For the first international hotel stay of my trip to Japan via Mongolia, I spent one night at the Hyatt Place Frankfurt Airport. I had arrived around 5PM from Paris on Air France HOP, and was continuing the following day around 2PM to Ulaanbaatar on MIAT Mongolian Airlines.
Why did I stay at the Hyatt Place Frankfurt Airport? Well, there are four hotels connected directly to the airport, and I’ve reviewed all of those recently. These include the Hilton Frankfurt Airport, Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport, Marriott Frankfurt Airport, and Sheraton Frankfurt Airport.
So I figured it was time to start checking out the next “cluster” of airport hotels, which aren’t actually connected to the airport, but are in a nearby business park. Since Hyatt is the hotel group I’m most loyal to, I figured the Hyatt Place should be the first property I check out.
On the plus side, the Hyatt Place Frankfurt Airport is way better than your average Hyatt Place in the United States, as it doesn’t feel like a limited service property. However, there’s no denying that for most people, it’s significantly more convenient to instead stay at a property connected directly to the airport.
Booking the Hyatt Place Frankfurt Airport
I redeemed World of Hyatt points for our stay at the Hyatt Place Frankfurt Airport. This is a Category 1 World of Hyatt property, meaning that a free night award costs anywhere from 3,500 to 6,500 points per night. For my stay, the cost was 5,000 points, so it was right in the middle.
This property was an amazing use of points over my stay. I value World of Hyatt points at 1.5 cents each, meaning that I value 5,000 points at ~$75. During my stay, cash rates were outrageous, as a cash stay would have cost $350+. I’m not sure what was going on in Frankfurt the last weekend of January, but I imagine there’s some huge convention in town, because every hotel was either outrageously priced, or sold out.
So I was grateful to snag an award night for just 5,000 points. Note that under normal circumstances, this hotel typically retails for closer to $100 per night.
Even if you’re not a Hyatt loyalist, earning World of Hyatt points can be pretty easy. In addition to being able to earn World of Hyatt points with the World of Hyatt Credit Card and World of Hyatt Business Credit Card, you can also transfer over points from Chase Ultimate Rewards.
Hyatt Place Frankfurt Airport location
The Hyatt Place Frankfurt Airport is located in the Gateway Gardens development, which is essentially a modern business park near Frankfurt Airport.
This is an area with dozens of eight(ish) story buildings, including lots of corporate offices and airport hotels. Given that this is located just off the Frankfurt Airport property, most of the hotels here are marketed as being airport properties — this includes the Aloft, Best Western, Hampton Inn, and Moxy.
The Hyatt Place Frankfurt Airport doesn’t have a shuttle service to or from the airport, despite what the meta description suggests when searching the hotel online. I believe the shuttle was a pretty recent cut.
So you have two options for getting to the airport. If you don’t have much luggage and don’t mind walking, the hotel is within walking distance of the airport. From Terminal 2 it’s about a 20-minute walk, while from Terminal 1 it’s about a 30-minute walk.
Since I was arriving at and departing from Terminal 2, I decided to walk in both directions, as the weather was beautifully crisp, and I could use some steps with all the sitting I had been doing. It’s not exactly the best walking situation on earth (I wouldn’t do this with a little kid or a lot of luggage, since you’re right next to a major street), but as a solo traveler with only a carry-on, it was pleasant.
Alternatively, the S-Bahn stops at Gateway Gardens, and that train station is right near the hotel. However, coming from Terminal 2, that would have been a much longer transit process — I would’ve first had to take the Skyline to Terminal 1, then I would’ve had to walk to the Squaire, and then I would’ve waited on the S-Bahn.
So there’s a big incentive to walk from Terminal 2, while from Terminal 1 the train could make sense.
Hyatt Place Frankfurt Airport lobby & check-in
The Hyatt Place Frankfurt Airport has a pretty simple lobby, which just has a reception desk and a small sitting area.
There’s also a very small market next to reception, where you can buy drinks and some food.
Check-in as such was quick — I was thanked for being a World of Hyatt Globalist member, and was told I had been upgraded to a premium room, was informed of the breakfast hours, and was given a free drink voucher (which I just used for a Coke Zero from the market fridge).
Despite the good check-in experience, my first impression of the hotel was pretty awful, though it wasn’t the hotel’s fault. There were dozens and dozens of people in the lobby, and they were clearly all part of the same group. It almost felt like something between a business meeting and a family reunion, so I’m not sure what exactly was going on.
But it was honestly pure chaos, and the lack of courtesy shown by people was in line with what I’d expect in Miami, and not Germany. For example, people would literally hold the elevator door to continue a conversation for over a minute, rather than getting out and talking. And since everyone else (except me) was part of the same group, they didn’t mind. It took me well over five minutes to get from the lobby to my room.
Hyatt Place Frankfurt Airport guest room
The Hyatt Place Frankfurt Airport has six floors, and I was assigned room 647, located on the top floor.
My room was a premium king room with sofa, which is the highest room category at the hotel. The rooms are 30 square metes (~323 square feet). I’m used to Hyatt Place properties having really simply room designs with a lot of white walls and not much character, so this room was a very pleasant surprise. It felt a lot more like a full service Hyatt hotel room.
The room had an entryway with the bathroom to the left, a closet to the right, and then the rest of the room straight ahead.
The room boasted a comfortable king size bed, a dining table (or desk, depending on how you look at it) with a chair, an area with a TV and a minibar, and a large sofa.
While standard rooms at the Hyatt Place only come with instant coffee, premium rooms get some extra amenities. My room had a Julius Meinl espresso machine, a kettle with instant coffee and tea, and even a minibar with some complimentary soft drinks.
On top of that, there was a welcome amenity with a bottle of water, plus some fruit. It’s not often you get a welcome amenity at a Hyatt Place, so that sure was nice!
The room didn’t have much in the way of views, as you’d expect, as it just looked out at some nearby office buildings.
The bathroom was back near the entrance, and featured a sink, a toilet, and a walk-in shower. While this was mostly functional, I didn’t like how the shower only had a half shield separating it from the rest of the bathroom, because it meant that the water from the shower easily splashed into the rest of the bathroom.
Toiletries were from RITUALS, and were in reusable, wall-mounted containers.
All-in-all, this was probably the nicest Hyatt Place hotel room that I’ve ever had. Like I said, it felt a lot more like a full service property than a Hyatt Place.
Hyatt Place Frankfurt Airport restaurant & bar
The Hyatt Place Frankfurt Airport has Zoom Restaurant & Bar, which takes up most of the ground floor.
Zoom Restaurant is open daily from 6AM until 10AM for breakfast, and then opens once again from 6PM until 10PM for dinner (there’s no lunch service). I only had breakfast here, but you can find the dinner menu here.
Then Zoom Bar is immediately next to the restaurant, and has both high-top seating at the bar, as well as a lounge area. Here you can have a selection of drinks, snacks, and light meals, throughout the day.
The only meal that I had on property was breakfast, which consists of a buffet. Note that unlike most Hyatt Place properties in the United States, breakfast isn’t automatically included for guests. You either need to book it as part of your rate, need to be a World of Hyatt Globalist member, or need to just pay outright.
The breakfast buffet was very good, much better than your typical Hyatt Place buffet in the United States.
Breakfast was entirely self-serve, and drink options included coffee from machines, tea, and juice, and you could even make your own hot chocolate.
Cold food options included all kinds of pastries, rolls, bread, and muffins, cold cuts, yogurt, muesli, and cereal.
There were also over half a dozen hot options, ranging from scrambled eggs, to potatoes, to mushrooms, to sausage, to bacon.
Best I could tell, there were no options for custom egg dishes.
Breakfast was much calmer than the hotel was otherwise, as I guess everyone who was part of the big group was still sleeping. The only other people at breakfast were the crew from an airline coming from a country known for politeness, so it was a pleasure to dine with them, as they basically whispered to one another.
Hyatt Place Frankfurt Airport gym
The Hyatt Place Frankfurt Airport has a gym on the first floor, which is open 24/7. The gym is a long, narrow room, with quite a bit of cardio equipment (treadmills, bikes, and ellipticals), as well as an area in the back for weights (free weights and a machine).
The hotel doesn’t have any other wellness facilities (there’s no pool, sauna, steam room, spa, etc.), not that you’d expect that at a Hyatt Place.
Bottom line
The Hyatt Place Frankfurt Airport exceeded my expectations, but I’m not sure I’d stay here again. Let me explain…
On the one hand, this hotel was perfect for my needs. I could book it for very few points at a time when most properties were sold out or way more expensive. Furthermore, since I was arriving at and departing from Terminal 2, walking to the Hyatt Place was pretty convenient.
However, I have some hesitations with returning to this property. First of all, the location isn’t ideal, especially from Terminal 1. Yes, you can take the S-Bahn to the hotel, but that’s not as convenient as staying at one of the four hotels connected directly to the Squaire. While walking from Terminal 2 was convenient for me, it would’ve been quite unpleasant if it were raining, and Frankfurt isn’t exactly known for its sunshine.
If I’m going to have to get on a train to get to a hotel, then I’d rather ride another 15 minutes and be downtown, where there’s a lot to do, rather than staying near the airport.
Next, as someone with hotel elite status, I really value club lounge access, and that’s something that the Hilton, Marriott, and Sheraton offer, while this property doesn’t.
In fairness to the Hyatt Place, it’s consistently priced much lower than the hotels at the airport. So if you’re looking for a good value property, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this, but just know that you won’t get the same convenient location as the four hotels connected to the airport, and you’re also not getting the benefit of being in town in terms of things to do.
What’s your take on the Hyatt Place Frankfurt Airport?
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