Review: the Hilton Frankfurt City Centre hotel

This is our review of the Hilton Frankfurt City Centre hotel.

For Hilton’s ‘Stay Longer and save up to 20%*’ promotion, last week I took a whirlwind trip to visit two Hilton hotels that may inspire readers to book a stay themselves.

First up: the Hilton Frankfurt City Centre – click for the website.

Hilton provided our rooms but HfP paid all travel costs and Hilton has not seen or approved these reviews.

Location and arrival

As the name indicates, the Hilton Frankfurt City Centre is in a very central location, a seven minute walk from the Frankfurt (Main) Hauptwache station. A train runs directly to Frankfurt International Airport from here and takes about 15 minutes.

The hotel backs onto Bockenheimer Anlage, a pleasant park for a walk, and is about a 5-10 minute walk to the main business district and many of the banks. There are restaurants in abundance nearby, along with one of Frankfurt’s busiest shopping streets.

The hotel is hard to miss; a large glass construction of 12 stories, with a large entrance and dedicated taxi drop-off lane.

The hotel centres around a central atrium that is the full height of the hotel, with rooms running along three sides.

A bar and restaurant take up much of the ground floor of the atrium, with a check-in area to the right of the hotel entrance. Check-in was quick and efficient and the hotel recognised me as a Hilton Honors member.

I had booked a King Hilton Executive room on the executive floor but was upgraded to a suite. I wasn’t told why – it could be due to my Hilton Gold status (Frankurt’s business district is not exactly busy in August) but the fact that we were reviewing the hotel cannot be discounted …. The room was ready on my arrival, even through I had arrived early.

Suites at the Hilton Frankfurt City Centre hotel

The suite I was given was on the 12th floor, part of the ‘Executive’ level, with automatic access to the executive lounge. The door opens onto the sitting area of the suite, which had a large, wide window and excellent views over Frankfurt.

On the left of the entrance is a small cubby that is designed to store luggage and hang coats. As it was 30c on the day I visited, I didn’t exactly need the coat storage, but I still appreciated this – I’ve often puzzled where to hang a large or damp overcoat in Western European hotel rooms.

A large drawer unit housing tea and coffee making facilities, the safe and the mini bar runs along the back section of the sitting room.

A Delonghi espresso machine is provided, along with six pods and a selection of teas with a kettle hidden in a drawer. Two small glass bottles of filtered water were provided, which didn’t feel quite enough even for a solo traveller like myself.

Immediately in front of this unit is an excellent desk, with a sensible yet stylish chair and a good desk lamp. The desk had a selection of socket options – two USBs, a European 2-prong socket and a UK three-prong socket, which was very useful.

I really appreciated the positioning of the desk so that you could enjoy the view. So often desks in a hotel are facing a wall and whilst I suppose it’s less distracting, it’s still a lot more pleasant to look out of a window.

The large sitting area itself has a small sofa and comfortable Eames-style chair with footstool, along with cushions along the large window seat. A TV is tucked onto a wall on the right.

The bedroom is situated through an entrance on the right and is a similar size, also with a large window and window seat running along the width of the room. Both rooms have heavy black-out curtains.

The bed is a super king, with smooth white cotton sheets and no unnecessary cushions to faff with.

As well as reading lights on either side, there are also two USB sockets and a European plug socket. Both sides of the bed have a decent bedside table.

Under a large mirror along the back wall runs a vanity unit and stool which was useful additional surface space.

Through the back of the bedroom area there’s a wardrobed-lined passage leading to the bathroom. There is plenty of storage space, with ceiling-height shelves behind one door and a double, full-length wardrobe meaning long dresses won’t get crumpled. The wardrobe also contains an iron and ironing board.

The bathroom is an unusual but clever hexagonal shape, with impressive marble and gold fixtures.

As well as a bath, there is a separate shower with a huge overhead showerhead, along with an adjustable smaller showerhead.

Toiletries are Crabtree & Evelyn, in the recently rebranded style. All were large wall-mounted bottles rather than the mini toiletries.

They did the job, although I personally find Crabtree & Evelyn products underwhelming. They aren’t particularly great at hair products and they smell pleasant but forgettable. I would prefer hotels to use local suppliers for something unique and unfamiliar, but I accept that branded hotels usually want conformity.

Overall, I really liked the design and styling of the suite. The design was relatively contemporary and brought some interesting colours and textures in, giving it quite a bit more personality than you get in some executive suites.

Whilst I had a suite, the decor of the standard rooms is virtually identical. Here is a PR shot of a standard room which is a carbon copy of my bedroom shot above:

Food and drink at Hilton Frankfurt City Centre

I ate at the hotel’s ‘New York inspired’ restaurant, Hudson Yards. It was a balmy evening and like all the other diners, I chose to sit on the restaurant terrace, which leads onto the park.

I’m not sure if it was because I dined quite late, but the restaurant was very quiet with just another two tables eating. The terrace was a calm spot to enjoy a drink and some dinner.

The menu features a lot of ‘New York classics’ (burgers) along with some Frankfurt favourites such as veal schnitzel. Prices are quite high – a burger is €24 and veal schnitzel is €31.

I ordered a mango and avocado salad with prawns and a side of chips.

The salad was quite sizeable and the main salad part was fresh and tasty.

I paid an extra €9.50 for three ‘king prawns’ with the salad, which felt a bit steep as they were small, overcooked and did not taste totally fresh. To be fair I was about 450 miles from the sea so perhaps there’s a lesson for me here ….

The breakfast buffet was excellent with lots to pick from, including a cooked-to-order egg station, lots of hot options, cold meats and cheeses and – as one would expect in Frankfurt – an excellent bakery array.

The Frankfurt apple cake was particularly good. There were also plenty of yoghurt, muesli and fruit options for a lighter breakfast.

At both meals the service was very good, with friendly and helpful staff.

Executive Lounge at Hilton Frankfurt City Centre

I had booked an executive level room as I’d anticipated not being able to go to my room for several hours (although it was actually ready on arrival) and wanted to use the lounge to get some work done.

The lounge is a good size and again, had more personality than you would typically see, with quirky desk separators and some statement vases and ornaments.

There was a happy hour between 5pm and 7pm where guests with access could enjoy alcoholic drinks and canapes. I didn’t go myself but walked past and there was quite a buzz during happy hour.

The lounge itself has lots of desk space and sockets so was appropriately designed for business travellers, although it couldn’t compete with the desk set-up and lovely view from my room.

Gym and pool at Hilton Frankfurt City Centre

The Hilton Frankfurt City Centre gym is actually housed in a Fitness First within the same building. Guests can easily access the gym through a dedicated door but it is shared with Fitness First members too.

Whilst the gym wasn’t really busy when I popped in, it was busy enough that photographing it would have been intrusive so I’ve resorted to the hotel’s own imagery here.

Any gym bunnies staying at the hotel will be happy. The gym set-up is very good, with everything you could possibly want, lots of classes and a massive pool. There is also a small spa here for beauty treatments.

Conclusion

The Hilton Frankfurt City Centre is a good option for anyone looking to stay in Frankfurt, particularly if you need to be there on business. Everything appears to run smoothly at the hotel, from the swift check-in and check-out, to the efficient and friendly service throughout.

With very good amenities such as the gym and pool, you have everything you would need for a stay, business or otherwise.

I felt the interior design was stylish and surprisingly warm for a hotel of its size and scale. I had a real wow moment when I entered my suite thanks to the impressive view – making the huge windows the focal point of the room, which really worked.

The Hilton Frankfurt City Centre website is here – click to learn more.

Hilton’s ‘Stay Longer and Save up to 20%’ promotion for Hilton Honors members is still live. Non-Hilton Honors members receive a lower 15% discount in the ‘Stay Longer and Save’ promotion, so sign up during the booking process to maximise the discount.

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How to earn Hilton Honors points and status from UK credit cards (January 2024)

There are various ways of earning Hilton Honors points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Hilton Honors Gold status for as long as they hold the card?  It also comes with Marriott Bonvoy Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.  We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

Did you know that the Virgin Atlantic credit cards are a great way of earning Hilton Honors points? Two Virgin Points can be converted into three Hilton Honors points. The Virgin Atlantic cards are the only Visa or Mastercard products in the UK which can indirectly earn Hilton Honors points. You can apply here.

You can also earn Hilton Honors points indirectly with:

• American Express Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Rewards Credit Card (10,000 bonus Amex points)

and for small business owners:

• American Express Business Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Business Platinum (40,000 bonus Amex points)

The conversion rate from American Express to Hilton points is 1:2.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Hilton Honors points. 

(Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)