Frankfurt Marriott Hotel – look into the future

As soon as you enter Frankfurt train station, you notice the competition among the city’s skyscrapers. Northwest of the train station, right next to the huge exhibition grounds, the Marriott Hotel stands out from the crowd of skyscrapers with a memorable 10 m high and 30 m long façade lettering that can be read from afar. The 159-metre-high high-rise was built in 1976 and has housed the Marriott Hotel with 588 rooms since 1989. To this day, the Marriott Frankfurt has been able to defend its position as the tallest hotel building on the European mainland.

As early as 2011, the entire exterior façade of the Marriott was renovated to make it more energy-efficient. After the Marriott shines in a new splendor from the outside, the hotel is now also being freed from the old burdens on the inside. Around 14,000 euros will be invested in each room so that in the end the 587 rooms (one room will be eliminated) will present themselves in a modern design.

At the moment, this work is in full swing. We were given a look behind the scenes for two days and were able to experience this hotel journey from the 20th to the 21st century live.

Our hotel journey through time started in one of the “old” rooms, where we spent the first night. Equipped with a fabulous green carpet (incl. yellow-blue-red pattern) and a CRT screen, I suddenly become aware of the reason for the renovation work. This is no longer the standard I would expect in a 5 star hotel. Only the view from the window to the skyline of Frankfurt has probably become more and more impressive over the years and makes you forget the somewhat “dusty” atmosphere. Since the rooms only start from the 28th floor (below that there are office and conference rooms), a bird’s-eye view of different parts of Frankfurt is ensured from every room.

Nevertheless, it sleeps quite well in the “old” rooms (it’s also dark, you can’t see the carpet) and we started the following morning well rested with a rich breakfast buffet and French charm in the Brasserie Ici.

This was followed by what was probably the most exciting part of the day with a look behind the scenes: how do hotel renovation work take place during ongoing operations? What do you need to pay particular attention to? What are the difficulties? And how will the Marriott transform?

First, we took a quick look at the conference rooms, which have already undergone the redesign. I am excited! The new rooms are very fresh, functional and with a pinch of humour (including Swiss German and toilet with a view). It definitely meets my taste!

Then we venture into the dirt of the construction site. Four weeks of conversion time are required for each floor and work is being carried out in parallel on four floors, which are in different construction phases. Thus, the 21st century is slowly feeling its way down from the 44th floor to the 28th floor. The rooms are practically completely “hollowed out”, only in the bathroom individual elements remain. Since additional power connections are also required due to various new requirements, such as installing reading lights or offering sockets right next to the bed, the redesign requires much more work than “just” replacing furniture.

One of the biggest challenges is dealing with the noisy work. These may only take place between 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m., which requires meticulous planning.

And now we were curious to see how the new rooms would present themselves, which we had previously only been able to guess at on the beautiful hand sketches.

Beautifully fresh, functional, with light colours, high-quality furniture and timeless design – it’s impressive what you can get out of these approximately 25 m². The carpet remains – “that’s Marriott” – and comes with a zebra pattern in the 21st century. Well, my enthusiasm remains restrained on this point, but overall I think the new room appearance is very successful. I am so enthusiastic about the new grey armchair with footrest that I would like to take it home in my bag. It would also look good in my living room. And yes, it also “sits” very comfortably in this armchair. Thumbs up dear Marriott, you have arrived in the 21st century and offer your guests what you want as a Marriott customer with the new rooms.

After a short relaxation break in the new room, it’s off to the Champions Bar at the Marriott in the evening. An American hotel without a sports bar serving burgers, sandwiches and chips? Unthinkable. At important sporting events such as the Champions League final between two German teams, there is of course a lot going on here. We were lucky enough to be present on this historic evening and cheered along with the football fans. Well, at least most of us. I was of the opinion that my burger deserved more attention than the gentlemen on the screen.

After such an eventful day, we finally snuggled contentedly under the duvet of the new bed and fell asleep with the scent of the redesign in our noses and dreamed of the exciting journey through time.

Note: I was invited to this hotel journey through time by the Marriott Hotel Frankfurt – thank you very much for this. As always, my readers can be sure that I always represent my views and enthusiasm here.