Our decision to spend time in Frankfurt was due to us flying home from there. Instead of just staying one night at the airport before our flight, I decided we could spend two nights and see some of the city. We were there to see the Christmas markets and there were no shortages of them in Frankfurt.
I decided early on that we would be staying at Le Meridien. It’s located right near the central train station, which meant it would be very convenient for us. We’d be arriving from Munich by train and when leaving we could take the S-Bahn to the airport (only a 10-minute trip).
For us, this was our first stay ever at a Le Meridien hotel. I have a feeling it won’t be our last.
Le Méridien Frankfurt
Wiesenhuettenplatz 38, Frankfurt Germany
The Le Meridien Frankfurt is a 300 room Marriott Bonvoy hotel. The hotel is a category 5 property, which means it takes between 30,000 and 40,000 points for a free night. During our stay, rooms were showing the standard price of 35,000 points a night.
This was perfect as I could use my remaining 35,000 points free night we received from our Marriott credit card. This is the same type of free night certificate you’d get from having a Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card.
Cash nights were inexpensive for our stay so I paid €113 ($125) for our second-night. It would have been a waste to spend 35,000 points. The one thing I like about Marriott’s website is that you can pick and choose which nights to pay for and which ones to book with points or a free night certificate on the same reservation. I know we all talk about getting #Bonvoyed but this is one place where I think Marriott is ahead of the competition.
The hotel is split into two sections. To one side is the Legacy Wing, which is the older section of the hotel. The other side is the Palais Wing, which is new and modern. With our free night, we were only able to book a room in the Legacy Wing which was fine for us. We actually prefer that because we love staying in old hotels. There’s something about the craftwork that went into building that’s just missing from modern architecture.
The new wing of the hotel, which looks like an office building, is straight ahead while you can see a bit of the old building to the left. There’s a drastic difference between the two.
When walking into the hotel, the lobby is to the right. There are only two check-in desks so we had a short wait. While in the lobby, we got a chance to admire the very stylish Christmas tree.
When checking in, I was told that I only booked a room for one person. I apologized and said that it was an oversight and there’d be two of us staying in the room. The desk agent needed to go back to the office to correct the booking, which they made a much bigger deal about than I felt was necessary.
It was eventually sorted and we were given keys to our room in the Palais Wing. I thought this was odd since I know the room I booked was a base room in the Legacy Wing. Apparently, we got an upgrade.
Our room, 551, was located at the end of the hall. As you can see in the diagram above, the room is bigger than most of the others.
As we walked into the room, the bathroom was to the left. It was no bigger than you’d expect from a hotel with a shower, toilet and sink.
The hotel had individual Malin + Goetz toiletries, which still have ingredients that sound more like your making Thanksgiving dinner than taking a shower.
When we entered the room, we noticed all of the extra space. To the left were the desk, TV, couch and the closet.
The refrigerator was empty, which is always a plus for us. No chance of mystery minibar charges.
On the desk, I noticed a card and a box. It was a Christmas card and some local vegan chocolates. That’s a first for us to get a personalized gift, except for when I’ve told a place that we’re celebrating a special occasion.
The other half of the room held a king-size bed. (Note by this time of the trip we were no longer worried about having our luggage in the picture.)
It was interesting that this was the first hotel in Germany we stayed in that had a single sheet and blanket instead of individual ones for each half of the bed (Note from Sharon: which gave Joe PLENTY of blanket-stealing opportunities that he took full advantage of).
Part of me was distracted because the art was hung unevenly over just half of the bed. Why would you do that?
Needless to say, after our stay at the Motel One in one of the smallest rooms we’ve stayed in for recent memory, the extra space was very welcome. We never had the staff mention an upgrade and besides Sharon’s Marriott Platinum status, we can’t think of another reason for the special treatment.
Since we really wanted to check out the older section of the hotel, we walked over there the next morning. The first thing we noticed was the main staircase. It wasn’t as fancy as some of the others we’ve seen but with the railings, windows, lights and tilework, it was very impressive.
We took an elevator up one of the floors. It definitely has a different vibe from the other side of the hotel. It exudes a type of classical elegance.
We didn’t get to take advantage of the other hotel amenities. Since we took the points instead of the breakfast benefit, we never got to check out the restaurant, which took up much of the ground floor.
The one thing I found interesting was the hotel offered some freebies. You can get free coffee and free admission to the Schirn. Unfortunately, these cards were hidden on the desk, so I didn’t notice them until checking out.
I just noticed they don’t replace these cards very often as they’re the copyright of Starwood Hotels & Resorts 🙁
Final Thoughts
Le Meridien Frankfurt is in an excellent location if you want to be near the central train station. That puts you a short subway ride from both the city center and the airport. That alone would make this a desirable hotel, but it has more going for it than that. The price for rooms was very reasonable considering the quality of the hotel. From pictures I’ve seen, the base-level rooms are smaller than the one we received, so I can’t give a useful review of what it would be to stay in one of those.
For a hotel where you’re able to use a free night certificate from a $95 credit card, this is a great value. With cash prices for our stay ranging around $125, it’s not worth redeeming 35,000 points for a room.
I’d stay at this hotel again, and to steal a question from a survey, this hotel has made it more likely that I’ll stay at other Le Meridien hotels in the future.
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
2 comments
All Le Meridien Hotels partner with a local museum for the Unlock Art program. It’s great in London (The Tate) or Paris (Palais de Tokyo). Less so in Indianapolis.
Good to know. As I said, this was our first stay with the brand. I’ll be sure to look for this benefit on future stays. On a side note, I thought the Tate Museum was free. We didn’t pay when we visited Tate Modern.