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Frankfurt Airport gains a Marriott hotel but loses part of a Sheraton

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If you need an overnight stay at Frankfurt Airport soon, you now have an additional hotel choice if you want something connected to the terminals.

In an intriguing move, the 1,008 room Sheraton Frankfurt Airport Hotel has been split in two.

It now comprises a (still not exactly modest) 779 room Sheraton hotel plus a 233 room Marriott hotel.

Sheraton Frankfurt Airport

What is odd, at least to me, is that I struggle to tell the difference between Sheraton and Marriott.  Both brands – which were under separate ownership until two years ago, remember – are stereotypically known for their relatively dull four-star business hotels, appealing to equally dull middle management types.

Following the Starwood acquisition, Marriott has 29 brands it could have used on the ‘new’ hotel.  What was the point of picking one with identical brand characteristics to the rest of the building?

Here is a Sheraton bedroom, for example, but would you really have been surprised if I said it was from the Marriott side?

Both hotels share dining, conference and fitness facilities.  A club lounge is under construction on the Sheraton side whilst the Marriott already has one.

In terms of pricing ….. last night the Sheraton was €200 vs €254 for the Marriott.  Looking at a Saturday night later in February, the Sheraton is €110 vs €130 for the Marriott.  The Marriott is therefore seen as ‘superior’ in some ways, although both have redone rooms.

If you have Platinum Elite status or higher in Marriott Bonvoy, you may prefer to pay the extra for the Marriott in order to get lounge access.

The Sheraton Frankfurt Airport website is here whilst the Marriott Frankfurt Airport website is here.


How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards

How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards (April 2024)

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

The official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card comes with 20,000 points for signing up, 2 points for every £1 you spend and 15 elite night credits per year.

You can apply here.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

20,000 points sign-up bonus and 15 elite night credits each year Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points by converting American Express Membership Rewards points at the rate of 2:3.

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

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points indirectly:

and for small business owners:

The conversion rate from American Express to Marriott Bonvoy points is 2:3.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Marriott Bonvoy 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.)

Comments (201)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Polly says:

    What a super prize. Good luck everyone. It’s such a great experience in those J cabins, all but one older plane anyway! Closest cabin to BA F you will find….

    • John W says:

      + 1. Great Qatar Airways prize 👍

    • Patrycja says:

      Awesome prize! Would love to go to Auckland…

      • LewisB says:

        I mean if you win two free Qatar business class seats to anywhere in the world where else would you go, right?

        Surprised nobody has asked, will tier points and avios be awarded for these flghts? 😉

      • Matt Bailey says:

        I need to win, for the sake of my honeymoon! AKL is £12503 in Jan in Business for 2 persons!

      • Alex M says:

        make sure you don’t end up in Iran, in several pieces, if you see what I mean… 😉

    • Nick says:

      It’s so rare, and therefore brilliant, to have any competition with business class seats as a prize! Qatar clearly understand the readership of HfP and offer accordingly! Nice one guys!

    • Al Pal says:

      I’ll fly to Auckland just to get the maximum benefit, lol 😛

    • Lady London says:

      +1. When I found I was travelling BA First Transatlantic and asked a question here, you described BA First as comparable to QR in Business.

      That was about right. Slightly nicer drinks selection on QR than BA, but BA crew very nice and operating a bit less robotically than QR.

      QR seating and planes with good air probably better overall.

      • Polly says:

        Always have maintained that point about to equalling BA F as close as possible, with even bigger space around you.

  • Anna says:

    +1 for the awesome prize.

    OT – I may go to Nice for a few days in the autumn and would need a suite or family room fairly central for exploring on foot. I am HH and Bonvoy gold and IHG Platinum but options seem pretty limited – any suggestions? There actually seems to be more choice near Nice airport (a new CP opening soon, apparently, but this would mean a lot of toing and froing on public transport).

    • The Original David says:

      Don’t forget how close Nice airport is to town – I walked it once, just for fun…

      • David D says:

        And from the airport there is the tram to take you into the centre of the city.

      • Anna says:

        I’d considered that but will have a teenager with me who likes to move as little as possible!

        • Doug M says:

          Leave them on the sofa so you both win.

        • Polly says:

          Bus stops right outside airport. We always take that back and forth to hotels along the way..v easy.

    • paul says:

      There’s Boscolo Excedra Nice and Le Meridian for your Bonvoy. Both are within blocks of each other in the Carre d’Or neighborhood. Both properties are super center and tons of things nearby. Le Meridian is seafront.

      There’s also a new tramline to the airport (if you wanted an airport hotel) so if you find an airport hotel walkable to Grand Arenas, then it’s 11 easy stops to Jean Medecin (center)

      • TGLoyalty says:

        Boscolo has been bought by NH/Anantara group and will be rebranded soon.

        You would hope to an Anantara after extensive refurbishment due to it being in Nice.

      • RussellH says:

        Le Meridien has a nice rooftop bar and restaurant. Forgeot to take my Starwood card with me last time we were there, though.

    • Michael C says:

      Stayed at the Boscolo last Feb. for carnival, Anna – lovely place. Admittedly v white! but impressive design, v nice b/fast, a random bottle of champagne left out in reception all day (I seemed to be the only one using it – hope it was meant for the public!).

      Location fabulous, everywhere so close. 10 mins to train for daytrips, 2 mins to shopping area.
      Don’t know if you’ve been, but the Chagall museum is fabulous. And Friday is the big market day in Ventimiglia, just over the border (direct train).

      My fave short family break in recent years!

    • ali says:

      as it happens I’m waiting for a delayed flight to nice this morning.

      any more suggestions for must sees or must dos would be much appreciated!

      • Michael C says:

        I was surprised by how lovely Cannes was! (30 mins direct train).
        Lavender ice cream at Fenocchio in the old part of Nice.
        If you have time/are interested, Grasse is easily doable by public transport (centre of entire Fr. perfume industry).
        Have fun!

        • RussellH says:

          Totally agree about Cannes. The super posh Ab-Fab bit is only part of the coastal strip. The rest is real small town France, and the old town, on a rock served by tiny electric buses is very nice.

          • Polly says:

            Cannes, a nicer grander version of Nice, and really easy to get to. Agree Grasse a very nice place to visit, lovely lunch there once.

      • Brighton Belle says:

        Take the 100 bus that goes to Monaco or Menton. Get off at Beaulieu Baie des Fourmis Take the coastal path around Cap Ferrat. … it’s on all the map tools. Short walk 90 mins, long walk 3 hours. Stop for coffee in Cap Ferrat village. Take the no 15 local bus from Cap Ferrat port back to Nice. Bus tickets allow free transfer within 74 mins. The walk is well signposted and Google will find it.

      • Brighton Belle says:

        No buses or trans in Nice today 6 Feb as it’s the regular strike. Trains ok and you can get to Nice on the train from the Gare St Augustin near the airport. Well marked from Terminal 1

      • Rob says:

        Antibes and the Picasso Museum there

        • The Savage Squirrel says:

          +1 to this; museum pretty good – rest of Antibes lovely 🙂

          Any of the hilltop villages inland such as Vence or Gourdon are worth a visit too if you have a car.

      • ali says:

        Thank you!

      • Darren says:

        Villefranche sur Mer.

        Villa de Rothschild.

    • RussellH says:

      We stayed at the Holiday Inn in Nice on a points break two years ago. Nothing special, of course, but nicer than many HIs in the UK and much more comfortable. Given that they were digging up the road outside at the time for the tram, there should be a very convenient tram stop too.
      Problem was that after our first night the room was not properly done, just skimmed over and I had to complain and it did get sorted out.
      It is about 5 mins walk from the Promenade des Anglais, there are any number of cafes and restaurants in between where you can get breakfast at a reasonable price. Our only experience of the hotel bar was the free beer on arrival!

    • Andi says:

      Hi Anna

      Are you set specifically on Nice? As a regular visitor to the Cote D’Azur I can recommend basing yourself in Cannes. Hotel wise there’s a decent JW Mariott which is next to the ever impressive Intercontinental Carlton – both of which I can recommend. There are also a number of other very good options including the reccomended-by-a-friend 5* Radisson Blu (if you have Amex Plat, you can get status) – in many ways a bigger choice than Nice.

      The train to Nice is very easy for a day trip or two but there is also the option to visit Juan les Pains and Antibes. It is also worth noting that the beaches south of Antibes are sandy whereas Nice has pebble beaches. I have stayed before towards the end of September as the peak season is finishing and have been able to secure some really decent rates at the IC but especially at the JW which has some nice suites (but is not in the same league as the IC).

      • Anna says:

        Hi Andi, I’ve previously spent a week in the Esterel area but am looking for an opportunity to speak French as I’m doing the A level to keep my brain ticking over in retirement! I thought that basing myself in a city would give the best chance of interacting with as many French speakers as possible. I don’t fancy Paris again at the moment.

    • Brian says:

      You really should look at Airbnb. Lots of lovely central apartments. You will get much more for your money than from a hotel. Nice is one of the places, like Paris, where Airbnb comes into its own, due to the discrepancy between what you pay and what you get when it comes to hotels.

      • Anna says:

        Good idea, I need to get into Airbnb. I just worry that they will cancel just before I get there!

        • Rhys says:

          Airbnb is great – I’ve used it probably 10-15 times now, only had good experiences.

        • Polly says:

          Or chose a smaller pension back from the front, more people to speak french to…even in some of the little restaurants, minimal English spoken so you have to practice. Well done on doing a french A level too..

  • Tom says:

    What does
    BA Consumer Base -9809 points
    BA CON partner point -1540 points
    Avios Bonus 2 -34 points
    mean?

    These are on my points on the BAPP

    • MattB says:

      In no particular order……BA spend, non BA spend, bonus spend From the spend £4 get 1 bonus point offer

      I think

  • Sussex bantam says:

    “Dull middle management types”. Cheers Rob !

    • Rob says:

      As someone on Flyertalk posted about the Bonvoy launch video:

      “I like the video – it’s very Starwood, with no Utah-based Tumi-tugging Accenture consultants in poor fitting suits sitting in a lounge drinking Bud Light out of plastic cups in sight.”

      I have stayed, twice, at Sheraton Frankfurt Airport so it was clearly tongue in cheek. Once I got the Presidential Suite complete with a fully functioning kitchen and dining table for 10, which was a bit OTT given that we were leaving about 8 hours after we checked in!

    • Shoestring says:

      @Sussex bantam – heh heh 🙂

      I don’t think having the Marriott and Sheraton brands side by side is surprising at all. Surely they are the 2 best brands to choose for the target market – high % of blue chip salarymen using the most dependable quality hotel chains where you absolutely know what to expect in terms of offering. MB must also be very proud of the success of Marriott (the hotel brand) and this looks like a very safe choice. There must be vast numbers of users who are ‘wedded’ to Marriott and will always seek out a Marriott wherever they go, so this taps into that business, providing something that is very different to Sheraton for users IMV, even if you drill down and conclude they end up being like two peas from the same pod. Going back to safe choice: nobody is going to get sacked for this if in a year or so the y-o-y comparatives end up worse for the Marriott bit compared to the Sheraton bit – and if this is the first location offering both Sheraton & Marriott (or first big location), and the numbers look good in a year’s time, mgt will of course be patting themselves on the back that they made the FA site attractive to Marriott loyalists and increased usage. Whereas if it were Sheraton + ANOther more esoteric brand from the MB stable, and the numbers weren’t so good later on, that would be seen as resulting from poor targeting ie a bad brand choice.

    • Chrisasaurus says:

      *glances at hfp while checking out of Durham Marriott*
      heeeey!

  • Phatbear says:

    Totally OT, sorry.

    I have to cancel some avios flights which i used a 2 for 1 lloyds voucher.

    When i cancel do they give me a new voucher, which would have expired if i hadnt used it or do they give me the points which the voucher represents also do i get the tax back etc?

    • Neil Donoghue says:

      Nope! You lose the voucher and get the points you paid back.

      • Phatbear says:

        So if my flights cost 10000 in eco and im flying premium, but therefore only paying 10000 points due to the upgrade voucher i only get 10000 points back?

        • Rob says:

          Yes. The Lloyds vouchers, unlike the Amex vouchers, are ‘use it or lose it’. If you cancel, tough luck.

          • Brighton Belle says:

            Sob, ….I lost a flight to Moscow in Biz by cancelling and not understanding the rules. There is no merit in being a newbie.

        • Peter K says:

          Yes. And it’s an upgrade voucher, not a 2-4-1 voucher.

          • Rich says:

            Actually, even though they call it an upgrade voucher, it’s better to think of it as a discount voucher.

            Dispel any notion of booking one class and using the voucher to upgrade. You search for, and book the cabin you want to travel in, and use the voucher to reduce to cost to what the lower cabin would have been.

        • TGLoyalty says:

          You can change the date to the same or even another destination within the same band though.

          • Phatbear says:

            Thanks changing date may be an option currently sitting on a ward and been diagnosed with blood clots on my lungs and been advised against long distance travel for a while and sposed to be off to japan in 3 weeks.

          • Neil Donoghue says:

            They will charge you £35 per person to date change and there is also limitations on how far you can change the date. It’s a little complicated but essentially if your voucher was due to expire in June 2019 then the latest date change you can do is July 2020. Hopefully this rule doesn’t apply to you.

          • BJ says:

            Also has to be the same cabin.

          • Peter K says:

            @phatbear hope you recover fully soon.

          • Lady London says:

            Hope you get better soon @Phatbear. Glad it wasnt discovered while you were on a plane.

            I suggest you look into changing rather than cancelling. If you are a bit busy to think about options right now I suggest you call and push the date ahead as far as possible then bring it back to route/date you want when you’ be had time to think about it. Guessing 2*£35 change fees worth it to have the option.

            Good luck.

    • Phatbear says:

      Thanks everyone for your input once ive escaped the NHS’ finest i’ll give them a ring and see wot they can do

    • AndyGWP says:

      Does anyone know how it works and if it’s BA forcing the flight cancellation and you can’t reschedule?

    • Charlieface says:

      Airlines are often lenient when major medical issues come up, so maybe it’s worth asking nicely.

  • FS says:

    Morning. Sorry if I’m just not looking properly but I cannot see the link to enter the Qatar competition. 🤦🏼‍♀️

    • Nick says:

      Win a FANTASTIC prize on Head for Points on Friday!

      Tomorrow morning we are launching a great new competition on Head for Points

      Perhaps you are ahead of yourself?

    • LB says:

      Slightly OT but regarding Avois redemptions…I recently booked the outward journey (online) on my BA 241 voucher and waited for the return journey (from a different airport) to become available. When I phoned BA to add the return journey to the 241 I was told I would have to pay the £70 fee (two people) for amending the booking. I thought this only applied if I could have made the return reservation online but I didn’t think I could do this with a 241 voucher. I am wrong?

      • Neil Donoghue says:

        You are correct! Speak to another agent

      • Trickydic says:

        BA will waive the £35 pp fee if you phone them to make a new booking which could not be completed on-line. You have already made a booking and are choosing to amend it so they are quite correct to charge the fee. At least you managed to get the return flights which is good.

        • MattB says:

          That’s incorrct

        • LB says:

          Thanks for the replies.

        • the_real_a says:

          They waive the fee for things you COULD do online, but for some reason could not due to system failures… Of course an agent might not know what can and cant be done etc…

  • Shoestring says:

    Still Thursday

    • FS says:

      Haha. That would explain it. 🤦🏼‍♀️ I’m clearly far too keen! Thanks. 😊

  • jamie says:

    ANy reason why no IHG properties in the USA taking part? That’s a major drawback

    • BJ says:

      Only if you’re going to the USA.

      • The Original David says:

        The entirety of mainland China, Hong Kong and Taipei are missing too. Don’t take it personally…

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