Frankfurt Airport Marriott Hotel – What A Racist Experience!

After a long and tiring 12-hour flight from Singapore to Frankfurt in Singapore Airlines Business Class Airbus A350, my family and I were eagerly looking forward to a restful night’s sleep at the Frankfurt Airport Marriott Hotel before our onward journey to New York the next morning. However, what awaited us turned out to be a racist and disappointing experience that left us questioning our choice of accommodation.

Arriving at the Frankfurt Airport Marriott Hotel front desk around 9pm, we were greeted by what can only be described as an unfortunate check-in encounter. The front desk attendant addressed me as a Marriott Bonvoy Gold member, which I then politely say “actually, I’m a Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador elite.” The attendant then requested for my membership number saying, “it wasn’t populated in my reservation.” This immediately reminded me of another of my horrible check-in experience at the Bellagio Las Vegas.

Really? But you addressed me as a Marriott Bonvoy Gold elite a moment ago. Anyway, after correcting this oversight and providing my membership number, we were assigned a room on the ground floor, which I later discovered wasn’t in line with the Club Level floor I was expecting. As tired as we were, we managed to walk back to the front desk to address this issue requesting for a room on the upper floor, and the attendant said, “the club level floor wasn’t operational.”

An exchange with the front desk staff regarding the floor assignment led to a series of inconsistent explanations, but eventually we were later assigned a room on the 9th floor after a manager, and manager’s manager were summoned. This was one of the same floors we were initially told wasn’t operational. This ordeal left us feeling unwelcome and disgusted. The hotel made it clear that people with our type of skin color doesn’t belong at the top, but the ground floor.

Throughout the check-in process, we felt ignored and my Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador status wasn’t acknowledged or appreciated. No proper apologies were rendered, there was no welcome gift, and we weren’t informed about our elite benefits, which added to our disappointing experience. Something which made me questioned why I paid $250 (220 Euros) here when I could have been better off at a downtown hotel, or even at the airport terminal. See another of my disappointing experience at The St. Regis New York.

Our assigned room was what one would typically expect from an airport hotel – a functional space with the basics needed for a few hours of rest. The accessible room served its purpose for our brief stay, featuring an uncomfortable bed, a sectional couch.

The other end of the room featured a table and chair, a refrigerator, heater/air conditioning system that barely worked, and other amenities.

Bathroom was what you would expect at a Marriott hotel, featuring a walk-in shower, a sink, and other basic bathroom amenities.

While we had hoped for a restful night’s sleep to recover from our long-haul flight, the unsettling racist experience at check-in left us restless. Unable to ignore our discomfort, we found ourselves awake at 2am, deciding to cut our losses and check out at 4am to return to the airport terminal.

Verdict:

In conclusion, our stay at the Frankfurt Airport Marriott Hotel was marked by a deeply disappointing and disheartening encounter that marred what should have been a routine overnight stay. The acts of racism, absence of appreciation for my loyalty as a Marriott Ambassador, coupled with the inconsistent communication and treatment received, cast a shadow over our entire experience. This was a waste of my $250 (220 Euros), and it saddens my heart that there are some people out there who takes joy in racist activities. Because that was what this treatment was all about.

Would I consider returning to this hotel in the future? Regrettably, the answer is a resounding “NO.” The memories of this experience are too vivid, and the sense of unwelcome hospitality too pronounced to warrant a second chance. Lastly, this is not one hotel I would recommend to anyone.