We are staying at Hotel Haus Lipman on September 12 and 13. We are departing back to the States from Frankfurt on September 16th. Can anybody give me ideas of where to stay the evening of the 14t and 15th of September. Our plan is to turn in our car on the 14th in Frankfurt city (but that can be changed)because our orignal plan was to spend two nights in Frankfurt. Unfortunately there is a trade fare in Frankfurt at the time we were planning on being there and the hotels are all pretty much sold out. Would be so grateful for suggestions.

I believe you are hitting the IAA (Internationale Automobil Austellung) in Frankfurt. It is a major exhibition, and hotels in even nearby cities tend to be full.

Try Bad Kreuznach. It is on your way back to Frankfurt (with a little detour), and about 1 hr. drive to the airport.

I can't recommend any hotels, because I stayed at a B&B, and can't even renmember its name. But look in the red Michelin Guide for Deutschland for hotels there, by category. The Guide will also give you the phone and fax # of the tourist office in case you want to call them and arrange your lodging through them.

From Bad Kreuznach it's also just a short drive to the Rhein, if you want to spend some time there.

Spas in German (the "Bad" signifies that) usually have quite a number of hotels, and with the cut-back in socialized medicine benefits, they are more likely to have available space.

One more thought: Have you considered Trier or Cochem? Each is is also well worth a visit and should by mid-September have lodging space.

Instead of staying at the airport on my last night, I often stay in Mainz. It's a nice place to visit, have a nice meal, and shop a bit, and very close to FRA. I'd suggest dropping the car in Mainz on 9/15 and taking the S-Bahn on the morning of the 16th straight to the airport (which requires only 20 minutes or so) since the morning auto commute into Frankfurt and the airport from surrounding areas can be hellish. I've stayed at the Mainz Ibis a couple of times - cheap, clean, convenient to the old town area, and just 1.5 blocks to the "Mainz Sud" station where you can catch the S-Bahn.

But the 15th would be a great day to see something else in the area. I imagine you'll have scoped out every last cobblestone in Beilstein if you've got 2 nights there already - it's the world's smallest destination. It's hard to say where to send you since I don't know what you will already have seen from Beilstein. If you haven't seen Trier, Cochem, Bernkastel, and/or Burg Eltz, consider another day on the Mosel in one of these towns. You could also head over to the Rhine for a look-around. Boppard and Bacharach are both quite nice.

Heidelberg and Wiesbaden are both good options and easy to get to (and back) from Frankfurt. Easy to kill or a day or two in either of those areas.

Three nights on the Mosel would not be excessive. We spent 3 nights in Beilstein 2 summers ago and enjoyed touring up and down the river. We had planned to visit Trier, but didn't have enough time to do so.

But there are many nice towns around Frankfurt that would be a fairly easy drive to the airport, and you could just turn your car in there the day of your flight.

I agree with Rufus. I spen two nights along at Haus Lipmann last year and wish I had tacked on a third night.