The LUME Boutique Hotel in Frankfurt impresses with stylish design and a perfect city location, but the loud bar in the building can become a real challenge. If you love urban flair and like to go out at night, you will feel at home – if you are looking for peace and quiet, there are definitely better options.
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Location
The Hotel LUME is located right next to Frankfurt am Main central station , so all the sights are easy to reach. For business appointments at the city’s many banks and institutions, the hotel is ideally located.
Frankfurt’s station district is not exactly known for being idyllic or relaxed. The hotel sits on the edge of the district, and you need to bring a good portion of big-city vibes to enjoy it. Squeezed in between a few high-rises, the building feels a little out of time, yet somehow very cool in its setting.
Getting there
With its rail connections and, of course, Germany’s largest airport, Frankfurt is excellently connected both domestically and internationally. From the airport you can reach the central station by S-Bahn in 15 minutes. Trains run roughly every 20 minutes.
Of course, you can also easily reach Frankfurt am Main by long-distance bus or by car.
How to get to the hotel
From the central station it is only a 7-minute walk to the hotel. Out of the main hall, straight ahead, and you are right at the hotel. We arrived by train and reached the hotel on foot quickly and without any trouble.
The hotel itself has no parking. If you like, you can drive up to the door to unload your luggage, though. The best place to park is one of the nearby multi-storey car parks.
Check-in & Welcome
We arrived at the Hotel LUME on foot in the afternoon. Since the entrance right behind the large double door consists of an imposing staircase, we first had to manoeuvre our suitcases up to the raised ground floor. The reception was quite busy, so we had to wait for the five parties ahead of us before we could check in.
The process was very professional and friendly. All questions about our Bonvoy status benefits were cleared up quickly. We chose breakfast and points and had our late check-out until 2 pm confirmed straight away.
Unfortunately, we did not get any further information about the history of the hotel, where the different areas are, or when and where we could have breakfast. To be fair, I have to admit that it was very busy, and at a different time things may well be different. Sadly, during our stay we found out that neither the breakfast nor the late check-out had been recorded. It was probably just too hectic.
Next to the reception there were sweets that changed daily, and in the lobby there is free water for everyone. That is pretty cool.
As a welcome gift, a letter and two small shots were waiting for us in the room.
LUME Boutique Hotel at a glance
Formerly known as the Neckarville Boutique, the hotel was rebranded in mid-2023 and has since been part of Marriott Bonvoy’s Autograph Collection under the name LUME Boutique Hotel.
LUME stands for Luxurious, Urban, Modern and Experience. Made up of four former Gründerzeit villas, the hotel offers 133 rooms and suites, divided into Standard Single Rooms, Comfort Double Rooms, Premium Double Rooms and the Boutique Junior Suite.
Since the 4 villas were only joined into one complex later on and were originally built as individual houses, the hotel building is rather maze-like, and the floor levels differ here and there. Two buildings each are joined together and are called Villa A and Villa B. On level 1 – the lobby level – there is a connection between the two building complexes.
Villa A houses the lobby with reception, concierge and a small library, and in the basement you will find the fitness area with sauna. In Villa B, the souterrain is home to the restaurant Le Petit Royal and the French Bento Bar.
Suite
As always, we had booked the cheapest room – in this case the Comfort Double Room. After a quick request via the Bonvoy chat and thanks to our Bonvoy Titanium Elite status, we were upgraded to a LUME Boutique Junior Suite, the hotel’s highest room category.
Living room and bedroom
The roughly 30-square-metre Junior Suite, number 323, consists of one larger room that serves as both living room and bedroom. When we entered, we found ourselves right in the living area, which is beautifully located in the bay of the floor. There is a comfortable sofa with two armchairs and a coffee table.
There is also a small desk with a tablet docking station and wireless charging. You can use the tablet in the suite to browse the internet, find information (including about the hotel) and communicate within the hotel.
Directly to the left of the door is the wardrobe with two compartments for hanging and storing clothes. Underneath each of the two compartments there is also space for shoes. We found that especially cool.
Between the two wardrobe compartments there is a mirrored bar with cups and glasses, the coffee machine and small snacks. Further down you will find the minibar, stocked with beer, wine, water and soft drinks. One bottle of still water is free; all other refreshments are not included and have to be paid for separately.
At the back of the room is the sleeping area. At the foot of the bed there is a chest of drawers with a bench in front of it. The TV is mounted on the chest of drawers and can be turned towards the bed or the living area as you like. This construction works quite well – also as a visual divider between the two areas of the room.
The queen-size bed comes with a large duvet and three pillows per person: a softer large one, a smaller firm one and a tiny decorative cushion. The light switches are on the bedside tables, and on the right one there is a small clock modelled on a 1960s alarm clock. What exactly it can do apart from showing the time was not entirely clear to us. We experimented a little but could not figure it out.
Bathroom
The relatively small bathroom consists of a centrally placed, antique-looking vanity with one washbasin. This is where you will find all the amenities and towels as well as the hair dryer, and even though all the standard toiletries are kept in this one spot, everything is very tidy and clear.
To the right of the vanity, the toilet is squeezed in quite tightly. To the left behind the bathroom door is the shower with a hand shower and rain shower head. Everything is very clean, new and looks elegant. For toiletries, the hotel provides shampoo, shower gel, conditioner and lotion by Phenhaligons.
However, we have to mention one peculiarity of this hotel here. Further down you can read more about the French Bento Bar in the souterrain of Villa B. On the usual party nights it is very busy. Along with the reportedly very good cocktails, the hip crowd is of course also served club beats. Naturally, this means that at least the rooms in Villa B cannot avoid a certain noise level. This does not make it easy for the hotel to fill the rooms on those nights, and accordingly the lower rooms on floors one and two are not given to guests.
Now, we had kindly been upgraded to a great Junior Suite, but it happened to be in Villa B. When we came back to the hotel in the evening, there was a crowd of bar guests more or less in front of our balcony, having a fantastic time. So we could already see a pretty restless night ahead of us. When we asked at reception, we were offered a standard room in Villa A, and were told that we would not hear anything from the bar there. We gave it a try, and indeed it was not too bad – but you could definitely still hear it. If you are a light sleeper and really need quiet, you will not be able to sleep here.
When we asked further, it was confirmed that there are quite a lot of complaints about the noise. Management’s policy apparently adds up in the sense that it seems more profitable to let the bar run at full throttle than to fill the hotel rooms. In our opinion, that is a rather strange way of setting priorities.
View
Suite number 323 is one of only two rooms with a small balcony. Apart from the room next door, the view is therefore unique. You look out onto the Deutsche Bahn high-rise opposite. Very impressive and, for Germany, really pretty cool.
Hotel activities
Fitness Center
The Private Gym is located together with the boutique sauna in the basement of Villa A. The room is quite small and, due to its location, has no windows, which unfortunately makes it feel rather confined. A few machines are available, as well as water, towels and lockers.
Spa
The Boutique Sauna is in the basement right next to the Private Gym; the two are connected by a small corridor. As the name suggests, there is only a sauna with a relaxation room and showers. You will also find two loungers and two alcoves. Everything is rather dark and a little low. Cosy in a strange way, but also very small for the size of the hotel.
Restaurants
Le Petit Royal
The Hotel LUME’s restaurant is located in the souterrain of Villa B, is well known in the city and very well booked. Here you can dine in a modern interpretation of a classic 1920s bistro and enjoy Mediterranean delicacies. If you are interested in eating here, we recommend booking in advance. We did not eat here during our stay.
Breakfast is also served at Le Petit Royal. You can find more about it further down in the breakfast section.
French Bento Bar
Attached to the Le Petit Royal restaurant, the French Bento Bar offers classic French drinks with a Japanese influence. The room is also located in the souterrain of Villa B and is decorated with light art by local artists. At weekends the bar is extremely busy and, quite literally, packed to bursting. Many of the guests stood outside the door smoking until the early morning and, in line with their alcohol levels, were cheerful, boisterous and loud.
Breakfast
At the Hotel LUME, breakfast is served in the Le Petit Royal restaurant, which operates as a modern French bistro for the rest of the day. Despite its location in the souterrain of Villa B, the beautifully designed room invites you to linger.
As usual, we were asked for our room number when we arrived, and after a little confusion because our room was not on the list, we were very kindly shown to a nice table right by the window. We came to breakfast at around 9:30, and at most a quarter of the available tables were occupied.
The food was mostly set up as a buffet and beautifully presented. Coffee orders were taken straight away and served at the table, but if you prefer, you can also help yourself at the coffee machine. Besides juices and water, you could also make your own fresh juice at a juicer. Sparkling wine was also freely available.
The food was nicely presented at several stations. The selection was not huge, but everything we want for breakfast was there. There were cold cuts and different breads, rolls and pastries, as well as sweet and savoury spreads. A few small dishes were also offered à la carte. Of course we also had to try our signature morning dishes. The French toast was really delicious and the Eggs Benedict were very good too.
Check-out
We had already requested the late check-out via the chat before arriving at the hotel, and it was confirmed straight away. It was confirmed again during check-in on site. Apparently, however, as mentioned above, it was not entered into the system. When we returned to the hotel after the actual check-out time at 2 pm, our key card no longer worked and had to be reprogrammed at reception. A little later, while we were still in the room, the housekeeping staff member came in without much ado and was visibly confused to find us there.
The check-out itself at reception later on was handled quickly and professionally by a friendly staff member. We talked again about the bar situation the night before, and in the end we were offered a discount.
Costs
For our one-night stay in March 2024 we paid 122 euros. We were given 20% off the original price of 152 euros.
Departure & onward travel
The reception staff or the concierge will of course be happy to help you with anything regarding your departure. From the hotel it is only just under 10 minutes on foot to the central station. From there you can get pretty much anywhere quickly and easily.
Conclusion
The LUME Boutique Hotel is basically very nice. The design is great, the location in the city is super central and you can reach everything really easily. What is truly difficult is the situation with the bar and the very busy restaurant in the building.
As a business traveller during the week, you can stay here well. Singles and couples are fine during the week too, or if you are out at night anyway and the noise until 2 am at weekends does not bother you. We do not really see families here.
Hotel Homepage
Rating
We give the hotel 6 out of 10 possible points.
For us, the bar situation really costs 2 points in this case. That is simply not acceptable for a hotel. We deduct another point for the very small spa & gym. In our view it should be all or nothing here – or focus on one area. But too much was attempted here and not delivered. And finally, we deduct one point for the rather meagre welcome gift. Two shots really is very little.
Go there?
Well. Next time in Frankfurt, we will be sleeping in a different hotel.
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