What a nice place this is! I'm so glad I chose it when visiting family in the area. After experiencing downtown Frankfurt on a busy day, I was so glad I was in a residential neighborhood rather than in daytime frenzy and (sometimes) lurid nightlife in the city center! This Best Western sits at a 3-point intersection where Homburger Landstrasse meets Friedberger Landstrasse at the Friedberger Warte (watchtower; now a restaurant). The hotel is close to the 661 (exit 9) by auto, and an extension of a U tram is being built up the middle of Friedberger, so downtown will soon be a short ride away (www.hotmap.com/frankfurt). The airport is a 38-euro taxi ride but is easier than taking bags on the airport train to the Hauptbanhof and changing to the U line.

The neighborhood is safe and pretty. A newcomer need only take care not to be hit by trams or bicyclists sneaking up from behind. A novice walker must watch that he stay in pedestrian lanes, and be alert for a ringing (or a person saying "ding-ding") behind him. Pedestrians have the upper hand at crosswalks, where stop-traffic buttons work fast and are universally obeyed. The compound of the U.S. Consulate is across the street, A market is a block away.

This hotel is special. The "IB" in its name stands for "Internationaler Bund," meaning the place is a partner with a program that trains special populations in job skills, in this case, the hotel industry. (For more information go to: www.internationaler-bund.de and choose "English".) The building is new construction, built about 5 years ago, very well soundproofed, with individual climate control (AC included) and furniture in like-new condition. Desk staff speak, or are learning, English at a faster rate than I am learning German.

I had a super room. I paid the slight extra for a guaranteed smoke-free room on one of the top floors, though cigarette smoke was never a problem. It was noticeable only on the first level, which is the conference facilities. Needless to say, my room was very clean -- I can't quite say "spotless" because there were some drip marks on the carpet from accidents with bleach. I lucked into a corner room; it included a sofa so could sleep three. There was a large bathroom with a luxurious, glass-enclosed shower and a robe waiting for me. There was a programmable safe in the clothes cupboard, plus minifridge, coffee service, wifi, cable TV (some channels in English), and both heat and air conditioning individually controlled, i.e., all the amenities of the expensive downtown 5-stars, at half the price. The card given to me with my room key had a "hotline number" to phone for any needs, such as a bath item forgotten when the room was set up. Notices pasted on windows apologized for noise from tram line work, but with windows closed no street sounds came in. (BTW: the front desk has a big box with a collection of power converters for electronic equipment from all parts of the world.)

Included in my room rate was a buffet breakfast as full of choices as any 5-star. I especially appreciated the Nurnberger sausages, fresh fruits, and breakfast pastries. Different kinds of fresh-baked hard rolls were popular with many guests, and one day I noticed that folks seemed to be getting Belgian waffles by special order. Must have been that morning's cooking lesson. Two mornings I noticed a small plate with a variety of dessert-like goodies that I speculated were samples of the previous night's pastry class.

There are two things in which this hotel let me down: one was that in the evenings the TV carried graphic advertisements for escort services, broadcast on what had been the children's entertainment channels by day. I needed a weather channel and porn was proffered. The other was a biggie: the beds.

My hotel bed is very important; I need a Marriott-quality bed wherever I go, being a senior with joint issues. When I first saw the beds in my room, I thought they had not been made up. This hotel is currently using the small beds made for cruise ships and riverboats: a pair of 2m by 1m bases, upon which, onboard ship, is placed a wide overlay for passengers wishing a matrimonial bed, or the bases are separated and given two single overlays for twin beds. This Best Western doesn't have the overlays! My beds were a pair of bases wrapped tightly in rubber sheeting, over which was stretched a bottom bedsheet. I was told that Germans love their beds hard, but THIS I did not expect! Nor did I expect that the bedlinens would be no more than just a narrow duvet (only the length and width of the bed; didn't cover all of me), and a 1m square pillow (?) that was loosely filled with a crackly, dusty substance. Fortunately, after a couple of painful hours on that bed, I realized I could use the cushions from the sofa to make my bed softer, and the bathrobe rolled up under my head for a pillow. Sadly, the bed arrangement keeps this place from being 5-star quality...and will keep me from being able to stay there again.

I sensed that upgrades are ongoing, perhaps as budget allows. I am hoping that before I am in Frankfurt again this hotel will have the overlays -- hopefully the marvelous new memory-foam overlays like the one on the Swiss riverboat that I had just disembarked. Guests who arrive by car can bring their preferred bedding from home, but I can't do that on a Lufthansa jet. The bilingual room information says management offers a "neck pillow" available on request; I didn't find out what that was. I hope by the time I will be there again, overlays -- and down pillows, too -- will be available on request...if not on all beds.....

And wider duvets............

Had a great 2 night stay. Needed a room with 2 beds, no problem. Room was huge, breakfast was really good buffet, bartender was great and the food in the reataurant was good. Location, it is fine for work, next to US consulate. Road is under major construction, putting a u line in. Will be a 4+ location when done. As is, 10 min walk, 20 min u train ride to downtown. I would recommend, especially for English speaking tourists.

This hotel is literally just around the corner from the US Consulate; nice if you have business there and need to stay over. There is public transportation within walking distance, but look it up on a map and print a timetable before you go if you need it, as the hotel staff seemed to be rather ill-informed about the location and schedule. When asked, I got "down the street there's a bus stop" and that was it. There is a streetcar stop in less distance in the other direction which is much more convenient to the downtown area. Open parking is free; garage parking 10€ per night. The Biergarten and Restaurant in the old Warte across the street is nice. The prices were reasonable and the service was friendly. We had a triple room which was quite large and perfectly fine for a long weekend. There was a huge road construction when we were there which made getting into the hotel parking lot a bit confusing.

This is an excellent hotel on the outskirts of Frankfurt.

It is located well within easy travelling distance to the city centre.

We also went to the Friedberger Warte restaurant across the road. This was an excellent choice of traditional german food. Great atmosphere and very friendly staff.

I look forward to visiting this hotel again.