room bathroom

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Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport room sink

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Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport room shower/tub combo

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Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport room toilet

My one major complaint is that the Wi-Fi in my room didn’t really work. It wouldn’t work from bed or the desk. Sometimes it worked if I literally sat on the floor by the door. I just ended up sitting in the lobby working for the most part.

In retrospect I absolutely should have asked to switch rooms, but I was just so exhausted by the time I got to the room that I just wanted to sleep, and later didn’t want to change rooms anymore.

The hotel has a rather large restaurant. I woke up early, so was the first person there when it opened. Upon giving my room number I was invited to sit anywhere.

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Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport breakfast restaurant

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Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport breakfast restaurant

Not only was there a buffet, but just about everything (including coffee) was self service. There was a small menu from which you could select made to order dishes and specialty coffee, but that was it.

Hilton-Garden-Inn-Frankfurt-Airport-33
Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport breakfast menu

The buffet itself was reasonably good. Of course it wasn’t comparable to what you’d get in Southeast Asia or the Middle East, but for an airport hotel in Germany, it was quite good.

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Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport breakfast restaurant

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Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport breakfast buffet

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Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport breakfast buffet

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Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport breakfast buffet

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Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport breakfast buffet

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Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport breakfast buffet

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Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport breakfast buffet

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Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport breakfast buffet

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Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport breakfast buffet

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Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport breakfast buffet

In terms of the hotel’s other facilities, there’s a nice enough gym, which is shared with the Hilton (it’s between the two hotels).

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Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport gym

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Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport gym

In the morning it was off to the airport to catch my flight back to the US, after being gone for quite a while!

Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport bottom line

Aside from the Wi-Fi situation (which at least to some degree was my fault, since I should have asked to switch rooms) I was quite impressed. The rooms were nice, breakfast good, and all the staff I interacted with were friendly. I’d probably still choose the Sheraton Frankfurt Airport in the future for the location, club lounge, and that I value Starwood elite stays/nights more than Hilton stays.

And if I had to stay at one of the Hilton properties I’d probably spend the extra 10,000 points and book the Hilton for the club lounge and slightly larger rooms.

But for a Hilton Garden Inn I thought this was really nice.

Conversations (20)
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  1. David Guest

    I'll add to the comments on the wifi - it was pretty terrible! It's certainly not a room thing, but seems to be with the whole hotel. A real pain when trying to check-in online...

    Why the rooms weren't a metre longer (geez, it's not like they didn't have the space) is beyond me. That desk was too large, and I can't see why they didn't wall-mount the TV. With two people in the room,...

    I'll add to the comments on the wifi - it was pretty terrible! It's certainly not a room thing, but seems to be with the whole hotel. A real pain when trying to check-in online...

    Why the rooms weren't a metre longer (geez, it's not like they didn't have the space) is beyond me. That desk was too large, and I can't see why they didn't wall-mount the TV. With two people in the room, it got a little cramped.

    However, yes, it was a good location and reasonably priced - would consider staying there again.

  2. Frank Guest

    Oh, this reminds me...

    If you're staying overnight at the Hilton or the HGI at The Squaire in order to fly out of the LH FCT the next day, you *don't* need to walk it if you don't want to. My wife and I stayed there over the holidays, and she felt under the weather, so wasn't really in great shape to make that long walk outside in the cold. Leaving the Hilton or HGI,...

    Oh, this reminds me...

    If you're staying overnight at the Hilton or the HGI at The Squaire in order to fly out of the LH FCT the next day, you *don't* need to walk it if you don't want to. My wife and I stayed there over the holidays, and she felt under the weather, so wasn't really in great shape to make that long walk outside in the cold. Leaving the Hilton or HGI, there's a set of doors on the west side of the building (away from the terminal), next to the elevators that lead down from L5 to L3. The doors aren't far from the Starbucks. If you step out there, you'll find a taxi stand. We explained in English (our German isn't great) that we wanted to go to the FCT and the driver knew exactly what we meant.

    I can't remember the amount of the fare. It wasn't much, though perhaps a bit more than you might think because the driver has to do a very long loop along freeways to get to the FCT. In any case, we generously rounded up and he seemed satisfied with the fare. It was well worth it to simply be able to get in the cab, pull up to the FCT, and have them take care of everything from there.

    Recommended, unless you feel like you need the walk.

  3. Lantean Diamond

    @Lucky

    OK, thank you. that's what i though so too. The regular Hilton FRA airport has executive room on sale for 48k points (which is less than they charge for a standard room)... since i do not have Hilton status (I mean i have silver... lol) i think i'll book that just to get club lounge access and a nicer room.

  4. Lantean Diamond

    OK, thank you. pondering whether i want to spend 40k HH or 10k SPG... hmmmm...

    1. lucky OMAAT

      @ Lantean -- Ultimately Starpoints are more flexible. If you're not SPG Platinum, I'd probably go with the Hilton.

  5. Lantean Diamond

    Ben, ho much longer is the walk to the HGI compared to Sheraton? is it easy to find if one doesn't speak German? thank you.

    1. lucky OMAAT

      @ Lantean -- It's an easy walk, and takes 8-10 minutes.

  6. SSNS Guest

    Stayed at all three Frankfurt airport hotels in the last fortnight. For me number 1 was the Hilton, number 2 Hilton Garden Inn and a distant third the Sheraton. Newer rooms do it for me more than anything else.

    1. lucky OMAAT

      @ SSNS -- Were you in a non-club/non-renovated room at the Sheraton? If so, don't blame you.

  7. Dima Guest

    One of my favorite hotels in FRA is actually the Kempinski. It's 15min outside of Frankfurt, though it's really nice! It's actually one of the nicest hotels I've been at.

  8. JJ Guest

    Stayed here for 2 weeks last year on business. Loved the location, especially being right on top of a train station with easy access to downtown Frankfurt. Strangely, my favorite thing about this hotel was......the water. The water was so nice, I ended up taking a bath every day!

  9. cj New Member

    Wow never seen a hilton garden for 500.00 and stay at a lot last year 105 nights - thank god for points

  10. Dogbert Guest

    We stayed there last summer for a couple of nights, paid about 109 E on a promo. Good place, good staff, lots of amenities in the train station and easy to catch a train into town. We also had trouble finding it due to the lack of signage. You have to turn left just before you get to the Sheraton.

  11. Zow Member

    Lucky, too bad you couldn't use the desk for work/wi-fi. IMO, the Herman Miller chair is the best thing about the HGI rooms.

  12. Fredd Member

    We stayed here a few months ago. We had difficulty finding it (even ended up in the Sheraton lobby at one point!) but that was probably due to our fatigue rather than poor signage.

    Once there we enjoyed it and would happily stay again.

  13. steven k Member

    $500+ for a hilton garden inn room?
    does the room come with a butler?

  14. TravelTechSavvy Guest

    We have stayed at all 3 of these hotels since our daughter lives in the area. We like to take the train back to the airport and stay overnight before our flight home.
    The Sheraton is close to the airport but there are more restaurants open later in the train station area. And there is a nice full grocery store if you want drinks or snacks. But great choices for an airport!

  15. pavel Guest

    Big fan of HGIs, especially here in NYC. The one in Chelsea often has rates around $100 during off-peak times and is convenient to my office, so I use it as a pied-a-terre when I have to work late nights. TBH, I don't see much difference between them and regular Hiltons, aside from price.

  16. Frank Guest

    I've stayed at that particular Hilton Garden Inn more than once. For a mid-range hotel, it's quite nice, and you can't beat the location—not only are you a short indoor walk away from the terminal, but you're right above all the services of the Squaire. That said, the Wi-Fi situation in the rooms there is indeed pretty terrible. They need to work on it.

  17. M Simons Member

    Love smoked salmon, but refuse to have it at any buffet that doesn't keep it chilled.
    Too many times my stomach does not approve.

Featured Comments Most helpful comments ( as chosen by the OMAAT community ).

The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.

David Guest

I'll add to the comments on the wifi - it was pretty terrible! It's certainly not a room thing, but seems to be with the whole hotel. A real pain when trying to check-in online... Why the rooms weren't a metre longer (geez, it's not like they didn't have the space) is beyond me. That desk was too large, and I can't see why they didn't wall-mount the TV. With two people in the room, it got a little cramped. However, yes, it was a good location and reasonably priced - would consider staying there again.

0
Frank Guest

Oh, this reminds me... If you're staying overnight at the Hilton or the HGI at The Squaire in order to fly out of the LH FCT the next day, you *don't* need to walk it if you don't want to. My wife and I stayed there over the holidays, and she felt under the weather, so wasn't really in great shape to make that long walk outside in the cold. Leaving the Hilton or HGI, there's a set of doors on the west side of the building (away from the terminal), next to the elevators that lead down from L5 to L3. The doors aren't far from the Starbucks. If you step out there, you'll find a taxi stand. We explained in English (our German isn't great) that we wanted to go to the FCT and the driver knew exactly what we meant. I can't remember the amount of the fare. It wasn't much, though perhaps a bit more than you might think because the driver has to do a very long loop along freeways to get to the FCT. In any case, we generously rounded up and he seemed satisfied with the fare. It was well worth it to simply be able to get in the cab, pull up to the FCT, and have them take care of everything from there. Recommended, unless you feel like you need the walk.

0
Lantean Diamond

@Lucky OK, thank you. that's what i though so too. The regular Hilton FRA airport has executive room on sale for 48k points (which is less than they charge for a standard room)... since i do not have Hilton status (I mean i have silver... lol) i think i'll book that just to get club lounge access and a nicer room.

0
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