Review: Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport (FRA)

For my only hotel stay during my downgraded adventure to Oman, I spent one night at the Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport. I just had a quick 12-hour overnight, as I was arriving from Muscat in Oman Air’s A330 business class, and connecting to New York in Singapore Airlines’ 777 business class.

Why did I decide to stay at the Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport? Well, there are four hotels connected directly to the airport, with the other three being the Hilton Frankfurt Airport, Marriott Frankfurt Airport, and Sheraton Frankfurt Airport. I’ve reviewed the other three in the past couple of years, so I figured I should check out the Hilton Garden Inn.

The Hilton Garden Inn was perfectly sufficient, though a bit tired. As someone with hotel elite status, it would be my last choice among these four properties. That’s simply because the hotel doesn’t have a club lounge, which is an amenity I generally value. Furthermore, unlike the Marriott and Sheraton, this property hasn’t been renovated anytime recently.

Also keep in mind that the 334-room Hilton Garden Inn and 249-room Hilton are part of the same complex. They share the same gym, and it’s easy to visit the bars and restaurants at the Hilton, even when staying at the Hilton Garden Inn. Let’s get into the review.

Booking the Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport

For the night I was staying, the Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport was running €160 all-in, about €15 less than the adjacent Hilton. As a point of comparison, an award redemption at the Hilton Garden Inn would have cost 44,000 points. Based on my valuation of 0.5 cents per Hilton Honors point, this was a situation where paying cash was the better value, so that’s what I did.

Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport location

It’s easy to access the Hilton Garden Inn from Frankfurt Airport Terminal 1 (if you’re in Terminal 2, you’ll first want to take the train between terminals, as it’s located in the Squaire).

To get to the hotel, start at the Terminal 1 check-in hall on the departures level (one level above arrivals). There’s the A & Z check-in hall, and then there’s the B & C check-in hall, and between the two you’ll see an escalator.

Take the escalator up a level, and then take the enclosed bridge that goes toward hotels, the Squaire, etc.

Then follow the signage toward the Hilton Garden Inn, which will take you through the long corridor leading to the Squaire.

At the very end, just near the escalators and elevators leading down to the train tracks, turn right, in the direction of the Squaire East.

Then just take the escalator up a level, and you’ll see the entrance to both the Hilton (straight ahead) and Hilton Garden Inn (to the left).

Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport lobby & check-in

The Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport has a pretty basic lobby, with a couple of couches, as well as some tables and chairs. It’s not exactly a place you’re going to want to hang out.

Just off the lobby is a 24/7 market, where you can buy drinks and packaged snacks and meals. Interestingly this has a self check-out feature, so this isn’t a case where you have them ring you up at the front desk.

Also off the lobby is a business center, with two workstations, one of which has a PC.

The check-in process was extremely efficient. There was no mention of my Hilton Honors Diamond status at all, and I had to specifically ask about breakfast, premium Wi-Fi, etc. However, I was proactively told I could grab two bottles of water at the market.

Within a couple of minutes, I had a key to my room, number 8263.

Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport guest room

In addition to the lobby level, the Hilton Garden Inn takes up floors seven through eleven of the building, and the elevators are just near reception. My room was on eighth floor, and upon exiting the elevator, I had to turn right and walk down the hall, which overlooks the lobby of the Hilton.

My room was located down the hall, and on the left.

I was assigned a queen room with a sofa bed, representing a slight upgrade over the standard room. The room was as advertised — it had a queen bed, a sofa (perhaps more like a loveseat), and a desk with an office chair, plus a wall-mounted TV.

On the desk was a kettle with both instant coffee and Dilmah tea.

The room faced the outside roadway of the airport, and the soundproofing in the room was quite good.

The bathroom was back toward the entrance, and had a sink, a shower and tub combo, and a toilet.

Toiletries were in reusable, wall-mounted containers, from Crabtree & Evelyn.

I’d say the room was totally fine — nothing more, nothing less. This property first opened in 2011, and I didn’t get a sense that there had been a major renovation since then. The decor felt a bit outdated, and on top of that, there was also quite a bit of wear and tear in the room.

This was sufficient for my quick overnight, but the nearby Marriott and Sheraton properties have been renovated more recently, and I’d definitely prefer the rooms there.

Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport restaurant

The Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport’s restaurant is located just off the lobby, and is open daily for breakfast and dinner. I received complimentary breakfast here as a Hilton Honors Diamond member, and it’s served daily from 6AM until 10AM (until 10:30AM on weekends). Note that unlike some other limited service hotel brands, Hilton Garden Inn doesn’t offer complimentary breakfast as a standard perk.

Like the rest of the property, the restaurant feels a bit outdated, but does the trick. There are plenty of tables and booths, mostly seating two to four people each.

For what’s ostensibly a limited service hotel, the breakfast buffet was excellent.

Cold options at breakfast included all kinds of cereal, delicious fresh rolls, croissants, and pastries, yogurt, muesli, fruit, cold cuts, and veggies.

There were also several hot dishes, including hardboiled eggs, fried eggs, scrambled eggs, hash browns, veggies, sausage, and bacon.

One signature element of the Hilton Garden Inn experience is the waffles at breakfast, so you could make your own, and there were all kinds of sweet toppings to choose from.

Coffee, tea, and juice, were also all self serve. There was both drip coffee, as well as machines with cappuccinos, espressos, etc.

It was also possible to order custom made eggs, so that’s a nice feature.

Since I don’t remember the last time I’ve stayed at a Hilton Garden Inn, I couldn’t help but make my own waffle. It was… okay? Though that’s probably because I started counting calories after I made the waffle, once I was deciding on the toppings. I suspect if I had smeared chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and sprinkles all over it, it would’ve been mighty delicious. 😉

While I didn’t have dinner in the restaurant, you can find the Hilton Garden Inn dinner menu below.

Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport gym

The Hilton Garden Inn and Hilton share a gym, which is located on the eleventh floor, and can be accessed 24/7 by guests. I didn’t visit it this time around, but below are some pictures from the gym, as I visited it last year.

The gym had a solid selection of both cardio and weight equipment, so for an airport hotel this is probably as good as it’s going to get.

In addition to the main gym area, there’s also a locker room, as well as a sauna and steam room.

Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport laundry

On the seventh floor, the Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport has a laundry facility, where you can pay a nominal amount to do laundry. Laundry supplies are sold in the market off the lobby, so you can get detergent there.

Bottom line

The Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport is a convenient hotel with a good breakfast buffet and solid gym. Other than that, the property is pretty basic, and could use a renovation.

I wouldn’t recommend avoiding this hotel, but personally it’s my last choice of the four properties connected directly to the airport. I’d much rather choose the Marriott or Sheraton, which have recently been renovated, and have club lounges. And I’d also rather pay a mild premium for the Hilton, which offers a club lounge. But that’s just me.

What’s your take on the Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport?