We are going from South Africa to Columbia via Frankfurt.
There is a 9-hour stop over in Frankfurt Airport and we would like to book a room to shower and sleep in.
The problem is that we don't have a Schengen Visa so we can't actually leave the airport.
Is there anywhere inside the airport we could stay?
Your help would be much appreciated!
Like most big airports, Frankfurt maintains a substantial website. Your search for information can start here: http://www.frankfurt-airport.com/content/frankfurt_airport/en/services/Relaxation.html
You indicate you need to stay inside the secure transit zone; it's unlikely a regular hotel will qualify. However, you can see that the airport has two shower stations and one appears to be internal to a terminal (rather than "public".) I have not used this service but typically such facilities do not provide sleeping accommodation, just the chance to freshen up. The airport does operate several tours which might help pass the time. To be absolutely certain of your options you could try e-mailing the management.
This might be a bit too late, but maybe you still could use the info in future.
We had a similar problem recently for a guest who had to transit in Paris for a few hours (without a Schengen visa).
There is no hotel also within the transit area of Paris-CDG; but as it is the case in Frankfurt, there are the lounges. Some of the lounges are directly owned by an airline for their premium passengers (e.g. Lufthansa has a lounge in Frankfurt, as have other major airlines), but some are managed by an 'independent' company, and serve as lounges for airlines who cannot have their own lounges. It is often possible for any passenger to access those lounges for a fee. Those lounges have generally a shower facility, and it is possible to sleep a bit in a corner. There are generally also some snacks. I've heard that it is also possible to access some of the airline lounges against payment.
I actually already used such a lounge at... OR Tambo Johannesburg: the transit hotel (which is very expensive) was full, and I had to settle for that solution.
Happy Travel!
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