E-MAIL JOE    PRINT    2012 COLUMNS    ARCHIVES    SEARCH ARCHIVES THE WORLD'S BEST AIRPORT HOTELS By Joe Brancatelli January 11, 2012 -- If average travelers are ambivalent about hotels at American airports, savvy business flyers tell a different tale about a good hotel at an international airport. After a long overseas flight, the thought of a long ride to the economic center of an unfamiliar international city can be the mythical straw that breaks the business traveler's back. Besides, an airport hotel, complete with global-standard amenities, is often a much-needed stop before striking out into less developed parts of the world. And as a restful, close-to-the-flight-home option at the end of a grueling business trip, a fine-tuned airport hotel can be a sybaritic amenity before the crack-of-dawn departure of a 12- or 16-hour itinerary. "I don't mind giving up my last night in a great city if it means I can check into an airport hotel with good beds, great showers, and strong Internet," says Wendy Fearington, a 150,000-mile-a-year international flyer. "Given how time-consuming and difficult it [sometimes is] to navigate international departure formalities, I like knowing that I'm already close to my flights. It's better than guessing on traffic, hoping the car service shows up, or that the cab driver won't mess up." What follows is a guide to some of the best airport-hotel options at a handful of the world's most important cities. It is hardly a comprehensive list, however. In fact, I urge you to let us know the properties you like at the international airports you frequent. Just remember the standards: Business travelers like their airport properties to have around-the-clock amenities and weatherproof access (preferably by walking a short distance) to the airport terminals. Hong Kong International Airport Many travelers think the nearly 1,200-room Regal at Hong Kong International Airport is the best in the world. That's an overstatement, but you can't beat its location (connected to the terminal by a covered walkway) and the fusillade of 24/7 services (business center, room service, and gym). There's also a spa, six restaurants and bars, and one great perk: 24-hour use of your room from the moment you arrive. If you must go with a chain so you can rake in frequent-guest points, try the Hong Kong SkyCity Marriott. It offers a free shuttle to and from the terminal and many of the same types of amenities as the Regal. You'll get your Marriott Rewards points as a trade-off for SkyCity's traditional check-in and check-out policy. London Heathrow Airport The sprawl at Heathrow makes it impossible to choose just one hotel. The Sofitel Heathrow is the airport's best, but convenient only if you're using Terminal 5, home of British Airways. The connection from the terminal is covered, the 600 guestrooms are quite stylish, and there's a fully equipped spa and fitness center. The hotel restaurants are attractive, but promise much more than they deliver on the plate. If you're using Terminal 4, the aging but still efficient Hilton London Heathrow will do the trick. It's got direct access to the terminal, several unremarkable restaurants, and a 24-hour gym. If you're using any other Heathrow terminal, skip the long ride on the Hotel Hoppa to the pedestrian lodgings at the edge of the airport grounds. For the same investment of time, take the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station. An escalator there brings you into the lobby of the Hilton London Paddington. It's a good hotel with the advantage of being right in London. Beijing Capital Airport Opened in time for the 2008 Olympics, Beijing's airport is remarkable because it seems to have been designed with a 20-year growth curve. There are acres of unused terminal space just waiting for air travel to catch up with China's economic boom. But Chinese officials made the place so big that even adjacent hotels require shuttle-bus transfers. The 372-room Langham Place, adjacent to Terminal 3, is gorgeous—a truly grand experience. Even the standard rooms are large, decorated to a relentlessly modern style, and stuffed with technology (free WiFi, iPod clock radios, DVD players, and touch-screen VoIP phones). Public facilities include four restaurants (and tapas in one of the cocktail lounges), an art gallery, and what the hotel calls a 24-hour cardio studio. Another quick shuttle ride away is the 322-room Hilton. It is almost as nice as the Langham, albeit without all of the high-tech frills. It does offer the benefit of Hilton HHonors points, something the Langham can't match. Frankfurt Airport I've been traveling on business so long that I actually remember when Frankfurt Airport was tranquil and efficient, not the chaotic, multiterminal mess it is today. Which partially explains why I book the Sheraton Frankfurt Airport Hotel and Conference Center. It's more from habit than from confidence. The 1,000-room place has an unbeatable asset: covered footbridges that connect to Terminal 1 and the airport's enviable network of long-haul and commuter trains. And the property still has the bones of a great airport hotel: club lounges, a bevy of restaurants and bars, a 24-hour fitness center, and extensive meeting and conference facilities. But prices are rapacious for the small and tired rooms, and ancillary services are prohibitively expensive. Business-travel newbies will wonder what the appeal ever was. There are two sparkling, brand-spanking-new competitors: a 334-room Hilton Garden Inn and a 249-room Hilton, both of which opened in November. Both are also located in The Squaire, a mixed-use complex sitting atop the airport's train station and connected by covered footbridge to Terminal 1. Munich Airport The secondary German hub for Lufthansa and its Star Alliance partners, Munich Airport today is what Frankfurt was a decade ago: an uberefficient facility that's almost calming to visit. That will be ruined when more terminals inevitably get built, so enjoy the good times while you can. Part of the fun is the Kempinski Hotel Munich Airport, by far the best airport hotel in Europe. It is located directly between the two existing terminals and either one is an easy walk. So is the airport's stop on Munich's S-Bahn mass-transit system. The 389 guestrooms are spacious enough and well-equipped, and there are even "ladies specials" accommodations available by request. (Yes, it's a quaint holdover from the days when business travel was mostly a man's sport.) There's a nice spa, all of the business amenities, and three restaurants and bars. The down notes: Prices are very high and not everything that should be open 24/7 is. Leonardo da Vinci Airport (Rome) Everyone calls it Leonardo da Vinci Fiumicino because it's located in the seaside town not far from Rome. Not that you'd know it because da Vinci is oddly graceless by Italian standards. And departing American travelers are banished to an even less charming terminal that purports to offer more security. But Fiumicino has a saving grace: the Hilton Rome Airport. In many ways, it's Rome's best hotel because it isn't carved out of a landmark 17th century palazzo, so the plumbing and the lighting and the basics always work. A covered walkway connects the hotel to most of the terminals and the express train to central Rome. Guestrooms are gigantic by the standards of many Roman hotels. There's even a tennis court, as well as the expected airport-hotel amenities. The three restaurants and bars could be better (and cheaper). Incheon International Airport (Seoul) Business travelers are slowly realizing that Incheon is the best transit airport in Asia and maybe the best airport facility in the world. The 523-room Hyatt Regency Incheon is nearly as good, save for the 3-minute shuttle-bus transfer that's required to reach it. There are eight bars and restaurants (including French, Italian, Japanese, and Korean), a fitness center with a huge indoor pool, an efficient business center, and lots of meeting and conference facilities. The rooms are a canny mix of Hyatt's upmarket designs and furnishings and leading-edge technology tools. Given Incheon's somewhat distant location from Seoul (as much as two hours, depending on traffic and where in the rangy South Korean capital you're headed), it's no surprise that several good beaches and a golf course are closer at hand. Meanwhile…Elsewhere in the World Tokyo—The crucial, if excruciating, hub at Narita Airport is so far from central Tokyo that you'd think it'd be the perfect place for a great airport hotel. But there isn't one. Grit your teeth, take the long train ride into town, and remember what our editor's father, a former Northwest Airlines executive, once said about Narita: "Who will ever want to stay out by the airport?" Paris—Delta Air Lines and its SkyTeam partner Air France/KLM dominate Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport. But for all the flights, a truly outstanding airport hotel is hard to find. The stylized, 252-room Sheraton Paris Airport Hotel and Conference Center has the benefit of geography (it's integrated into Terminal 2), but I've always found it lackluster. Others disagree, however. Amsterdam—At Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, where Air France's KLM subsidiary dominates, you have all of the usual chain choices. But you indulge your business curiosity by walking 200 meters from the terminal exit to inspect the Citizen M. It's meant to be a prototype of a new kind of trendy (but affordable) hotel chain: inexpensive to build, totally prefabricated, with no traditional lobby, no back-of-the-house space (even housekeeping is outsourced), and public areas that ape the coffee-house vibe. You may not want to shower in a cylindrical tube or sleep in a bed wedged into an alcove for fast cleaning, but you'll surely recognize the demographic of the new-wave global traveler that the chain hopes to attract. Sao Paulo—Major hotel chains haven't caught up with Brazil's business boom yet, so Guarulhos International, which serves the business capital of Sao Paulo, lacks a top-notch hotel. The Sao Paulo Airport Marriott is the best of a mediocre lot. It's also two miles from the terminals, never a happy choice even if the airport shuttle is free. The Fine Print… Speaking of international travel, the U.S. airlines have reacted predictably to the European Union's imposition of carbon-emissions limits on flights. United/Continental, Delta, American, and US Airways have tacked a $6 round-trip surcharge on international travel. And OAG, the industry schedule keeper, claims the emissions program may eventually add 3 percent to the cost of an international itinerary.

ABOUT JOE BRANCATELLI Joe Brancatelli is a publication consultant, which means that he helps media companies start, fix and reposition newspapers, magazines and Web sites. He's also the former executive editor of Frequent Flyer and has been a consultant to or columnist for more business-travel and leisure-travel publishing operations than he can remember. He started his career as a business journalist and created JoeSentMe in the dark days after 9/11 while he was stranded in a hotel room in San Francisco. He lives on the Hudson River in the tourist town of Cold Spring. THE FINE PRINT This column is Copyright © 2012 American City Business Journals. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission. JoeSentMe.com is Copyright © 2012 by Joe Brancatelli. All rights reserved.