Frankfurt Airport Hotel

Airport hotel guide for early flights, overnight connections and the new Terminal 3 at Frankfurt Airport.

Gateway Gardens Explained: The Hotel District One S-Bahn Stop from Frankfurt Airport

Gateway Gardens is the reason Frankfurt Airport has so many mid-price hotels: a 35-hectare business district on the north-east corner of the airport, built since 2005 on the former American military housing estate of the same name, with its own S-Bahn station since 2019 and nine hotels covered on this site. It is one stop from Terminal 1, 15 minutes from the city, and a different proposition from the hotels on the terminal walkway. This guide explains how it is laid out and how far each hotel is from the train.

Where it is

The district lies just north of the airport across the A3 motorway, at the Frankfurter Kreuz interchange where the A3 and A5 cross. The old Terminal 2 stood on the airport side of the motorway opposite the district, which is why several hotels still describe themselves as “ten minutes’ walk from Terminal 2”; since Terminal 2 closed in June 2026, that walk leads to a closed building, and the working links are the S-Bahn and the buses. The streets are named after aviation pioneers: Amelia-Mary-Earhart-Strasse, Bessie-Coleman-Strasse, De-Saint-Exupéry-Strasse, Thea-Rasche-Strasse, Georg-Baumgarten-Strasse.

Getting there

Gateway Gardens S-Bahn station opened in December 2019 on the S8 and S9 between Frankfurt Flughafen Regionalbahnhof and Frankfurt Stadion. From the regional station under Terminal 1 the ride is one stop and two minutes; from Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof about 12 minutes. Each line runs every 15 minutes, so a train comes every 7 to 8 minutes through the day, all night on Friday and Saturday, and until about 1:00 am on other nights. Bus X17 links Terminal 1 (bus stop 17) with the Gateway Gardens Mitte stop in the middle of the district, and bus X77 does the same from Terminal 3, which makes it the only direct public link between the new terminal and a hotel district. A taxi from Terminal 1 takes about five minutes by the motorway loop.

The hotels, by walking time from the station

None of the nine runs an airport shuttle in 2026; our hotel shuttles guide explains which hotels elsewhere do.

Eating and shopping

There is a REWE supermarket in the district, a bakery, a handful of restaurants including an Italian next to the Staycity, and the hotel restaurants themselves: the Park Inn and Holiday Inn dining rooms, the Moxy Bar, and THE ROOF at the b’mine, which is the district’s evening destination. Most places close early on weekends when the offices empty, so for a Sunday dinner plan on a hotel restaurant, the Staycafé or a kitchen of your own at the Staycity or Best Western.

Gateway Gardens versus the terminal hotels

The trade is simple. The Sheraton, Marriott, Hilton and Hilton Garden Inn let you walk to Terminal 1 under cover in five to ten minutes and cost accordingly. Gateway Gardens adds a two-minute train and a short walk, and saves a third or more of the rate outside trade fairs. For a departure before 6:30 am, or a Terminal 3 flight with the X77 timetable in hand, the district still works; for a late-night arrival, take a taxi from the terminal rather than waiting on the platform. Frankfurt’s trade fairs (Messe) fill every hotel here, and rates triple; check the Messe calendar before you assume Gateway Gardens is cheap on your dates.

Tips

Leave the station by the exit nearest your hotel; the Bessie-Coleman-Strasse exit serves the b’mine, MEININGER and Holiday Inn, the main exit the Hyatt Place and Best Western. Buy the return S-Bahn ticket when you buy the outbound, so the morning is one step shorter. And if a hotel page still promises a walk to Terminal 2, read it as a walk to nowhere: the S-Bahn is the link.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get from Frankfurt Airport to Gateway Gardens?

S-Bahn S8 or S9 from the regional station under Terminal 1, one stop and two minutes, every 15 minutes on each line, or bus X17 from Terminal 1 to Gateway Gardens Mitte. From Terminal 3, bus X77 runs to Gateway Gardens Mitte directly. A taxi from Terminal 1 takes about five minutes.

Which hotels are in Gateway Gardens?

Nine on this site: Hyatt Place, Holiday Inn, Hampton by Hilton, Park Inn by Radisson, Moxy, b'mine, Staycity, Best Western Hotel Airport Frankfurt and MEININGER. All are between two and eight minutes on foot from the S-Bahn station, and none runs an airport shuttle.

Is Gateway Gardens a good place to stay?

For price and transport, yes: rooms cost well under the terminal hotels, the S-Bahn reaches Terminal 1 in two minutes and the city in about 15, and there is a supermarket and a handful of restaurants. It is a business park, not a town, so evenings are quiet and the streets empty after office hours.

Information last verified: September 11, 2026