SQ26/25 SIN-FRA-SIN A380 Biz & Suites: Frankfurt Xmas Markets & 2 Weeks in Portugal

[yflyer]

The JW Marriott Frankfurt is a modern highrise, ideally located close to the Zeil and many of the historic sights and town squares in Frankfurt. Until earlier this year, this hotel used to be the Jumeirah Frankfurt, a property of the Jumeirah luxury hotel chain. The Jumeirah Frankfurt closed in April 2022, and re-opened on 1 June 2022 as the JW Marriott Frankfurt.



The intimate lobby area of the hotel.



We would be here just for a one night stay, with an early departure the next day for Porto.



As the switchover from Jumeirah to JW Marriott had just taken place, the rooms and facilities were still pretty much what they were when it was a Jumeirah property. For example, there was no exec lounge. Rolling room renovations were planned in coming months, but no significant changes had been made yet, as far as I could tell. That said, the Jumeirah was already previously a top rated hotel property, with very good rooms.

Most importantly, the hotel staff and customer service approach were completely in line with the JW Marriott brand, and I was greeted warmly upon arrival as a Platinum member. Not just that, we had requested a room upon early arrival (at 8.30am in the morning!) and not only was this granted, but for our one night stay we were given the highest possible upgrade to a Suite. As there was no lounge, breakfast was complimentary, as were the contents of the minibar. Perfect! What a nice way to start our stay...

We headed up to our Suite...



The living room was large...



...with sofa and work desk...



We opened the curtains...



...and were greeted by a stunning view of the whole city from the 24th floor...



...with both historic buildings and the city's many skyscrapers within sight.

[yflyer]

The bedroom was spacious, with an enormous attached bathroom...



...with a large freestanding bathtub...



The bed was super comfortable, with high thread-count sheets and bedding...



What a comfortable place to spend the night!



There was a Nespresso machine...



...with complimentary coffee capsules and tea bags...



The minibar -- contents all complimentary for Marriott Platinum...

[yflyer]

The bathroom was huge, with twin bathroom sinks...



...and a dedicated dressing table area...



Large tubes of toiletries from Aromatherapy Associates...


Bidirectional wardrobe, accessible from within the bathroom, as well as the room corridor...



Large shower stall with rain shower...



Separate WC with standalone sink, accessible from both the bathroom and the living area...



The WC had a heated toilet seat and TOTO washlet...



...complete with remote control (!)...



The tub was one of our favourite room features...



Nothing quite like a long hot soak after a cold day out...

[yflyer]

After checking in, we headed for breakfast in the hotel restaurant...



Breakfast here was a semi-buffet, with an impressive buffet spread, as well as a la carte dishes...



A selection of juices...



Bread and pastries...



Honey from a honeycomb...



Cold cuts and cheese...



Cut fruit and birchenmuesli...



Hot dishes...



...including delicious sausages...



The a la carte menu had a great selection of egg dishes...



...and other delights...



We sampled the California, which was delicious!

[yflyer]

The hotel had an attached gym and pool, which was literally a large members-only gym adjoining the hotel...



This was a huge gym which clearly catered to a large crowd at peak hours...



There was an indoor swimming pool within the gym complex, which was also accessible to hotel guests, but we didn't visit it, as it involved entering through the changing rooms, and we weren't really dressed for that.

There was also a small library-themed hotel bar, which looked to be more the kind of place for quiet evening contemplation, than an exciting night out...

[yflyer]

Overall, we thought the JW Marriott Frankfurt was a wonderful hotel. The room we had was great, and customer service was warm and very personalised as well, with extra special treatment reserved for Marriott Platinum members that we really appreciated. The location of the hotel was near ideal as well, right smack in the middle of shopping and many local attractions, with easy access to Hauptwache train as well.

There are renovations expected in coming months, and I believe they would eventually build out an Executive Lounge as well, but even with the existing rooms, I would be very happy to stay at this hotel again.

[yflyer]

As always, upon arrival in a new city after a long flight, I shook off my jet lag with an orientation run to explore the city. From the JW Marriott, I headed out of the hotel, past the Galeria Frankfurt shopping mall towards St Katherine's Church...



At the square outside the church, I could see preparations for Christmas markets taking place, with stalls being set up...



I continued to Romerberg, a historic town square, surrounded by reconstructions of traditional timber houses...



Here as well, preparations for the upcoming Christmas markets were underway. The markets would be open by the time we returned to Frankfurt at the end of November.

I continued to the Eiserner Steg, a pedestrian bridge over the Main River...



...and crossed over to the other side...



...pausing briefly to read some of the romantic inscriptions on the padlocks chained to the bridge...



I continued my run on the southern bank of the Main River, along the tree-lined pedestrian path and promenade along Schaumainkai...



I passed the Liebieghaus sculpture museum...



...before continuing my run along the Main Promenade itself, right by the river...

[yflyer]

I crossed back over to the north bank, and continued my run there.

There were ducks along the river...many, many ducks...



I continued to Willy Brandt Platz, with its large Euro Sculpture...



Before running through Gallusanlage...



...and Tausnusanlage...



...which were both large parks flanked by Frankfurt's skyscrapers....



I eventually reached the Alte Opera Frankfurt...



...which was the old Opera house, still very much in use as a performance venue.



From there, I turned eastwards, and ran along the shopping streets of Kalbacher Gasse and Biebergasse back to the JW Marriott...



...making a short detour to take a look at the Eschenheimer Turm, a 15th century tower, part of the late Medieval fortifications of Frankfurt, and one of the oldest unreconstructed buildings in Frankfurt.



This was a very pleasant and scenic 6km route through Frankfurt -- a very nice intro and orientation to this bustling city.

[yflyer]

Later that day, I retraced my steps, at walking pace, with Mrs yflyer, as we took a slow stroll in fine weather through Frankfurt...



Back at the Alte Oper later that day...



...we saw children being entertained by a street performer with amazing bubble blowing skills...



Mrs yflyer had done some research on Frankfurt attractions, and took me on a walking tour of the West End neighbourhood of Frankfurt...

We headed to Ring der Statuen in Rothschildpark...



and saw the Gotischer Turm, or Gothic Tower...



...before ending our walk at Cafe Laumer...



...a charming cafe with excellent snacks and refreshments, where we spent some time...



...before taking the U-Bahn train back to our hotel.

We spent the rest of the day and evening exploring the Zeil shopping street, and the Galeria and MyZeil shopping malls adjoining the JW Marriott.

[yflyer]

What an enjoyable first day of our trip. Rather than catch a connecting flight straight to Porto from Frankfurt after our arrival from Singapore, we opted to break our journey and spend a day in Frankfurt, and we were glad we did. It certainly helped that our room at the JW Marriott was ready for us in the morning when we arrived. We used the room to freshen up, and as a base to explore Frankfurt that day.



We turned in early for the night, as we had an early morning flight to catch to Porto the next morning.

To be continued!

[SQfanatic]

What an enjoyable first day of our trip. Rather than catch a connecting flight straight to Porto from Frankfurt after our arrival from Singapore, we opted to break our journey and spend a day in Frankfurt, and we were glad we did. It certainly helped that our room at the JW Marriott was ready for us in the morning when we arrived. We used the room to freshen up, and as a base to explore Frankfurt that day.



We turned in early for the night, as we had an early morning flight to catch to Porto the next morning.

To be continued!

Excellent TR so far yflyer! I really liked how detailed you were on Singapore Changi Terminal 3, the A380 and definitely pics of Frankfurt and the JW Marriott hotel. Honestly, the JW I stayed at in Dubai on the first day for breakfast, we spent time hunting down for a la carte items and eventually went back to our original buffet restaurant where the buffet had all options which were really good.

At some point, maybe on the way to India, we might visit Frankfurt and see the city and country of Germany. Looks like a beautiful place, though at this point of time it is Winter and the daylight is considerably less, especially since we want to all start breaking the flight times and not taking ultra long haul flights. It's just not suiting any of us in the long run.

Yeah, as balajih67 stated, I also take pics with my iPhone and have detailed how much I want to go into it, but also try to find that balance of taking pics at the right time while respecting everyone's privacy. There was a time I used to have both the camera & iPhone due to the fear of storage running out which has happened before but when buying the iCloud storage, it's not really been a problem for me and it's worth it.

I only hope that at some point I get to go to the Silver Kris lounge - Next year I'm thinking of really flying Star Alliance carriers as much as possible (maybe or maybe not in September), but definitely November for Hawaii (UA and their 77W) and maybe a Star alliance carrier to Europe next December/Jan 2024. Surely, my dad is going to stay Silver but hopefully at a later point go Gold since now much of the flights he's taking Premium Economy.

As always, looking forward to reading the rest of your TR!

[SQ218]

Thanks for another great report yflyer. Look forward to checking out the Lounge in March when in transit from a red eye.

wow honey served from the honeycomb. First time I've seen such a thing.

[yflyer]

Excellent TR so far yflyer! I really liked how detailed you were on Singapore Changi Terminal 3, the A380 and definitely pics of Frankfurt and the JW Marriott hotel.

Thanks, SQfanatic!

At some point, maybe on the way to India, we might visit Frankfurt and see the city and country of Germany. Looks like a beautiful place, though at this point of time it is Winter and the daylight is considerably less, especially since we want to all start breaking the flight times and not taking ultra long haul flights. It's just not suiting any of us in the long run.

I always enjoyed visiting cities in Germany, and as a bit of an Aviation buff, I like transiting through Frankfurt Airport (!). FRA can be a very intimidating place for first time travellers as it is huge and a bit confusing, but to me it is like a big amusement park...occasionally stressful, but memories are made of these...

I only hope that at some point I get to go to the Silver Kris lounge - Next year I'm thinking of really flying Star Alliance carriers as much as possible (maybe or maybe not in September), but definitely November for Hawaii (UA and their 77W) and maybe a Star alliance carrier to Europe next December/Jan 2024.

The Changi SilverKris J lounges are decent, but to be very objective, not the most jaw dropping I have been to. The best J lounges I have visited are the Virgin Clubhouse in LHR, UA Lounge in LHR (Surprise surprise), CX Lounges in HKG, QF Lounges in HKG and SIN (Sadly closed now I think), the QR Al Mourjan Lounge in Qatar, Finnair Premium lounge in Helsinki. The best F Lounges I've visited were QF in Sydney, EK in Dubai and CX in HKG. Interesting, many of the best lounges have been OW lounges and not Star.

Can't say SQ lounges overall have impressed me all that much over the years. They have been good rather than great. My favs have been the SQ BKK and LHR T2 lounges, and the new SQ SilverKris T3 F is nice too without being exceptional. I've not been to the SQ TPR.

[yflyer]

Thanks for another great report yflyer. Look forward to checking out the Lounge in March when in transit from a red eye.

wow honey served from the honeycomb. First time I've seen such a thing.

Thanks SQ218! Glad to hear you have a trip planned in March!

[yflyer]

Continuing with the TR...

The next morning, we had an early wake up call. No hardship there, as we were both still on Singapore timezone.

For our intra-Europe sectors, our ticket was a single ticket booked on TAP, with 4 flights:

FRA-OPO (Codeshare operated by LH)
LIS-FNC
FNC-LIS
LIS-FRA

This was a completely separate ticket from our SQ SIN-FRA-SIN sectors. This was also partly the reason why I opted to break our journey in Frankfurt for a day after arriving: Our TAP ticket was completely unlinked to our SIN-FRA ticket. If there was any disruption or delay to SIN-FRA, neither SQ nor TAP would have any obligation to help with our onward sectors.

I know this was very risk averse flight scheduling, but I usually plan huge buffers in my itineraries in case of flight disruptions, and we had a great day sightseeing in Frankfurt.

Once again we took the train to Frankfurt Airport.



This was a very short 20 minute train ride. The station itself was right under the airport, so getting to the terminal was quick.



We headed to the dedicated LH First/Business/Star Gold check in area. As our flight was an early morning flight flight, there were hardly any queues.



We used the Star Alliance Gold Track security queue, where there were just a handful of pax in line. The security check at FRA was impressively thorough, but we were airside very quickly...