Where to Stay in Frankfurt: Best Areas & Hotels

Founded by the Romans in the 1st century BCE, Frankfurt am Main may only be the fifth-largest city in Germany, but it is one of its most important banking and financial hubs. The capital of the Hesse Bundesland is known for its collection of shiny skyscrapers, renovated medieval buildings and shopping malls, and especially for being one of Europe’s most prominent rail and air hubs. Home to one of the busiest railway stations and the third-busiest airport in the EU, Frankfurt is one of the main gateways to Germany and Europe. That fact, combined with its lovely and contrasting downtown area, many attractions, and excellent transport connections, make Frankfurt one of the most visited places in Germany. If you are looking for the best areas to stay in Frankfurt, you have come to the right place.

Located in the west of Germany, on the banks of the River Main, Frankfurt is considered Europe’s economic capital. The city is the headquarters of the European Central Bank and many other important financial institutions and large corporations. As such, it’s one of the world’s leading business travel destinations. Furthermore, its city centre features many examples of German medieval architecture, including the Frankfurter Römer, the Cathedral, the old Saint Nicholas Church and Eschenheimer Tor. Thanks to its status as the most visited business and congress tourist destination in Germany, Frankfurt has a fair share of modern hotels for all tastes and budgets. In recent years, the city has also seen a surge in boutique accommodation, especially in the old town.

It doesn’t matter if you visit Frankfurt on a business trip, for shopping or for culture. Keep reading this article to learn more about the best places to stay in Frankfurt am Main.

Accommodation Options in Frankfurt

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What’s the Best Area to Stay in Frankfurt, Germany?

Unsurprisingly, the best area to stay in Frankfurt is the City Centre, especially if you’re a first-time visitor or a business traveller. Frankfurt’s city centre comprises the Old Town (Altstadt), the Central Business District, and the Central Station Quarter. Central Frankfurt is also where some of the best-rated hotels in town are located.

Find available accommodation in Frankfurt City Centre.

Best Hotels in the Centre of Frankfurt am Main

• Best five-star hotel: Steigenberger Frankfurter Hof
• Best four-star hotel: NH Collection Frankfurt City
• Best three-star hotel: Motel One Frankfurt-Römer
• Best budget hotel: Hotel Hübler
• Best B&B/guest house: B&B My Place
• Best hostel: Jugendherberge Frankfurt – Haus der Jugend
• Best tourist apartments: Studiohouse Frankfurt

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Where to Stay in Frankfurt for Sightseeing

As mentioned above, the City Centre is the best location for tourists in Frankfurt. That said, central Frankfurt is made up of many different quarters, and some of the attractions can be found in other areas. These are some of the most interesting Frankfurt districts:

• Home to the historic Frankfurter Römer, Alte Nikolaikirche, Historisches Museum Frankfurt and the Cathedral, the Zentrum-Altstadt district is Frankfurt’s quaint Old Town. Some of the best properties in this charming quarter include the Hotel Schopenhauer Hof and the boutique Motel One Frankfurt-Römer.
• A couple of hundred metres from the Old Town and centred around the Zeil shopping street, Innenstadt is Frankfurt’s main business district. This busy commercial area is home to some of the city’s best hotels, including the Sofitel Frankfurt Opera, JW Marriott Frankfurt Hotel and Moxy Frankfurt City Center.
• Bahnhofsviertel, Frankfurt’s central railway station quarter, is probably the Frankfurt area with the broadest accommodation offer. Some great hotels include the AMERON Frankfurt Neckarvillen Boutique and the Scandic Frankfurt Museumsufer.
• Known for its many museums, including the Städel Museum, the Museum of World Cultures and the German Film Museum, Sachsenhausen is one of the best areas to stay in Frankfurt for culture seekers. Some great boutique options in this Frankfurt quarter include The Blasky and Libertine Lindenberg.

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The Best Areas for Tourists in Frankfurt: District by District

1. Zentrum-Altstadt: Best Location in Frankfurt for Sightseeing

Home to many historic landmarks, quaint squares and gothic churches, Zentrum-Altstadt, Frankfurt’s Old Town, is also where many of the city’s best hotels are found.

Why is this the best area to stay in Frankfurt:
• Heart of the city
• Best area for sightseeing
• Römerberg
• Great public transport connections
• Gothic architecture
• Walking distance to most attractions
• Great for leisure and business travellers

Without a doubt, Zentrum-Altstadt is one of the best areas to stay in Frankfurt, Germany.

This district’s name can be translated as “City Centre-Old Town”; needless to say, it’s located in the central area of Frankfurt. Zentrum-Altstadt is less than a square kilometre in size, and its current boundaries roughly match those of the walled medieval town.

This commercial and historic district is centred around the Römerberg. This “Mountain of the Romans” has been the seat of the Frankfurt city administration since the 15th century. The area is home to the oldest buildings in the city, most of which had to be rebuilt after the Second World War. Today, the square is considered the heart of Frankfurt and regularly hosts concerts, festivals and markets.

A few steps away lies the gothic Frankfurt Cathedral, one of the only buildings in the city to survive the Second World War bombings. While its exterior was for the most part spared, the interior was completely destroyed by fire and has since been rebuilt.

Other unmissable attractions in the Altstadt include the History Museum, the Old St. Nicholas Church, and the Neue Altstadt, a quaint area of cobbled streets and restored medieval buildings home to cafés and art galleries. 

Zentrum is the best-connected area in Frankfurt thanks to its numerous metro and tram stops and its proximity to the Central Station.

Hotels in this area tend to have slightly higher rates than the rest of the city, but it is well worth it for both leisure and business travellers.

Best Hotels in Zentrum-Altstadt

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2. Innenstadt (Central Business District): Best Location in Frankfurt for Business Travellers

Home to some of the tallest skyscrapers in Europe, Frankfurt’s Financial District is a dynamic business and commercial area packed with shopping areas and some of the best hotels in the city.

Why is this the best area to stay in Frankfurt:
• Very central location
• Modern architecture
• Zeil shopping streeet
• Close to the Old Town and the Central Station
• Best area for business travellers
• Walking distance to most attractions
• Impressive selection of luxury & business hotels

Innenstadt, literally “inner city”,  is a Frankfurt district located directly north of Altstadt. It used to be a part of the walled city of Frankfurt. 

While Altstadt is the oldest part of Frankfurt and is famous for its medieval architecture, Innenstadt is known for its tall office buildings and modern skyscrapers, some of which are among the tallest in Germany and Europe.

Dominating Frankfurt’s skyline is the Commerzbank tower, a 56-story, 259 metres tall skyscraper completed in the early 1990s that is the city’s (and Germany’s) tallest building. Other noteworthy skyscrapers in Frankfurt’s Financial district include the Main Tower (200 m), Taunusturm (170 m), and the 148 metres Eurotower, the headquarters of the European Central Bank.

But Innenstadt is much more than banks and offices. The area is also home to several prestigious shopping centres and department stores. Frankfurt’s most famous shopping street is Zeil, a busy pedestrianised boulevard with shops, restaurants and some of the best hotels in Frankfurt.

Other attractions in the Innenstadt area include quaint tree-lined squares such as Hauptwache and Konstablerwache, as well as the Old Opera House and Eschenheimer Tor, a medieval watchtower and old city gate.

Innenstadt is very easy to navigate on foot, and its many metro and tram stations allow you to move to other areas in Frankfurt easily. Both the Old Town and Central Railway Station are within walking distance.

Best Hotels in Frankfurt’s Financial District

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3. Westend & Frankfurt Messe: Best Area to Stay in Frankfurt for Families

Home to the city’s trade fair and several family-friendly attractions, Westend is a recommended area to stay in Frankfurt for a business trip and those travelling with children.

Why is this the best area to stay in Frankfurt:
• Good transport connections
• Messe Frankfurt makes it the best area for trade fairs
• Best area to stay in Frankfurt with kids
• Naturmuseum Senckenberg
• Palmengarten
• Upscale area
• Wide variety of hotels

As its name implies, Frankfurt’s Westend district is located west of the city centre. While, for statistical purposes, it is divided into Westend-Süd and Westend-Nord, the area is generally seen as a unit by locals. 

The Westend is traditionally considered an upscale district with bourgeois, well-off residents and above-average real estate prices. Together with Bahnhofsviertel and the districts of Nordend and Ostend, Westend is part of Frankfurt’s inner city districts.

Until the 1950s, the Westend was still a purely low-density residential area. A decade later, however, new office skyscrapers started to be built, especially around Opernplatz.

Noticeably more luxurious than the surrounding areas, Westend is also known for its many family-friendly attractions and local landmarks. Some of the most famous kid-friendly sights in the district include Naturmuseum Senckenberg, a natural history museum with dinosaur bones; Experminta ScienceCenter, which offers interactive displays about science; and the Palmengarten, one of three botanical gardens in Frankfurt am Main. Together with the Frankfurt Botanical Garden and the Grüneburgpark, Palmengarten forms the largest inner-city green space in Frankfurt.

Nearby, the Goethe University Frankfurt is the fourth-largest university in Germany and one of the world’s leading research universities. It is headquartered in the IG Farben Building, a modern-style complex building completed in 1930.

On the district’s western edge lies the expansive Messe Frankfurt. With a busy yearly calendar covering around 250 different trade shows, fairs, conferences and exhibitions, the Messe Frankfurt is Europe’s number one trade show destination and one of Frankfurt’s economic drivers.

From a visitor’s perspective, Westend is one of the best areas for a trip to Frankfurt am Main. The district is much quieter than other downtown areas, has a lot of charm, and is home to many of Frankfurt’s parks, museums and attractions. More importantly, the area is packed with all kinds of hotels and offers good transport links to Altstadt and other areas.

Best Hotels in Westend (Frankfurt)

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4. Sachsenhausen: Best Location in Frankfurt for Museums & Local Cuisine

Located on the south bank of the Main River in central Frankfurt, the Sachsenhausen district is one of the most interesting in the city.

Why is this the best area to stay in Frankfurt:
• Fairly central location
• Cider taverns and local restaurants
• Museumsufer
• Best area in Frankfurt for culture lovers
• Südbahnhof
• Well-connected by public transport
• Many mid-range & budget hotels

Known primarily for its cider taverns, Alt-Sachsenhausen, on the district’s northern end, attracts tourists and locals thanks to its high concentration of restaurants specialising in local cuisine. 

This expansive and relatively quiet area is also home to some of Frankfurt’s most interesting museums and other cultural attractions, including the Städel Museum, the German Film Museum, the Museum of Applied Arts, the Museum for Communication Frankfurt and the Icons Museum. 

Most of these museums are located on the Museumsufer, a lovely riverside promenade that runs along the Main River.

A few blocks south of Museumsufer is the Südbahnhof (South Train Station), which offers tram, U-Bahn and S-Bahn services to all of Frankfurt, as well as regional and long-distance (including high-speed ICE) connections to the rest of Germany and beyond.

Connecting Museumsufer and Südbahnhof, Schweizer Straße is a lively commercial street with a local flavour packed with bars, terraces, shops, and public transit stops. Meanwhile, the Frankfurt University Hospital dominates the western edge of the district.

Sachsenhausen’s southern end comprises lower-density residential areas and wooded parklands.

Best Hotels in Sachsenhausen (Frankfurt)

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5. Bahnhofsviertel: Cheapest Area to Stay in Central Frankfurt

Home to Frankfurt’s Central Railway Station, Bahnhofsviertel offers the widest variety of accommodation in town.

Why is this the best area to stay in Frankfurt:
• Very central location
• Frankfurt Central Railway Station
• Excellent public transport connections
• Modern architecture
• Cheap restaurants
• Wide variety of hotels

Literally known – due to its meaning in German – as the “train station quarter”, Bahnhofsvertel is one of the most vibrant districts in all of Frankfurt. 

It is located directly east of the Hauptbahnhof, Frankfurt’s largest and Germany’s second-busiest railway station. Opened in 1888, this grand terminal offers train connections to every imaginable corner of Germany and international services to France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Because of its central location and proximity to the Hauptbahnhof, this Frankfurt quarter became an extension of the city’s Central Business District and is home to several well-known skyscrapers and highrises.

Some of the best-known skyscrapers in the area include the Silberturm and the Gallileo, as well as the Skyper in Taunusstraße and the Union Building on Wilhelm-Leuschner-Strasse. The latter was built in 1931 and was the city’s first high-rise tower.

Connecting the train station with the City Centre, Kaiserstraße and Taunusstraße have somewhat of a reputation as Frankfurt’s red-light district. This part of the city is known for its many adult cinemas, casinos and nightclubs. Because of this, the Bahnhofsvertel can be unsafe at night, particularly around these establishments.

That said, the area is perfectly safe for tourists during the day, and you shouldn’t experience any trouble during your stay if you use common sense.

Best Hotels in Frankfurt’s Train Station Quarter

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6. Gallusviertel: A Great Area to Stay in Frankfurt for Leisure & Business Travellers

Not far from the Hauptbahnhof and Trade Fair, Gallus is the place to find great value for money when it comes to accommodation in Frankfurt-am-Main.

Why is this the best area to stay in Frankfurt:
• Fairly central location
• Close to the Central Railway Station
• Messe Frankfurt
• Business hotels
• Skyline Center
• Wide variety of mid-range hotels and great prices

Frankfurt’s Gallus quarter is located north of the Central Train Station. 

The district got its name from the former gallows field west of the medieval city limits of Frankfurt. The name derives from the Galluswarte, one of the four medieval watchtowers in the city. 

Formerly an industrial area, Gallusviertel is now one of the busiest business districts in the country, thanks partly to the nearby Messe Frankfurt. Considered the largest trade fair, congress and event organiser in the world, Messe Frankfurt is officially located in the districts of Bockenheim and Westend-Süd. Still, its area of influence can be felt in Gallus.

Gallus is home to the expanding Europaviertel. Centred around Europa Allee, this new inner-city district is built on the site of Frankfurt’s former central freight station. When completed, this ambitious urban development project will have offices, hotels, apartments, a school and social infrastructure, parks, shopping and leisure facilities.

The soaring Tower 185, a 200-metres high skyscraper complete with a restaurant and bar at the top, is the newest landmark in this busy neighbourhood.

The area is also home to Skyline Plaza, one of Frankfurt’s busiest shopping centres and is very well-connected to the rest of the city thanks to its S-Bahn (Galluswarte) and U-Bahn (Festhalle/Messe) stations. Frankfurt’s Hauptbahnhof is also within walking distance from most of the district.

Gallus offers various accommodations, especially mid-range and upscale hotels catering to business travellers. That said, room fares in this quarter tend to be noticeably lower than those of the city centre.

Best Hotels in Gallus

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7. Gutleutviertel: Best Area for Young Travellers to Frankfurt-am-Main

Sandwiched between the Main River and the Central Station, up-and-coming Gutleutviertel is one of the best districts to stay in Frankfurt if you’re looking for a hip and modern area with bars and restaurants.

Why is this the best area to stay in Frankfurt:
• Fairly central location
• Near Frankfurt’s Central Railway Station
• Good public transport connections
• Modern architecture
• Emerging restaurant and nightlife scene
• Marina Westhafen

Frankfurt Gutleutviertel is located on the north bank of the Main, between the river and the train tracks leading to the Hauptbahnhof. 

This district, literally “of the good people”, got its name from the Gutleithof, a leprosy hospital established in the 13th century in what used to be agricultural land outside Frankfurt’s city walls.

The quarter was mainly urbanised in the late 19th century as a working class and industrial area and is centred around Gutleutstraße, a long street that crosses the district from east to west.

Today, Gutleutviertel is mainly known for its modern residential and commercial developments, especially around Marina Westhafen and along the river, where some of the city’s hottest cocktail bars and restaurants can now be found. 

The area’s best-known landmark is perhaps the 109-meter-high Westhafen Tower. Completed in 2004, this mixed-used highrise is popularly known as “the Gerippte” because of its facade reminiscent of a traditional apple wine glass. 

Gutleutviertel’s location near the railway station and its wealth of hip bars and restaurants make it one of the best areas to stay in Frankfurt am Main for young travellers.

Best Hotels in Gutleutviertel

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8. Ostend: A Fun and Budget-Oriented Area to Stay

Home to the new European Central Bank headquarters and Frankfurt Zoo, Ostend is an up-and-coming district in Frankfurt.

Why is this the best area to stay in Frankfurt:
• Fairly central location
• Near Frankfurt’s East Railway Station
• Good public transport connections
• Central European Bank and rivervires
• Mid-range and budget accommodation in Frankfurt
• Frankfurt Zoo

Southeast of the city centre and on the north bank of the River Main lies the Ostend district.

Traditionally an industrial portside area, this Frankfurt quarter has grown into one of the city’s coolest and most popular districts.

From a visitor’s perspective, this area is known for being home to Frankfurt Zoo. Founded in 1858, the second-oldest zoological garden in Germany features over 4,500 animals of more than 510 species and is a popular tourist attraction.

Not far, near the river, is the European Central Bank headquarters. This modern twin-tower skyscraper was opened in 2015 and offers a great view of the River Main and the city’s skyline in the distance.

Ostend is also home to Frankfurt Ost Station, which offers U-Bahn, S-Bahn and Regionalbahn services.

Best Hotels in Ostend (Frankfurt)

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9. Frankfurt International Airport: Best Location for a Short Trip or a Stopover in Frankfurt

Flughafen Frankfurt (FRA) is one of the largest and busiest in Europe.

Frankfurt Airport is one of the most important international gateways to Europe.

Thanks to its status as Lufthansa’s main hub, Frankfurt International handles thousands of daily flights worldwide. Frankfurt International Airport (FRA) is the leading international airport in Germany and one of the busiest on the European continent.

This major hub offers direct daily connections to most of the European continent, as well as to the Americas, the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

FRA is not too far from the Hauptbahnhof, which is connected by frequent S-Bahn services (roughly 25 minutes).

While the airport’s immediate area may not be the most convenient for leisure travellers, staying near the airport is probably a top priority for travellers who are simply looking for some rest during a long stopover.

Around FRA, there are many accommodations to suit all tastes and budgets.

Best Hotels near Frankfurt Airport

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Where to Look for Accommodation in Frankfurt-am-Main: Useful Info

Frankfurt is one of the most modern cities in Germany. Located in the Hesse Bundesland, in the west of the country and on the banks of the River Main, Frankfurt is one of the most cosmopolitan and dynamic cities in Germany.

Sometimes called “Mainhattan” due to its skyline full of glass skyscrapers and its position on the Main River, Frankfurt is the fifth-largest city in Germany. Frankfurt is home to the European Central Bank, which makes it the business capital of Germany and one of the most important financial hubs in the world.

Frankfurt is the gateway to the country and the European continent for many travellers. This is due to the importance of its airport, the central hub of German airline Lufthansa, Frankfurt International Airport holds several superlative records among world airports, including daily operations and several international destinations.

Although from a tourist point of view, Frankfurt may lack the old charm of Munich or Dresden or the dynamism and historical weight of Berlin, the city is interesting enough to spend a couple of days visiting the (reconstructed) medieval corners of its city centre, marvelling in front of its imposing skyscrapers or exercising your credit card in one of its many shopping centres.

Deciding where to stay in Frankfurt is vital, whether you are visiting the city for business or on a leisure trip.

Frankfurt has an excellent transport system, and its city centre is quite walkable. The most remote areas of Altstadt are connected by its several metro lines (U-Bahn) and commuter (S-Bahn)or regional trains.

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