Hi

We'll be arriving in Frankfurt on the 13th of Sept and are looking into any smallish hotels (perhaps in close by towns) to spend our first night.

Any suggestions?

The Sheraton has the best location in Frankfurt! it's located right on Zeil steet where all the department stores and cafes/restaurants are located, and it's also a 3 minute walk from the old town square and the harbour.

Happy travels!

Hi again

The Sheraton does sound great but it's right on the heart of the city and it's pretty big. I was really hoping for some small hotels in smaller towns close by Frankfurt.

Suggestions please??

Take a look into Hotel Liebig. It is a small hotel located on Liebeigstr., a nice, upscale residential area in the inner-city district of Westend.
They have renovated and unrenovated rooms. Go for a renovated one. While the staircase is likely going to put you off (still unrenovated), the renovated rooms are rather nice. Comfortable beds and bathrooms in a Versace decor with Etro toiletries provided. The breakfast is priced at EUR 15.00 (not cheap), but worth it. Nice selection of fruits, cereals etc. plus an assortment of cheese and cold cuts served at your table along with your choice of eggs.

While I usually do not have any reservations about staying at a bigger (chain) hotel, I recently stayed at the Liebig because it was conveniently located for business and thoroughly enjoyed it.

http://www.hotelliebig.de/hotel-liebig-english.htm

What do you mean by close? Within 1 to 1-1/2 hrs of Frankfurt are Bad Wimpfen, Miltenberg, Wertheim, Beilstein (and other towns) on the Mosel River, Bacharach, etc. Don't know where you are going from Frankfurt but I'm sure there are many others that would be worth visiting.

Hi betty

Anything within 1 or 1 1/2 hrs and probably south or southeast would be great. We'll be heading toward Heidelberg but would like to reserve a room for the first night before we leave.

We're looking for more of a smaller town atmosphere with lower prices than most of the big cities (like Frankfurt) offer. $300 a night is higher than we want to spend.

We're very flexible (except for higher prices) as to what town we stop in as we're renting a car.

Thanks

Hi LN,

LN - Heidelberg itself is only 1 hour away. Not sure if there is any particular reason you don't want to head straight there.... It's a simple drive on the A5...

hi
try looking at this link to get an idea of what there is:
http://destinia.com/hotels/hotels--i...urope/27013/en

LN, agree with CelticDreams that Heidelberg fits your criteria timewise.

If you are looking for something smaller for your first night, then I suggest Bad Wimpfen. However, it is 30 minutes past Heidelberg on the Neckar River. We stayed at the Neckarblick Hotel Garni, a lovely place just 5 minutes from the main street of Bad Wimpfen.

Otherwise, I think you should just go straight to Heidelberg for your first night.

I like Assmannshausen. It is very small but right on the river. We stayed at Hotel Cafe Post. We even had a room with a view of the castle in the distance.

You can take the train directly from the airport to Mainz (20 minutes), walk across the Banhofplatz, and stay in the Tulip Inn. It is a nice small hotel in a nice small town, easy to get to.

Oh these hotels sound lovely.

Bad Wimpfen - Assmannshausen - Mainz - Heidelberg. These are showing real hotels - thank you - they look like they have flavor and are not cookie cutter huge hotels.

I love the Neckarblick Garni and the Hotel Cafe Post. How did you ever find these?

LN, I found the Neckarblick by looking at the badwimpfen.de website then checking out their website. I looked at a number of hotels but liked it the best and it fit our budget. You can find our pix of Bad Wimpfen on webshots.com by doing a search for dkubiak and looking at the Small German Towns album. I also wrote a trip report and hotel review that I posted here on Fodors in June 2005.

This forum directed me to the Hotel Cafe Post in Assmannshausen. The owner was married to an American who has since passed away. She and her son own and operate this hotel now. It is a small family place and just what I was looking for.

i appreciate all the advice you have been giving me.

At the moment I'm looking into the Neckarblick Garni and the Hotel Cafe Post. Both appear to be what we've been looking for and although they're on either side of Frankfurt - it won't really matter which way we start our trip. Heck, we've got 29 days to have a wonderful time exploring!

Betty I've also been looking into your car rental as that sounds like another good recommendation.

Many thanks to Betty and Scatcat - you're a lot of help.