Review: Sheraton Frankfurt Airport Club Suite

The Sheraton FRA has also been my favorite hotel at FRA (and has been among my favourite hotels worldwide) - well, until last year, when they really messed up my one-night stay. I had booked just the suite you are reviewing here, but somehow, due to an overbooking situation, they were unable to vacate it until 7 o`clock in the evening, when we finally chose to downgrade to a standard club room. The entire thing had been handled in quite an unprofessional manner (telling us to wait in the club lounge for 4 hours without any updates or alternate suggestions), and they even seemed proud to tell me that they'd only charge the standard club room instead of the suite (heck, why would they charge something I didn't receive?). The entire thing is a bit annoying, as I really like the hotel itself, but probably won't return, as they didn't even try to contact me after departure (although they seemed to have a note on my reservation to contact the FO manager on my departure, whom they couldn't reach on check out).

By the way: is it just me, or has the quality of catering in the club lounge really deteriorated gradually over the last few years? It hasn't "gone down the drain", but I feel that food quality and quantity had been a notch better two or three years ago.

Lucky you get 2 pods of free coffee in the room. Check it out next time you go. I use this hotel about 3-4 times per year and never pay for the coffee.

Hey Lucky, Your link to: "Review: Oman Air Lounge Bangkok Airport" is broken. FYI.
Really enjoying the Oman Air series of reviews!

@ Jimmy -- Fixed, thank you!!

Why have you started doing so many random airport hotel reviews when there are literally thousands of such reviews online for the same airport hotel:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g187337-d202274-Reviews-Sheraton_Frankfurt_Airport_Hotel_Conference_Center-Frankfurt_Hesse.html

Its an airport chain hotel. Does it really need reviews?

Its better to just focus on flights which don't have as many reviews online.

@J

Yes, you can find lots of reviews on TripAdvisor, some of which are more helpful than others. From my perspective, Lucky's reviews of hotels are more thorough than what you'll find on sites like TripAdvisor, allowing me to get a better idea of what to expect than simply reading one or two reviews on another site. The other thing is that for regular readers of OMAAT, we know that Lucky isn't just a random person reviewing a hotel. Often, on review sites, people will review a hotel like Sheraton or Hilton and complain that it doesn't include free breakfast (or in the past, free wifi) and give the hotel a terrible rating rather than reviewing the hotel for what it is. I think Lucky tries to factor in the type of hotel in his review. He doesn't look at an Aloft the same way he would look at a Park Hyatt. In summary, I think Lucky does a great job providing his perspective on things and giving a well rounded review of a hotel. I'll still look at TripAdvisor when searching for a hotel because in many cases it is helpful.

@Lucky

On a different note, the Sheraton tends to get worse reviews than the Hilton or other nearby airport hotels. You have always favored the Sheraton for the club lounge and the location (plus being loyal to SPG), although for some reason the Hilton and Hilton Garden Inn are rated as having a better location (despite being further from the airport and from the trains to and from Frankfurt). Having stayed at all three of these hotels, do you have an explanation as to why people might find the Hiltons to be better than the Sheraton (both in terms of location and other aspects of the hotel, such as comfort, cleanliness, and staff)?

@ Adam, I once got placed into the old rooms at the Sheraton and they were very old and bad, Hilton is all new rooms, the new rooms at Sheraton are much nicer than old rooms

@Lucky Do you think those half-glass, swinging shower doors are a little useless? I recently stayed at a Best Western in Paris with one and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't keep water off the floor.

I got stuck in an old room here in November due to the Lufthansa strikes. Absolutely revolting, probably the worst hotel and room I've stayed at in well over 10 years. Why anybody would actively choose to stay here if there were other options, if only slightly better, is beyond me. Totally depressing property.

So glad you get the VIP treatment in exchange for being a shill for the hotel...or do all guests get a dessert w/ their names spelled out on them? dykwia big time.

From the comments, I think we see how the hotel treats normal people.

I hope nobody ever decides to stay at a hotel based on reports of upgrades or elite treatment found here. The bloggers get a treatment different than elites do.

"The reason I’m writing this review is because this stay was the first time I’ve ever been upgraded to a suite at this hotel. I’m not sure if it’s because they were busy, if it’s because my Ambassador is awesome, because I’m a frequent guest, or what, but I figured I’d review it."

Um, it's because you told them:
1. You are a blogger.
2. You'd be writing a review.

How coy Lucky.

quid pro quo

@mdtravel
From OMAAT's website disclosure statement:

"I fund all of my own travel, and all airline and hotel reviews are done without notice or approval of the companies involved. No airline or hotel chain sponsors or endorses content on this blog with the exception of certain reader giveaways, which are clearly labeled as such."

Ben has been around long enough to know what he can and cannot get away with when it comes to taking freebies -- and what is/looks inappropriate. And, even if he wanted to, he's smart enough to NOT pull a DYKWIA, because word of that kinda stuff gets around.

Do some airlines/hotels/staff know or recognize him? By now, absolutely. So there are, clearly, cases where he's given special treatment or acknowledgement, even if he tries to avoid it. But I have to say he's more transparent and honest about these things than most other bloggers.

Respectfully, this is b.s. How can the review be done without notice when they freaking put his blog name on a customized dessert? Oh, I know...it's the twitter handle. So I'm sure there are plenty of other folks who have received a customized gift with their twitter handle on it.

Look, I like the blog. But if readers at all imagine they will be treated the way the bloggers get treated they're just being sheep.

This is about as unbiased as is the latest review of the awesome never seen before SPG AMEX sign up bonus...just click here to apply.

And this hotel review is meant to generate clicks, and to ensure the next hotel stay gets an even better upgrade.

For everyone information. This weekend my wife was traveling with our daughter and she checked into a Hyatt Place where I had made reservation with my Hyatt Diamond credentials. When the person doing the check in he commented to my wife all the locations I had stayed. Hotel know who is coming and they know who and how to impress people

@mdtravel

Notice = name on reservation.

He clearly stated he's stayed there regularly over the years. Sure, at this hotel they know him -- just as they'd know another frequent guest.

Don't think anyone's dumb enough to believe they're going to be treated this way because...it happened to some guy in a blog

BTW, I received a personalized dessert on an Etihad 787 in First, when I mentioned it was my first ride in a Dreamliner. I'm not a blogger.

And...surprise, blogs ARE in the business (also fully disclosed) of generating clicks.

Of course, no one is forced to click through...

@mdtravel

You're really not gonna win anyone over in the comment section by being logical. The fanboys here will construe all situations as favorably as possible for their idol.

You can't stop the circlejerk so don't even try!!! All hail Lucky!!! He truly lives up to his name!!!

Yah...interesting definition of logic, lol.
Not feeding the trolls. Thanks for playing.

Lucky -

I read this because it has been a few years since I stayed here, and I was curious how it was. I actually thought this was a great review.

BUT...

To suggest that you didn't know why you got upgraded to a club suite is, to say the least, a bit disingenuous.

You've publicly disclosed (which the FTC says you kind of have to do) that you at least previously have been a member of the SPG Amex Stars program. They provide you with access to all sorts of special events and promotions. You make what I assume is a pretty substantial amount of income from Starwood credit card referrals. All that is totally cool. It's good to be you.

That said, we read your blog entries, in part, because they're pretty intelligent and sophisticated, and assume a certain level of both from your readers.

When you suggest that you're not sure why a Sheraton would give a highly favored blogger a non-standard upgrade, though, even posting a picture of the welcome amenity that flags your twitter handle, it really comes across that you think your readers are neither intelligent nor sophisticated.

Just call it the way it is. You get special treatment from time to time because the name "Ben Schlappig" is well known to many travel companies, *especially* SPG - acknowledge it. Even the NY Times restaurant critics acknowledge that they're quite quickly known to the NY restaurant biz.

What makes your reviews less legitimate is when you somehow position yourself as a "regular" traveler. You may be a traveler, but you ain't a "regular" traveler...

Greg

And a couple of pump/pimp card links too. It's all about conversions bb! 😉

The first two pics make me nostalgic...even though it is my home airport :-).
I'm just not there as often as I really want to be.

Ignore the reasons for upgrade, and just focus on what we can actually see, the pictures of the product. Even then, certain things like the quality of food, the service, the comfort of bed & seats, etc, is all subjective to the person doing the review. The main things we can take from all TRs, not just Lucky's, is what does the room/premium cabin look like, what options are offered, what's on the menu, how the food is presented, etc.

I doubt anyone should base their travels on just Lucky's reviews, or the views of any one blogger. A person should compare this to other reviews and see what tends to be consistent in many reviews. There have been products Lucky has raved about and others have been indifferent to, and vice versa, and there have been others were opinions were more consistent across the board. Take it all with a grain of salt, I suppose.

I stayed in the suite a couple of times. The second time when I tried to use my gold member benefit to checkout at 2pm. The very creepy house cleaning staff pounded at door literally once every 15minutes, till I called the front desk to ask them to stop. Never again, I paid premium so that me and my parents could have a restful day before long-haul flying. It was unprofessional of them to do that for a frequent customer.

Why would you use Prestige when SPG Amex now has no foreign transaction fees? Are you saying that it's better to put SPG spend on Citi Prestige/Premier?

@ NB -- Yep, see this post:
https://onemileatatime.com/ultimate-guide-spg-marriott/

I value 3x points on the Citi Prestige Card slightly more than 2x points on the SPG Amex, which is why I'd use the Citi Prestige Card.

I don't know if I could call this a premium product. Sure, it's a suite but it's a suite at an airport -- yes, an airport! -- hotel. I certainly wouldn't pay for a suite. I also don't think the decor is even that nice. Then again, it seems like so many of the hotels in Europe have a utilitarian feel to them. The fact that this Sheraton doesn't have the brand standard bed is a puzzler, too.

@Lucky, since they renovated the suites and named them "club suites" I don't believe they are considered as rooms in the "tower". I've been upgraded the last 4 visits to a club suite, 3 times without prompting and once when I asked nicely if they had any available. Prior to this the upgrades were always to a (renovated) club room or if you pushed at check-in to a standard suite which was not in the tower and was far from renovated (horrible rooms!), but since the renovation in 2014/2015 they seemed to add renovated "club suites" to the Platinum upgrade pool.

Also, I can confirm what Carlos says - you get 2 free pods in the room (a "crema" and something else, maybe the second one is tea but I don't recall), the minibar has additional ones and different varieties if you want them. Perhaps you missed them or the free pods weren't replenished.

I'm so late on this thread but I'm wondering if for a 7 hour layover you would recommend this or the MYCLOUD hotel for a bit of sleep even with access to the Asiana lounge.

I still vote for Sheraton but it helps a lot of you have SPG status and can get an upgrade.

However the queues can get pretty huge sometimes so if you are short of time maybe it's better to remain airside.