Frankfurt Hotel Overview

When to Visit Frankfurt

Here’s a dirty word for Cheapo visitors to Frankfurt: Messe, the city’s mammoth exhibition space, hosts a constant flurry of trade shows and exhibitions. When the major fairs are in town, hotel rates can soar, sometimes to double the normal rate. An especially dangerous period is mid-September through early October, when the book fair and motor show come to town—book well in advance for a stay during this period.

Most tourists visit Frankfurt in summer, which means more crowds and sometimes higher room rates. To avoid the crowds, we recommend visiting in late spring or early fall (pre-fairs), which is when you’re also likely to get the best weather and room rates.

Also note that, since this is a business-oriented town, it’s often easier to score weekend deals, especially at the business-class hotels.

Budget Hotels in Frankfurt: What to Expect

It’s no surprise that most Frankfurt hotels are "all business." A majority of the budget hotels we visited and reviewed, especially around city center, are not terribly remarkable. On the whole, we found cramped rooms and dated décor, but we also appreciated that most budget properties were very clean and efficiently run.

Many of the cheapest hotels are located around the train station, but these are generally the most basic hotels, and the neighborhood tends toward sketchy in places.There are certainly some gems in the mix (we heart the cool design hotel 25h Goldman) if you’re willing to stay a tram stop or two outside of city center, in up-and-coming neighborhoods like Nordend, Ostend and Sachsenhausen.

Whatever the neighborhood, most Frankfurt rooms (with the exception of hostels) come equipped with standard amenities like a telephone and TV. Air conditioning can be harder to come by, and we did see several hotels without an elevator, so check ahead if these features are important to you. The very cheapest rooms might share bathrooms.

See all recommended hotels in Frankfurt.