FLYGVA

The former Sheraton Frankfurt Congress was rebranded as Crowne Plaza in 2018 after being taken over by Novum Hospitality. Novum Hospitality runs a couple of hotels as franchises for Accor, Hilton and IHG but has also its own chains.

The hotel is located in the business district of Frankfurt Niederrad, but well connected by public transportation to either airport and downtown Frankfurt. There is a tram stop right in front of the hotel and the S-Bahn station Frankfurt Niederrad is a leisurely 10 minutes walkt (or a quick 2 minutes tram ride) away. The hotel has been partly renovated and the rooms partly refurbished. Rooms are small and the bathroom has not been redone. A couple of rooms have balconies and there are still a few suites. The hotels has a pool and a small gym in the basement with natural light.

Restaurant is only open during peak times (read if high occupancy or trade fairs) for lunch and dinner, but the bar (still named L44 ) serves food as well. There are also two restaurant (Indian, Korean) next to the hotel, which are reasonable priced and not that bad.

If you know the hotel from its former Sheraton times, you will basically know what to expect. The hotel could be very cheap during low peak times and during weekends (read around 60 EUR), which makes this a good place for mattress runs or cheap stays. But do not have high expectations.

The hotels does not have a lounge. Parking is available for free, especially during weekends in the vicinity of the hotels

FLYGVA

Business Premium Room
12th Floor,

Room refurbished after rebranding with small desk (one plug, two USB plugs), tea cofee facilites, minibar and ottoman. Two small bottles of water provided in the room.


Business Premium Room (April 2022)

Business Premium Room (April 2022)

Business Premium Room (April 2022)

Business Premium Room (April 2022)

Business Premium Room (April 2022)

mileshound

I'm considering this for the American football games which are probably in November. Is this a good option? Probably a Fri-Tues stay.

FLYGVA

Crowne Plaza Frankfurt Niederrad

What is your Priority Club status?
Ambassador Diamond

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
In general yes.

This is not my first stay there. I know the hotel from its time as the Sheraton Congress and also stayed there frequently since it was rebranded. The tram stop is next to the hotel, S-Bahn Station Niederrad is a seven minute walk. Parking is during the weekend possible at the street next to the hotel.

I booked a Standard Room, which I changed to an advanced purchase rate two weeks prior to the stay. In the end I was upgraded to a room including free minibar on the top floor during check-in.

If you enter the hotel, you are right in a big lobby with the check-in desk opposite the entrance and the bar to left. The bar is open to the lobby and not separated, thus making the lobby and the bar a bit noisy, especially if a bigger group is arriving. Right hand side is the restaurant, which is only open during fair and by higher demand. At all other times the bar serves also as restaurant

There are three lifts to reach either the pool and the garage in the basement or the floors with the rooms.

Located in the basement is the pool area with sauna, steam bath and pool. The pool is open daily from 07:00 to 22:00, the sauna and steam bath is open in the morning and from 16.00 to 22:00. The pool is 6 x 12 m and big enough to swim a few laps. Unfortunately, during my visits, I have discovered the pool more often closed than available. And this is not always mentioned on the homepage.

There is a gym connected to the pool with good machines. Small towels and water are provided in the gym. The only downside is, that you must pass the pool to reach the gym. The gym is open 24 hours, but you need to contact the front desk if you want to access it during the time when the pool is not open.

Breakfast in the restaurant was okay. The selection was okay, though the quality was not the best, especially mushroom (from cans). Coffee is provided in small thermos jugs on the table, Tea was available. Different juices (including tomato juice): The selection of fruits was average as was cheese, salami. Humus and cut cucumber and tomatoes were available, Salmon and trout, and the staff was attentive, but if they are busy, it could take some time before used plates are cleared.

Hot items were scrambled eggs, potatoes, small burger, sausages, ham. Also, you get eggs prepared by a chef (but they do not make poached eggs).

I had dinner in the restaurant. The restaurant was busy, but service was attentive. I opted for a Cesar Salad, which was a larger portion and tasted good. It was possible to use the food credit as milestone amenity.

Check In was quick with not waiting time on a Wednesday evening at 20:30. Two agents were on duty. Status was partly recognized as I was told that I received an upgrade. But the Diamond Amenity was not mentioned, and I had to ask. This is always the case in my experience. Usually, they also forget to put you on the list for breakfast. ON the other hand, they quite often usually give you both points and breakfast or beverage voucher.

Check out was a bit slow, but this was as I was the first guest who used the Food & Beverage Voucher, and it was shown to a colleague. Late check out was granted without issues.


Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked Standard and received Room with Free Minibar on top floor overlooking the parking in front of the hotel (i.e. not city views)



How are the rooms?

My room was located on the top floor (13th floor) far away from the elevator.

Next to the entrance was the small bathroom.

The rooms are very small. If you stay in the room with two persons, the space to move is very limited.

The bathroom could be reached from the hallway. It has bath, sink and toilet. Nice, the shower is separated by a wall rather than a glass panel, but the wall is a bit short, and you cannot avoid water dripping on the floor while taking a shower and the floor of the bathroom can become slippery quite quickly. Water pressure of the shower was good. The showerhead was okay. The wash basin is okay but there is not much space to store things like razor, toothbrush. The bathroom also shows is age as it was not re-done.


The room had a small place to store your luggage along. The closet offers enough space to store belongings. The room was re-done. There is an ottoman in front of the window with a reading lamp. Opposite was a small desk. Tea and coffee facilities are provided there.

The minibar is placed at the desk. If offers water and soft drinks.

To me the space is very limited, and it is difficult to work and if you need papers it will be difficult to place them. But this was already the case during the time the hotel was a Sheraton. USB Ports are available at the desk along with a power outlet

The mattress of the bed was okay. The two bedside tables are rather small.

There is a French press coffee maker, but no coffee was provided this time. Also, only two tea bags. But the hotel offers a small amenity for Diamond guests in the room which is a nice touch.


Windows could be opened, but there could be some street noise.

Housekeeping was not the best during this stay – Towels were not restocked. I had two small, medium and large towels. Got only one small, no medium and two large ones. Also waste paper basked was not emptied. But this was better during earlier stays, so I would rate this as a one time exception.



How is the exec. lounge?
N/A

What was good and what was bad?
Good
Good connection to public transport
Windows could be opened
Staff is friendly and helpful
rates are cheap
Pool, sauna, and steam bath
Welcome Amenity


Neutral
Cost cutting measures regarding quality breakfast buffet
location
no coffee for French Press
Lobby and bar could be noisy
Forgot to put you on breakfast list


Bad
small rooms
pool closed without announcement on homepage





Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return?
The location is good, especially if you want street parking. Downtown Frankfurt is a 15 m minutes tram ride. The rooms are of smaller size.

Room are well maintained. The upgrade to a room with a free minibar as part of the upgrade is nice. The minibar is restocked. Rates are often below 80 EUR, especially during the weekend

I will return, as it still offers a good value for money, but as frequent guest you notice some cost cutting measures. And I dislike that they quite often do not announce if the pool is closed.

Click on Spoiler for pictures

FLYGVA

Staying here again.

Pool is unfortunately still closed, but sauna and steam room are available between 07:00 and 12:00 and 17:00 and 22:00.

Not much different than my previous stay, only that the trainee brought be bread and butter with an expiry data in October 2023. Hotel reacted quick and fast, appologized for this oversight and comped one beer and offered a free desert. Consider this a good reaction, as I expected only to get new butter with a new expiraction date like I got in similar situations in other hotels.

PES_B1

Is this the one connected to the Westin?

ffgap

No. The Westin is right in the city center. (And might be connected to the NH across the street, I am not sure.)

This CP is a good bit outside "downtown" Frankfurt in a part of town called Niederrad.

It used to be the Arabella Sheraton before it was purchased by Novum Hospitality. The investor lightly renovated it and reflagged to CP. Honestly, I hate Novum Hospitality's projects. They specialize in buying dated properties and invest the minimum to just barely bring them up to the required brand standard. The staff they hire tends to be below-average as well.

I think one has to see @FLYGVA's comments in light of the pricing which is quite low compared to other 3*/4* hotels in Frankfurt. I just think the property feels dated and ugly. In my mind, the location is undesirable as well. And lastly, their staff is really bad and wait times at the front desk can be excessive. I've stayed there twice--won't book again.

FLYGVA

Indeed, the hotel is not in the city centre but in Niederrad. There is a tram stop in front of the hotel and a S-Bahn Station nearby (read ten minutes to walk or two minutes by tram) which connects the hotel with both airport and downtown. The hotel used to be the Sheraton Congress and was rebranded to Crowne Plaza a couple of years ago. I know this hotel since it time as Sheraton as my brother used to lived in Niederrad some years ago. I think the fitness is better than the one at the HI Alte Oper.

I still like this hotel as if offers street parking (especially during weekends) and is often very cheap and friends are often in the area for golfing / tennis and we catch up afterwards (so a very personal choice indeed).

But I agree with ffgap it is not the nicest hotel and feels indeed a bit dated in regard to the building, public spaces and bathroom. Given that it was available for 68 during the sale or 85 flexible whilte the Holiday Inn Alte Oper was 89 advanced and 104 flexible, I went with the CP.