I was initially pleasantly surprised by the DoubleTree Frankfurt Niederrad after reading the many negative reviews. Unfortunately, in retrospect, I'm not so enthusiastic anymore. The positive review is below. There were a few extreme problems that not everyone can handle. At check-in, I pointed out that I didn't require room cleaning. I also had two "Do Not Disturb" signs attached to the outside of my room door. Unfortunately, I couldn't lock the suite from the inside, which is quite unusual; there are usually two internal security systems. On the second evening, I went to bed at 8 p.m. when my room door was suddenly opened from the outside. I ran out of bed to the door, and there was the housekeeping lady. I asked what she wanted in my room, and she simply apologized and left. It could just as easily have been a male housekeeping employee, which certainly wouldn't have been very pleasant for a woman. Afterward, I placed a chair in front of my door from the inside, which wasn't exactly amusing. The second problem was that I was standing in the bathtub showering, soaked from head to toe, and wanted to wash my hair first. Two large cartridges of body lotion, no shampoo, and the shower gel cartridge were completely empty. So I had to lean over the edge of the tub to reach the liquid hand soap cartridge by the sink. Something like that simply shouldn't happen with cartridges that size. The housekeeping staff clearly hadn't checked them for weeks. The biggest problem, however, was that a total of €250 was deducted from my account for my three bookings, at €50 per day. These charges were initially pre-authorized and then actually withdrawn. That's completely unacceptable. I waited almost 10 days for the refund. Last year in January, while I was in Malaysia for three months, I had 50 charges from Uber Trip in the UK within two days, even though I'd never used Uber, resulting in a loss of almost €1600. That's why I'm particularly sensitive to this sort of thing. I had discussed everything with Millie, the General Manager, before my departure, emphasizing that such things shouldn't happen. We parted amicably. Despite the shortcomings, I thought I had found a good new hotel. From Malaysia, I requested a refund for the last bill, including the unauthorized €150 deposit, from my credit card company. Two days later, Millie emailed me to say the €250 would be credited to my account within the next few days. The money was then credited back approximately 10 days after the charge. I forwarded this information to Millie, the GM, via email, and since then, I haven't received any response from the hotel. Several of my calls went unanswered, as did several of my emails. The phone situation is also problematic at the DoubleTree Frankfurt Airport Niederrad, as most of the staff don't speak German and are hesitant to answer the phone. It's a shame things turned out this way. Everyone has to decide for themselves, but as a woman, I certainly wouldn't book it. In Malaysia and Thailand, I made a cash deposit into my hotel account at each hotel and had the remaining balance refunded to me upon departure. This worked well, and I didn't need to use my credit card there. Besides, in both countries, you can exchange euros or US dollars for the local currency at a 1% fee, which is cheaper than the 2% charged by most credit cards.
Great hotel in Frankfurt Niederrad, friendly and helpful staff.
As a Hilton Lifetime Diamond Member with over 2,000 nights, and a Platinum Member with Marriott Bonvoy and IHG, I've stayed in many hotels worldwide and, except in the USA, have often enjoyed excellent service. The DoubleTree Frankfurt Niederrad is now one of them. After my 5-day stay at the Hilton Frankfurt Airport, I was a bit skeptical about switching to the DoubleTree Frankfurt Niederrad for 5 days due to some negative reviews on TripAdvisor. Therefore, I split the 5 days into 3 bookings: the first on January 15, 2026, for €126.20, the second on January 16 for €83.92, and the last 3 days from January 17 to 20 for a total of €200.40, which, to be honest, was also a bit cheaper than booking all 5 days in one go. That means an average of €82.10 including tourist city tax, an extremely reasonable price so close to the airport and Frankfurt city center. From the Hilton Frankfurt Airport exit to the DoubleTree, I paid €25 by taxi; the S-Bahn (suburban train) would have cost between €6 and €7. However, I wasn't entirely sure how far the hotel was from the Niederrad S-Bahn station. So, two days later, I walked the route, taking the direct path between the office buildings. It took exactly 7 minutes and would have been no problem at all with a suitcase or hand luggage. I received a very friendly welcome at reception. I immediately asked for the general manager, and funnily enough, the employee I spoke to, Millie, was the general manager. Millie is originally from South Africa and most recently worked for a hotel group in the Netherlands. Since I already owned real estate in Cape Town in the early 2000s, there was plenty to talk about. I should mention that I arrived unannounced in the morning, and the housekeeping staff were still busy cleaning. Luckily, I was upgraded to one of the two corner suites with an extra bedroom. The first thing I noticed when I entered the suite were the large, floor-to-ceiling windows – I'd never seen anything like them in a hotel before. It gave me the feeling of being outdoors, which I really loved. Of course, I left the curtains open at night so I could see the lights everywhere. My view overlooked the parking lot towards the highway and the Taunus mountains. Another advantage was that I could move around the room at night without turning on the lights. To my surprise, there was a bouquet of flowers, two bottles of water, and a plate of cake, dessert, and sweets on a table by the entrance – thank you again! The suite was very clean and well-furnished, with plenty of built-in wardrobes offering more than enough storage space, two flat-screen TVs, and in front of each, a wide, slightly narrow table with a chair – perfect for working in the office. A slightly smaller safe, but large enough for an iPad, iPhone, passport, and wallet. Near the entrance, there was a small hotplate with a range hood and sink, though without cookware. You could probably borrow some downstairs. Otherwise, there was a tray with a kettle, cups, various types of tea and coffee—basically everything you'd expect in a very good hotel. The bathroom was interesting: a glass-enclosed space in the middle of the room, with the toilet in a separate room behind it. On the third day, I also took a look at the standard rooms; they all had these large windows and a glass-enclosed shower in the middle of the room. Given the reasonable price, I would have felt quite comfortable in one of them. For stays of less than two weeks, I never use room service, partly because I prefer to keep my room clean myself, but also because, in my opinion, the housekeeping staff have the most strenuous job in a hotel, and this way I can lighten their load a bit. When my trash can is full, I go out into the hallway to the staff and empty it into their service cart. Similarly, if I need a towel or new tea bags, I ask the staff for them. I think the staff deserve more respect for the work they do, sometimes under considerable time pressure. Some guests should take this to heart before leaving their rooms in a terrible state.
The breakfast buffet the next morning was very extensive and of good quality, actually not that different from the Hilton Frankfurt Airport. There was a variety of cold cuts, cooked and raw ham, cheese, salad, tomatoes, olives, jam, honey, fried eggs, yogurt, boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, fried mushrooms, sausages, and bacon. In addition, there were various juices, sparkling wine, different types of tea, coffee, bread and crusty rolls, and much more. You could certainly order an omelet from the chef, who is from Nepal and also speaks German.
Perhaps other things too, I didn't ask, the buffet was more than ample for me. Raja from India speaks mainly English and Andrea from Hungary speaks German; they were always very friendly and helpful, like all the staff at this hotel. On my last day, I had a brief chat with a German employee at the bar. He said that during the week you can eat lunch and dinner there, but not so much on weekends, unless the hotel is full due to an event, concert, or football match. During the day on weekdays, the front office manager, Saihaila (Sue for short), from Greece, is usually at reception. Besides Greek, she also speaks German, French, Italian, English, and Arabic. There's also Varshil from India, who is always laughing and speaks English. Then there's Ahmed Said (Medi for short) from Russia, who speaks Russian and English, as well as some German and Turkish. Then there's Ashna Shaju, who also comes from India, just like Shashank; both speak English.
The general manager, Millie, from South Africa, speaks English, Dutch, Iszulu, Sotho, and Afrikaans. I've never encountered such a fantastic international team with so many different languages. Guests can truly feel at home here. Whenever they had a spare moment, everyone was always happy to chat. There's also a spacious gym on the lower floor with plenty of good equipment spread across several rooms. I loved the style of the lobby; it reminded me of harbor buildings in Sydney, Cape Town, or San Francisco. The two glass-enclosed elevators run from the ground floor to the top floor of the large lobby. I usually took the stairs. Speaking of walking, I needed an extra carry-on suitcase for my onward journey to Kuala Lumpur, where I'm currently enjoying the excellent service at the Hilton Petaling Jaya. For that, I walked the nearly 13 km from the DoubleTree Frankfurt Niederrad return airport to the Galeria shopping center in downtown Frankfurt. Most of the way is along the Main River, and then across one of the bridges into the city center. It took me about 70 minutes each way, and at 67 years old, it shouldn't be a problem for younger people either. In spring or summer, it's certainly more pleasant than in January with its icy winds. There are shops within a 5-10 minute walk of the DoubleTree, including an Aldi, a DM drugstore, an Edeka supermarket, and a Lidl nearby. I can wholeheartedly recommend this hotel; it certainly won't be my last stay there. Many thanks again to the entire team; I truly felt at home.
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