sergent

Not quite, it is a bridge over the road and it is not windowless. If you have a club room, I do think you can check in directly on the club floor, but I have never done this since the main checkin has never had a line when I have been there (I think 4 times in the last year or two).

I really like this hotel, even with the slightly-less-convenient-than-before bridge access.

christianj

You can also check in on the club floor if you are a Platinum member. As for the lines downstairs, they can be crazy long especially with flight cancellations, etc. so checking in upstairs as a Platinum or if you booked a Club Room can be a much nicer experience.

Lizie

Was there a few weeks ago and kept a copy of the club lounge details they give you. Alas my printer isn't scanning properly so I've typed it word for word what it says below:

Dear Guest,

We are delighted to welcome you to our Sheraton Club Lounge. As our loyal guest, you are one of our most valued guests and it is our pleasure to provide with you the following benefits:

* private check in & out at the Club reception on the 9th floor

* a Business Center, including free printing

* Sheraton Club fitness area including a sauna at any time between 06:00AM-11:00pm

* free WIFI


Enjoy our exclusive lounge - for breakfast, finger-food, or to relax with a nice cup of coffee or an excellent glass of wine. For your convenience, we have arranged the following service times:

> Club reception service: 06:00 am - 11:00 pm
> Club lounge service: 06:00 am - 11:00 pm

> Breakfast buffet 06:30 am - 10:00 am
> Afternoon snacks 02:00 pm - 06:00 pm
> Finger-food 06:00 pm - 09:30 pm
With a warm snack 06:00 pm - 09:00 pm

> Soft drinks 10:00 am - 11:00 pm
> Beer and wine 02:00 pm - 11:00 pm
> Selection of spirits 06:00 pm - 09:00 pm


For SPG Platinum Member only, you can enjoy soft drinks, beer and wine, a selection of spirits as well as cold finger food in our Sports Bar on level E2, while watching you favorite sports event on television. Service hours are the same as in Sheraton Club and as quoted above. This special offer is only valid at the Sheraton Frankfurt Airport Hotel & Conference Center.

Please reach out to us anytime if there is anything we can do to make your stay more comfortable, we can be contacted in house on extension (number).

We wish you a very pleasant stay!
Best regards,

(name)

Sheraton Club Manager & Team

christianj

I am hoping this means that the option in the Sports Bar is another option and in addition to the lounge and not that they are moving Platinums to the Sports Bar and only offering the Sheraton Club to guests willing to pay for the Club.

Nazdoom

I stayed here two weeks ago. It was fairly poor. Arrived around 9pm and checked out around 9am. It is a good representation of a "run down Sheraton". It's massive and the walk from check-in to the room was probably 10 minutes (with luggage).

As a Plat Premier I was upgraded to a room on the club floor. Room was something out of the 70s... really not impressed with the decor or functionality. I've been to many properties in Europe, including Germany, but this was something special. Being Germany, the bed was low, stiff, and horrid, but I anticipated that.

Lounge closes at 11pm so I stopped by at 10:50pm to grab some water before bed. The area seemed open but the cooler was locked. Attendant heard me trying to open it but didn't come by to say anything; I noticed he had looked over then went back to what he was doing in the back. I called him to come over and he said it was now closed. I asked him what time it was and he glibly laughed and said I was right and opened it so I could take some water.

The room was uncomfortably warm and AC was on heating-only and windows locked for safety, so I asked front desk to help. It took 2 hours for them to come with 2 fans to make it tolerable, including me needing to follow up three times to front desk -- because nobody ever came back like they said they would (someone would come, say they need to come back in 15/30 minutes, then never come back, leaving me waiting). Even when I called and asked for the duty manager they didn't tell the duty manager I had asked to see her. Eventually they transferred my call to her so I could ask her directly to come up. She was very apologetic and I ended up moving rooms to a suite a few doors down. (Even though the suite was unsold for the night (by 9pm), they didn't put it for upgrade and simply let it sit empty.) Luckily it was bigger with better airflow and they also now had the fans, which helped a lot.

They didn't have a full front office manager, only a trainee. He was nice enough, but the lack of experience and poor management in the hotel was apparent. I pointed out that there was a dirty tray of food sitting at the entrance of my room clearly from the previous guest and nobody had bothered to pick it up since the time I checked in. Clearing trays and dirty food / dishes at the entrance of rooms should be part of turning over rooms for new guests. (For full clarity, it was the last room on the floor and did not belong to another room).

I skipped the breakfast as I was going to the LH First Class Terminal. I had asked front desk instructions on how to get to the LH FCT and they kept confusing it with the regular check-in area (not surprising, but annoying). Eventually one person seemed to know and the manager said the concierge would walk me outside to point me in the right direction. I walked over to the concierge who had my bags and he hadn't been told he would be helping with this. I went back to the manager who then got a bellman to do it. The bellman was great and actually walked me all the way there, in the cold no less!

Overall, was really disappointing spending 3 hours dealing with issues during a 12 hour stay.

Lizie

I was allowed access to both. I think it's just the translation into your home language that these things suffer some times.

Lizie

@Nazdoom - we too noticed how punctual they were at closing it down and, in the morning, not opening up the blinking coffee machine till the 06:00 sharp! I got the impression they just wanted to go home - which is reasonable I suppose over Christmas. True the rooms were tired also our mattress was too hard and lumpy to get comfortable. Breakfast though was nice. Platinum's only had the option of lounge breakfast but the spread was good: sausages, bacon and rather moreish for once, scrambled eggs. There was a chap cooking omelettes but he and the other staff promptly disappeared into the kitchen and stayed there at every opportunity.

Andie007

There are some rumors in other forums that the hotel will be splitted into the "Sheraton Airport Hotel" and the "Marriott Airport Hotel" (former towers area)....
Anyone heard of that?

christianj

Weird and I wonder why they would do this unless they felt they could get a higher price for rooms under a different brand (Marriott in this case) or if the hotel wasn't selling out as just a Sheraton (which I don't think is the case). Given is that the hotel has much more competition than it did years ago with the Hilton and HGI and also the new properties in the Gateway Gardens area. For me the Marriott and Sheraton brands essentially compete against one another so it would make more sense to go with a Sheraton and then a high-end brand like (RC or St. R or even a LeM or Westin) or go more budget (CY or something like that).

Nazdoom

I can't speak to the branding, but I actually met a former manager of this hotel who now works at another property, in Asia, who told me about the sheer number of operational problems this property experiences resulting in extremely high turnover. I wouldn't be surprised to see extreme measures be taken at some point, including rebranding.

HHQX888

Terrible members support, my first time in 9 years SPG history when I use 'I want compensation 100USD' sentence at FD.

os_flyer

Could you eloberate? I basically sleep there every week and despite its aging and torn out rooms, I have never had bad experiences. There are other Marriott properties at the airport that are really hopeless!

MSPeconomist

flyme2

It is by far the largest in terminal FRA hotel, so dividing it into two separate entities would be feasible. Economically sound, that's another question. Perhaps they're trying to emulate the HGI and Hilton set up next door.

christianj

But why go through the exercise and expense of doing this IF the hotel has high occupancy rates? There are lower priced Marriott group alternatives in the Gateway Gardens area (Moxy and element) and now in Kelsterbach (Moxy) on the other side of the airport. And who knows how long it will take for them to open another options in either of those two areas since there's a ton of construction going on there.

Let's also think about this...if they do this and go 1/2 Sheraton and 1/2 a lower-end brand then they are trading down room revenues since the lower end brands typically cost less per night plus they have the cost of the change over. (I doubt the Sheraton would be able to increase their room revenue unless they do a full reno...again with more costs.) If they go 1/2 Sheraton and 1/2 high-end they are likely going to trade down the room revenue from the Sheraton in order to fill up the higher-end part and the real question is if there is even a demand for a higher-end hotel at FRA since most people are only staying one night.