We had a roughly 12 hour layover at Frankfurt Airport (FRA), after arriving from Geneva in SWISS’ A220 business class, and before departing to New York in Singapore’s A380 Suites. We spent the night at the new(ish) Marriott Frankfurt Airport, which really impressed me… for the most part.
Background on the Marriott Frankfurt Airport
For years I used to stay at the Sheraton Frankfurt Airport, which I for some reason had a real soft spot for. The hotel featured 1,000+ rooms, so it was an absolutely massive airport hotel. In early 2020 it was announced that the hotel would be split into two.
Rather than having a single Sheraton with 1,000+ rooms, there would instead be a Marriott with 233 rooms and a Sheraton with 779 rooms. As part of this redevelopment, the hotel has also undergone a major renovation, which seems to largely be wrapping up.
Booking the Marriott Frankfurt Airport
I booked the Marriott Frankfurt Airport a couple of weeks in advance with a flexible rate, which was only around 140 Euro per night. I thought that was pretty low, since typically I find the Marriott is priced quite a bit higher than the Sheraton.
Interestingly by the day of arrival, the hotel was charging 260 Euro for a base room, which is a good reminder to always book early, especially with a flexible rate that you can cancel.
Marriott Frankfurt Airport location
The single biggest selling point of the Marriott Frankfurt Airport is the location, as it’s connected directly to Terminal 1. To access the hotel, just go to the 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.
You’ll then just want to follow the signage toward the Marriott and Sheraton, as the two hotels share an entrance.
There’s then a central area where the Marriott is in one direction, while the Sheraton is in another direction.
Marriott Frankfurt Airport lobby & check-in
I’ll just say it upfront — I couldn’t believe how nice the Marriott was, from the lobby, to the guest rooms, to the food & beverage outlets. The lobby was pretty, with tons of seating that wasn’t only nice to look at, but was actually practical. For example, I wish more hotels had cafe-style seating in the lobby, so that you can easily come down there and work on a laptop without ordering anything to eat or drink.
Our check-in experience was also great. We were helped by a really friendly guy. Not only did he thank me for being a Bonvoy Titanium member, but he proactively explained that we were entitled to a suite upgrade subject to availability, and he offered to take a look at any available upgrades. A moment later he said he had upgraded us to a suite.
Seriously, I should buy a lottery ticket, because I don’t remember the last time I stayed at a Marriott and the check-in agent proactively offered a suite upgrade that wasn’t pre-blocked.
He also explained that the hotel’s club lounge was closed for the time being, and that breakfast and an evening happy hour were instead served in other venues:
- The club lounge breakfast was served from 6:30AM until 10:30AM at Flavors Restaurant
- Soft drinks were available from 10:30AM until 5PM at Eatery Kitchen & Bar
- The club lounge evening happy hour was served from 5PM until 10PM at Flavors Restaurant, with a snack “bento box,” plus alcoholic drinks
Now, I have to apologize about something in advance — I didn’t take pictures of anything related to the club lounge. After way overindulging in Courchevel, I needed a solid 12 hour food and drink detox prior to getting on a Singapore Suites flight.
Marriott Frankfurt Airport suite
We were assigned room 6222, a suite on the sixth floor. The elevators were right across from reception, and I remembered them from the Sheraton days (though the walls have been treated).
Our room was near the elevator — we just had to turn right, and then it was the first room on the right.
The suite was massive, and really well done. Inside the entrance was the living room, which had a large “L” shaped couch, a desk with a chair, a dining table with four chairs, and then a more comfortable seat in the corner by the TV.
The room had a mini-fridge with two bottles of water and a kettle. I didn’t see any in-room coffee — I know (rather controversially) the Sheraton Frankfurt Airport used to charge for in-room coffee pods, so I’m not sure what’s going on here.
Also off the living room and right by the entrance was a half bath, with a sink and toilet.
There were double doors separating the bedroom from the living room. The bedroom had a king size bed and a chair.
At the back of the bedroom was a closet, and then past that was the main bathroom.
The bathroom had a sink, a bathtub, a walk-in shower, and a toilet.
Toiletries were from Acca Kappa, as is pretty standard for Marriott.
Sadly the Marriott doesn’t have much in the way of apron or runway views, but rather mostly faces the terminal and the Squaire.
Obviously it was awesome to get a proactive upgrade to such a large suite. Even more impressive to me, though, was the general way these rooms were renovated. Is this a St. Regis? No, of course not. But I thought the effort that was put into the finishes, and in particular the wall treatments, made a big difference. For example, this felt at least as luxurious as the rooms at the Ritz-Carlton Turks & Caicos.
Marriott Frankfurt Airport air conditioning problems
Now let me share my one real criticism of the property. When we walked into our suite, we noticed how warm it was. I know everyone likes to sleep at different temperatures, and in Germany people generally like to keep it pretty warm.
For example, I know when my relatives from Germany visit the United States, they always ask us to make it warmer at night, because anything below 74 degrees is just too cold for them.
That brings us to the Marriott Frankfurt Airport:
- For our stay in early April, the hotel hadn’t yet turned on air conditioning for the season, so the only thing you could do was control the amount of heat that the room got
- There was no way to open the windows
- They didn’t have any fans (or anything) that guests could borrow to cool off their rooms
I don’t want to exaggerate and suggest that the room was like a sauna, but both Ford and I slept on top of the sheets, because it was just too warm otherwise. I don’t remember temperature being an issue at the Sheraton in the past, so I think we just got unlucky in terms of the time of year where we stayed.
In winter this wouldn’t be an issue, and in summer the air conditioning is turned on.
Marriott & Sheraton Frankfurt Airport public areas
Anyone who stayed at the Sheraton before it was renovated (and split into two hotels) probably wouldn’t recognize the hotel at this point. Most of the public facilities of the two hotels are shared, as the lobbies are right next to one another.
The Sheraton lobby is much nicer than before.
Like, really nice…
Eatery Kitchen & Bar is the primary restaurant of the Marriott and Sheraton, and it’s such a significant improvement over the old setup.
Marriott Frankfurt Airport gym
One area of the hotel that hasn’t been renovated is the gym. This is shared between the two hotels, and it’s on the small side when you consider that there are 1,000+ rooms. Then again, perhaps airport hotels don’t get as much gym use as some other hotels.
Marriott Frankfurt Airport club lounge
I also spent a night at the Marriott Frankfurt Airport last year. However, I didn’t review the hotel at the time, since it was still fully under renovation. However, at the time I did snag some pictures of the club lounge, even though it wasn’t open.
This is the same lounge space that the Sheraton used to have, but it looks much nicer than before. Hopefully this lounge opens again at some point in the not-too-distant future.
Bottom line
The Marriott Frankfurt Airport is an impressive airport hotel. The main reason to stay here is the location — you can’t beat being connected directly to the terminal, without even having to go outside.
The way that the Sheraton Frankfurt Airport has developed, while being split into two hotels, is impressive. The rooms are nicely done, I was offered a proactive elite upgrade, and the food & beverage outlets are nice-looking as well (though I didn’t actually eat or drink anything at the hotel).
My only real criticism is the lack of air conditioning during our stay, as our room was quite warm. Hopefully that’s an isolated incident, though, as air conditioning should soon be turned on for the season.
If you’ve stayed at the Marriott Frankfurt Airport, what was your experience like?
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