We will be flying out of Frankfurt but have to be at the airport at 6 am. We will have arrived from Poland late in the afternoon the day before. We just need a cheap hotel closeby as i am told the trains/Sbahn/Ubahn do not start until 5 ,and it may take a while to get to the airport sans any delays enroute. We are 2 guys so it can be old, tacky but the key ingredients are closeby and cheap( or with very early free or cheap shuttle).. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

There is a bus that leaves shortly after 4AM from Darmstadt Hauptbahnhof (Main Station), takes about 30 minutes to drop you off at the airport. Check www.bahn.de for alternative schedules. There are hotels in all price categories in Darmstadt.

We stayed at a Sheraton that is attached to both the train station AND the airport. It is a nice hotel and super convenient but alas not cheap. Good luck.

Rest assured that your train to the airport will be on time and it only takes 11 min. from the main train station - Hauptbahnhof. If you got on the train at 05:30, you still have a good cushion of time. The trains do start running before 5.

Try Hotel Monopol, it is on the southside exit of the train station and they usually have good prices, like 70 euro or under for a double. They do have rooms with twin beds, breakfast is free, mini-bar is free, wifi is free, and I have found the staff there to be very friendly and helpful. The hotel itself is very pretty, with a lovely old world charm about it since it is over 100 years old, though it is a tad run down at the edges. I have recommended this hotel to quite a few people and they have all been happy with it.
http://www.hotelmonopol-frankfurt.de/en/

Thank you minnehappylis, treplow, mainhattengirl for your help. A friend called me and told me about the Ibis. I ended up booking the Ibis Frankfurt Airport that has a free shuttle that starts at 05:15 and is just a 10 minute (2 mile) ride. (It also stops at the Monopol). The reviews I read on it were good and I got a prepay internet rate of 39 euro ($54.98). It is in an industrial area, but that's ok as we are arriving late the night before and are just there to sleep before our long flight back to Palm Springs.

Ibis is a huge French-based chain-brand. Expect smallish rooms, dorm-style, but functional and clean. Usually a very good bet if you need just a place for sleeping.

I stayed in the Paris CDG Ibis; it was clean and cheap; good choice!
Gute Reise!

I strongly urge you NOT to stay at the Holiday Inn Express should you be tempted because of low prices and promises of free shuttle. The shuttle is only free <i>from</i> the airport (&euro;5 <i>to</i> the airport) and the rooms are spartan, the "free" internet is off-again off-again (yes) and the nearest restaurant for dinner is in a campground 1/4 mile away. Promises of non-smoking rooms are also equivocal; my "non-smoking room guarantee" was exchanged secretly for a smoking room where what they had been smoking was, I think, cow dung.

(Do I sound snippy about this? Oh you have no idea.)

I stayed at the holiday inn express 6-2-2009. I picked up my leased auto there and also returned it there. I thought the hotel was clean and room was ok. 300 meters to 2 restaurants. $5 to airport in morning. hope this helps. jayvee

We stayed at the Frankfurt Airport Ibis last year on our way to Venice. It was excellent. Great beds, large (by Euro standards) room and great staff. Used the shuttle back to the airport to get to the airport for a day in Frankfurt. There is or was a great imbiss across the street in a small shopping centre. At 39 euro, you won't be disappointed.

<i>We just need a cheap hotel closeby as i am told the trains/Sbahn/Ubahn do not start until 5</i>

Whoever told you that, don't ever believe a word he says again. The S-Bahn from Mainz starts leaving every half hour at 4:02, so there are S-Bahns arriving at FRA at 4:29, 4:59, 5:29 and 5:59.

I have stayed at Hotels Schottenhof and Königshof in Mainz. I prefer Hotel Königshof (www.hotel-koenigshof-mainz.de). A double room on the weekend is €72, including breakfast. It is just a short walk across the Bahnhofsplatz to the Hauptbahnhof and less than a half hour by train from there.