ibis Frankfurt Airport

The staff made this stay the highlight of our six-week bikepacking trip from Frankfurt to Budapest and back. They helped us plan, stored our bike boxes for the full six weeks, and the huge airport shuttle made it easy to bring our bikes along. That took a lot of stress off us, since getting our own bikes over from Canada had been a big undertaking. Even the woman who kept coming over to help when I couldn't work out the fancy self-serve coffee machine at breakfast was lovely. We'd never heard of Ibis Frankfurt Airport Hotel before searching online, but its red traditional German roof made it look like a home, not one of those enormous hotels, and we fell for it right away. The rooms were clean, and the modern, warm decor and drawings on the walls kept making us smile. The food was excellent too. On the shuttle to the airport, my husband and I looked at each other and said we'd come back to Frankfurt just to stay here. We already miss this hidden gem. Thanks, everyone. Please don't change. You were better than five-star hotels. ❤️❤️❤️

The room was dated, on the first floor of a five-floor building, and the air conditioning didn't work. When I complained, I was told it had been switched off because the weather was cooler. The booking said AC was included, though, and nobody mentioned this when I reserved months ahead. We left the window open, but traffic and people kept us awake. From before 5 a.m. until 7, we could hear people rolling their luggage to the shuttle. Smoke came into the room too. We first thought it was from smokers in the alley, then found dozens of cigarette butts in the window well. There were billing problems as well. They charged us twice the shuttle amount and added a tax we'd already paid. Even with the booking in front of them, the supervisor insisted loudly that “everyone pays the 4% tax.” After I kept pushing, they refunded the shuttle charge and tax. I used to think booking early helped with accommodations, but I was wrong. We've stayed with IBIS before, but the service has been so poor lately that we probably won't book again. Membership didn't help us get a different room, working AC, or any consideration for our requests. Terrible experience.

Finding the place was difficult, and check-in dragged on so long I nearly checked out at the same time. Parking was just as frustrating. I was told the garage area was full, even though I could see four empty spaces, and was directed to park on the street. The nearby streets were full of workers' cars, so I ended up two streets away in heavy rain. I stay at many Ibis hotels and have a loyalty card, but this one was the worst I've used.

The rooms were clean, and the breakfasts were OK. Restaurant staff were nice, and the schnitzel was decent. The reception service felt strange ;) There was a bus to and from the airport.