akersnl

All I can say is you are F'ing crazy to do that trip in coach.

vpat48

Excellent report. Good insights. Looking forward to the next installment.

ok2uselane

+1

Great report. My husband is quite tall so your insight into which economy seats are good is quite helpful!

Must...Fly!

Part 6: The Westin Grand Frankfurt and 3 days in a lovely city

On the S-Bahn to the city at one of the stations a woman got on and asked me a question in German...sorry lady, Ich spreche kein Deutsch!

Before too long the train pulled up at Konstablerwache and I made my way out of the station. This was a part of Frankfurt that I hadn't really seen on my first visit here. We did do a bus tour of the city, so I no doubt went through the area, but I just don't remember it. I had done some looking on google maps before, and figured if I couldn't find the hotel I could just ask, I figured the Westin would be pretty well known.

However I picked my exit perfectly and I emerged right near the wonderful entrance to the Westin!

Now, some of you are probably thinking "What's this 20 year old student doing at the Westin when I'm limited to the Holiday Inn? B*stard must have rich parents or something."....Ahh, the wonders of Priceline . $315USD for 3 nights including taxes! Bargain! I didn't bid completely uninformed though, I consulted www.betterbidding.com and the sub-forum here on flyertalk, and it all worked out perfectly.

And I have to say, the hotel seriously impressed me. It truly was a higher class of hotel, in my opinion, compared to (for example) an Intercontinental. It was my first stay at a Westin and if I can get a cheaper deal, I will go back. The staff were excellent and friendly. Sometimes you have a bad experience and people make snide remarks about the rate you are paying. No such problem here. I wasn't sure if this stay would earn me points, and I didn't have an SPG account anyway, so I didn't bother - however the agent asked me to sign up (probably gets a commission) and I was happy to oblige - a temporary card was brought up to me soon after.

The room was nicely sized (for Europe), spotless and I had a nice view as well.




Bathroom

Realising how tired I was, I soon collapsed on the bed for a few hours sleep.

The next 3 days were spent enjoying the city of Frankfurt. A lot of bad things are said about Frankfurt, but honestly I can't really see why. I'm not much of a country person, I love being in cities, and I really enjoyed Frankfurt. I went for long walks all around the city, along the Main river, up and down the Zeil shopping mall, down to the Hauptbahnhof several times and also across to the other side of the river to Sachsenhausen. A piece of advice: if you have a size 12 UK foot, you might have trouble finding shoes to buy. I sure did. I was about to give up, but in the last store I found some that were acceptable.

Here are some pictures I took of my time in Frankfurt.




99 Luftballoons?












Nice to see someone still keeping the Euro alive!






Frankfurt opera house, which was rebuilt in the 1960s and 70s, after it was almost completely destroyed by allied bombing during World War II


Zeil at night, at Hauptwache


Roemer Frankfurt - Again, this was rebuilt following a bombing raid by the allies in 1944.


Roemer Frankfurt - Night


I had to post this. These croissants...I almost certainly consumed, on average, at least 2 per day. I want to go back just to eat them. SO GOOD.

I should recommend an Italian restaurant I tried called Paninoteca. The lasagne is just awesome, served in it's own little dish...it's a big serving, but I loved every bite. Quite cheesy which is just how I like it - fair warning if you aren't a cheese lover.

And that's all there is to show. On the final day, I checked out of my room and went for more walking and eating. I had a choice of two flights out, at 1800-ish on A3 or 2100-ish on LH. I chose the LH departure as it was a little bit cheaper but also meant another full day in Frankfurt (oh, and I'd never flown LH before ). I ended up sitting in the lobby from about 1630 reading the newspaper til about 1800, then headed to the airport early on the S-Bahn - I was tired and just couldn't walk anymore! One of the bellboys started talking with me while I was sitting down about where I was from, where I was going, how long I was at the hotel and if I enjoyed my stay. This only served to reinforce my observations of outstanding customer service.

I had a lovely stay in Frankfurt. This isn't the place to come for a week I don't think - but for a few days, I loved it. I really wanted to get to Mainz and have a look around there, but I didn't manage to on this trip - perhaps in about 6 weeks time when I'm back in the lovely city of Frankfurt.

Coming next: Flying to Athens and the Sofitel Athens Airport

Must...Fly!

I honestly don't think I could do a better job of roast chicken with gravy at home! It was that good.

Yes, economy is hard. It's easy to forget it's how most people travel sometimes. To be honest, while the premium cabins are of course the way to go, I really don't mind that much. I'd rather be going in economy than not going at all.

I said in my first post that everyone here is a little mad. I guess I am insane then?

As I said above, it's sometimes uncomfortable, sometimes not so. When you've got a seat like 80A for 14 hours, trust me, it isn't difficult.

Thank you for the kind words

Great to hear you have enjoyed reading. I know what your husband would be going through. I've been stuck at the back of the bus with no extra legroom many a time. Think happy thoughts!

rexandspencer

Thanks for your report. What a great read