Hilton Frankfurt
The Frankfurt Hilton is located at Hochstraße, a few 100 meters away from the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the S-Bahn and subway stop „Hauptwache“. Therefore the hotel is easy to reach from either the main station (two stops) and Frankfurt airport (five stops away). If you arrive by car, the hotels offers valet parking and a parking garage.
The hotel is a 12 storey high rise building, built in the late 90ies. The U-shaped building has an huge atrium with the rooms among this atrium. The most rooms have either city or parkview, there are only a few rooms focusing the atrium.
One is entering the hotel through a revolving door. The check-in desks are on the right side. There are five desks to check in guests. In the off-peak time, the check in area is usually staffed with two employees. Right next to the check in desk are three glass elevators to reach the floors with the guest rooms. The suites are mostly located on the 12th floor.
Opposite the check in desks are some lounge chairs and tables as well as a small fountain. The bar, open to the lobby, is located opposite the check in desk, while the main restaurant is facing the adjacent park, a few steps down from the lobby level. The restaurant is service breakfast, lunch and dinner and on Sundays the restaurant is offering a brunch buffet.
It is a modern, airy building with a lot of natural light giving the restaurant as well as the lobby a very nice appearance, though some elements are typically for the 80ies.
The meeting and conference rooms are on the second to fourth floor of an annex building. 16 Meeting rooms and a ball room are available. The business center is also located in the part of the hotel, which could be reached by a walkway from the lower guest floors or via a staircase from the lobby.
The gym is located on the ground floor of this annex building. The gym, pool and wellness area are outsourced. The gym offers a big number of modern machines from steppers over treadmills to body building machines. There is also a 25 m lap pool (half Olympic size), two saunas and a steam room. The pool was a former public pool, which was included in the hotel while the hotel was built and of the demands by the public authority given the permit to built the hotel at this place. It is a lap pool, meaning, that the most people swimming here doing this as sport, however some sun chairs are placed at the pool.
The use of the pool is free for hotel guests, while one has to pay 12 EUR for the use of the gym, if one has not at least silver level with Hilton HHonors. The use of the gym includes the use of sauna and steam room as well.
Stays April 20, 2009 - July 10, 2009 -
direct link to hotel: Hilton Frankfurt City Centre
Arrival Date: 20 April 2009
Departure Date: 21 April 2009
Room type booked: King Hilton Guest Room (got upgrade to Deluxe Room)
Rate Plan: Advanced Purchase Rate
Room Number: 801
Room Rate: 149.00 EUR
Status of Guest Program: Gold
I reached the hotel around 17:20 and was friendly greeted by the agent working at the check in desk. There was nobody in front of me, so check in was smooth and fast. I was told, that I unfortunately could not be upgraded to the Executive Level, as the Executive Level was nearly fully booked, but was given a Deluxe Room. I was offered two vouchers for a drink from the bar and given vouchers for breakfast. I asked for a second voucher for breakfast, since spouses stay free if you have at least silver level with Hilton HHonors and it took a couple of seconds, before the agent noticed that I had a second guest, but only booked one person. Not a big issue.
The room is shaped like many hotel rooms around the world. You enter the room through the usual entrance area with hallway, where the closet is located and also the entrance to the bathroom. The closet hosts iron, ironing board and safe. There is sufficient room to store the belongings during a business or leisure trip.
The bathroom was huge with a separate shower cabin, bath, sink and toilet. The big mirror behind the sunk is in the center part is not heated, but due to the size of the room, it became not that foggy after taking a shower. A hairdryer is available. Bathroom amenities consists of lotion, body shower gel, shampoo and conditioner by Crabtree & Evelyne. Three big, middle and small towels were available, so more than enough for two persons. A bathrobe and slippers are also in the room for the convenience of the guest. The shower head in the separate shower cabin was in good conditions.
The room has had two double beds with a bedside table with two lamps on each side, a lamp on the bdeside table and a LED reading lamp above the bed. On the other side right at the entrance to the room is the minibar and the tea and coffee facilities. The Flat TV is placed on a sideboard followed by the big working desk with plugs and LAN port. The desk is big enough to work on and the chair is an ergonomic one, really nice and comfortable for working. A lounge chair with a small round table and a lamp are standing in front of the big windows.
The interior is in a soft brown / beige colors and due to the big windows very bride with a lot of natural light. The furniture as well as carpets and walls were in good shape and had no visible stains or scratches.
We had breakfast in the restaurant. The breakfast was served in the restaurant and very good. There is a large selection of fresh fruits and juices. Also available are cereals, muesli, and a selection of different yoghurt. Bagels,croissants, Danish and muffins are available, a small selection of cheese and salmon. Hashed potatoes, mushroom, sausages, bacon and scrambled eggs are available for self service, while omelets, waffles or fried eggs are prepared in the kitchen. Tea and coffee are brought by restaurant staff as well as orange juice, but tea is also availabe as self service. Unfortunately only tea bags are available.
The service was good and used dishes are cleared quite fast.
Overall a nice stay. Since I was busy in the evening with friends, it was no problem to have no lounge access. The location close to the pedestrian zone and to public transportation is good. The large lap pool is to me a big advantage and the rooms are nice, though they look like the ones in Düsseldorf and Munich, so not too much of local touch. Staff is friendly, though the rates are usually higher than in the Intercontinental.
Arrival Date: 10 July 2009
Departure Date: 12 July 2009
Room type booked: King Hilton Guest Room (got upgrade to Executive Room)
Rate Plan: 2=1 Offer including breakfast
Room Number: 1033
Room Rate: 100.00 EUR
Status of Guest Program: Gold
I reached the hotel this time around 16:45 and was friendly greeted and this time it was a “Welcome Back”, so they had noticed that I was a returning guest. I got a room on the 10th floor, but was not told, if this was Executive Level or not and therefore had to ask. It seems, they tell you only, if you as a Hilton HHonors Gold are not upgraded.
The room had the same seize and shape like on my previous visit in April. In addition there was a small HiFi system in the room, otherwise the room facilities were the same as the interior design was.
The club lounge is located on the 11th and 12th floor in front of the three elevators. It is not very big and becomes crowded if the hotel is full. The breakfast in the lounge is served between 07:30 and 10:30 weekdays and 11:00 on weekends. Between 15:00 and 18:00 cakes, donuts and cookies are offered; at least during my stay wines and prosecco were also offered. Between 18:00 and 21:00 hours hors d'oeuvres are served together with alcoholic drinks like wine, whiskey, gin, etc. Drinks are available during the whole evening. The selection of hors d'oeuvres consists of vegetables, bread and rolls, and sticks with mozzarella and olives as well as hot one with beef and tomatoes. Cheese was also offered and olives and some chips with dips. The food selection was more limited than in the Düsseldorf Hilton and the most offerings were the same every day.
Breakfast is served as buffet in the lounge. You have the usual selection of rolls, bread, scrambled eggs, ham, cheese, marmalade and jam together with cereals and fruits. Tea (bags) and coffee are available from the buffet as well. If I compare the offerings with these in the Düsseldorf Lounge, the ones in Frankfurt are more limited. You could also choose to have breakfast down in the restaurant.
Service is usually very attentive and personally as one could expect in a club lounge. However during breakfast, my impression of the service was a bit slow and not very attentive.
Check out was fast and the invoice was presented before it was put into a folder and given to me.
Again a nice stay, this time I had the possibility to check out the executive lounge. The offerings are okay, though not as good as in Düsseldorf. Service was again friendly and I enjoyed my two nights in this hotel again.
