Review: Element Frankfurt Airport

Lucky, is that a San Miguel beer in the gift pack? Interesting choice considering all the other German options.

@ Ray -- Sure is! Found that interesting as well.

living rather close to LGA, i get yelled at all the time by frustrated cabbies. i usually stay silent but it bugs me because a) it's their damn job and b) they get what's called a "shorty ticket" if their fare isn't going into manhattan. this lets them skip the line when they get back to LGA for another fare. one driver one day wouldn't stop muttering about how i was "screwing him" by simply living in queens. it almost escalated to a fist fight!

I can only imagine how much the taxi driver cursed you after you left his car. LOL!!!!!!!!!

Probably more useful if you're renting a car. Do they have on-site parking (paid/free)?

@ Papa Smurf -- They do, but they charge for it.

Ben.... There's no need for you to buy bottled still water. Tap water does the trick, even in Germany 😉

I have stayed at a few different Element hotels before and they all had a glass water pitcher in the room along with a reverse osmosis water filter in the kitchen area of the room. I am assuming that is why you do not see many water bottles since they are a "green" hotel. Did you notice a water filter in your room?

If you like in-room laundry, you should stay/review the Tokyu Stay chain in Tokyo.

@ Jenelle Madera -- Hmmm, I didn't notice that.

The fact that they don't have a shuttle kills this hotel for me! I've actually been pretty happy at the Park Inn by Radisson which is located in the same general area as the element. They offer a shuttle which is free from the airport but you then have to pay to take it back to the airport. With the addition of the element I have noticed the Sheraton FRA rates also being significantly lower the last couple of times I was needing a room. (could also be the fact that there's also more competition allround with the Hilton and HGI that opened within the last year)

Good review as always Ben and much appreciated, but Germany is a developed nation with a clean water supply, so I don't understand the issue with not having bottled water in the room when there is nothing wrong with using the tap.

@ Carl -- For one, when going to the gym, not having access to water is impractical.

If you know you're going to the gym then I would assume most people would pack a bottle of water with them. It's really not that big an issue to fill a bottle of water from your room and take it down with you.
You should try tap water sometime though, you might like it

"though the issue is that the taxi driver was literally yelling at me for the entire five minute ride, about how I was wasting his time by giving him such a short ride"

Well, then he's an idiot for letting you get into his cab in the first place. Once he lets you into his cab and agrees to take you somewhere, he really has no excuse to bitch you out for wasting his time.

@ Jen -- Sorry, I don't travel with a bottle of water. My carry-on is packed enough as it is, and this is the first hotel I've ever stayed at that doesn't have bottled water. But maybe my sample size just isn't big enough. 😉

Looks a lot nicer than the HI I stayed at in Frankfurt, but was easier for exploring the city.

Augustiner beer was a great beer served to me at a downtown pub. Some even drink on the metro/trolley, which was a surprise to me.

Uber was available in Frankfurt. Nice being driven around in a VW Phaeton or BMW, versus a Prius here in the US.

@wwk5d:
In Germany, a taxi may only refuse a fare if the passenger is a threat to the safety of the service or other passengers (read: intoxicated etc.). Otherways, according to the law, he must accept any passenger, even if the transport is only for a block. (Some drivers are trying to persuade passengers to try other forms of transport, but he may face a fine if he is caught refusing a fare for invalid reasons).

I'm curious about how you do laundry now that you're 100% in hotels. Do you go out and find a laundromat/laundry shop in town, or plan to stay at hotels like the Element with laundry facilities? Or do you pay the exorbitant per piece rates charged by most hotels?

Maybe a post on this would be useful for folks who go on extended trips. I had a really hard time in Tokyo finding laundry, whereas it's super easy in SE Asia.

@ V -- I almost always use fluff & fold places. They charge you a reasonable amount per pound, and then wash and fold. Super easy!

@Lucky -- That would be my preference too, the trick is finding them! Especially in cities where you don't speak the local language, and you don't want to ask the concierge 🙂 I guess the other challenge is, being sure you'll get your laundry back before you leave, especially if you're only in a city for a couple days. I've taken to trying out the Scrubba for those situations.

My answer to the driver at the end of the trip would have been: "Sie hätten 10 EUR Trinkgeld dafür bekommen, dass die Fahrt so kurz war. Allerdings gebe ich ungerne Geld an diejenigen, die mich anscheißen. Auf Wiedersehen."

Ha ha, the comment from 02nz says, You would have earned a 10 euro tip from me for making such a short trip but due to being such an a-hole to me I changed my mind about that!

A selection of bottled water is de rigeur nowadays. True, tap water in Germany is safe to drink -- in fact, microbiological testing routinely shows it to be safer than bottled -- but there should be at least one low sodium/calcium/magnesium and one high-mineral content variety. The first is for smooth taste and for making tea, the second is for replenishing minerals espc. after strenuous exercise. Guest should also be able to choose between fizzy, non-fizzy and medium-fizzy.

I stayed in the Element earlier in 2016 and there was still no shuttle. I used the shuttle to the Radisson from where it is just another 5 min walk. I could hardly get cell phone reception in the Element - only in the lobby but not in the room - and the wifi broke down as well during my stay. So I felt perfectly isolated a few minutes away from one of the biggest airports in the world...

There is an airport shuttle now. It's free from the airport to the hotel and if I 'm not mistaken you have to buy a ticket for a ride in the other direction.