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Welcome to www.spottinghotels.org the bible for information on hotels where you can spot from.  We launched the site in late 2025 and hope to make this the go to site for hotels with a view!  We have 250 reports and that keeps climbing thanks to those who contribute.  

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LGAV/ATH - Athens - Airscape Hotel, Artemida, Athens - August 2026

Located just to the north of Athens Airport, this boutique hotel with around 10 rooms offers outstanding views of departures or arrivals, located in-between the east and west runway. The hotel reception is manned 24/7 and offers a free shuttle service to the airport via WhatsApp. The rooms are great with private balconies and 2 large communal balconies if required. Select a sea view room for the best views. We had 201 (a double) which has the largest private balcony, booked through Bookings.com. The hotel does not provide any food, but the nearest mini mart is a 10 min walk, whilst a local restaurant on the beach in Artemis offers pick ups or food drop off. We had a rental car and it was a 6min journey to the biz ramps.


Credit Rob Jemett 

WIII/CGK - Jakarta - Jakarta Airport Hotel - July 2026

Our 2 nights here have been at the Airport Hotel in T2, somewhere not visited for a few years now in favour of the FM7. In our opinion, this hotel is better for views. The FM7 was always hit and miss with the trees in front of your windows obscuring views.  Naturally, electronic fudgery is needed to keep an eye on the southern runway movements. We are in Room #30 which isn’t too far from Reception and the Cockpit Lounge. Room #105 and #37 also work. Room 71 has views of the arrivals for all runways although 07R arrivals and departures are partially obsured the cost was £50 per night. 
Rooms on the upper level of the Jakarta Airport Hotel are numbered from 1 to 82 and I think you could make any of these work for you. I was in 46 and despite the Skytrain building getting in the way of viewing departures from runway 25L, you only had to move down the corridor to make sure that you see these. There were arrivals and departures from this runway, but it’s not as busy as the two runways to the North.
From any of these rooms you would have a great view of the majority of action which happens on the other two runways, namely runways 24 mostly used for arrivals and 25R mostly used for departures. Runway 25R is close enough to your room to have a go at photography through the glass. This hotel is part of Terminal 2 and has a curved design. Rooms 1 to 43 to the West and rooms 44-to 82 to East.
In between is the Cockpit Restaurant which doubles up as the place for breakfast which starts at 03:30! We asked for a late check-out on all the rooms and they kindly gave us 1pm for no charge. The hotel staff also kindly (and wouldn’t take no for an answer) took our luggage to the Skytrain with us, I assume to make sure that we left.

The views I feel are pretty samey whichever you were allocated and with the regular changes in runways, being mid-point didn’t hurt our objectives. We took the SkyTrain back to T1 to have a gander at what’s left of the Waving Galleries in order to blimp any stored bits. 

https://maps.app.goo.gl/WuQ3bYoNgoN234Mp7






LFPO/ORY - Paris Orly - Ibis Budget - July 2026

Stayed at the Ibis Budget and was given room 634 with an airport view of the landing runway.  other rooms that also worked were rooms 632 and 636, also with similar views.there is a window at the then of the corridor where aircraft on aproach to 06 can be seen but not read off. asside from breakfast there is no food available at the hotel and facilities in the airport close early, be warned.



KIAH/IAH - Houston International - Best Western Houston Bush IAH - June 2026

There are a cluster of hotels located east of IAH, at the junction of Will Clayton Parkway and the I-69, in Humble.  Of these, the Wyndham and the Best Western are aligned so that a west facing room can see the arrivals in to 27. 26L and 26R, which are the usual landing runways.  The altitude and light means it is a good spot in darkness and poor weather. 

In the Best Western, rooms are even numbered facing towards the airport.  Both hotels only have three floors.  In this cluster there is also a Red Lion and an America's Best Value Inn: these are aligned the wrong way so any room will only see one or two runways, and they do seem to change their preference for which runways are in use. 

On the north side of Will Clayton Parkway there is a La Quinta, Staybridge Suites and a Sleep Inn.  The alignment of these means the right room will get a view of all three runways. However the Ramada and Holiday Inn would not give the view.   

There is also a handy petrol station, Tim Horton's and Waffe House next door to the Wyndham and Best Western!
 
https://maps.app.goo.gl/3AbsD3suv1hY4f6C8

Credit Mark Curran
Best Western floor plan, even numbers towards airfield

Pic of aircraft landing on the 'far' runway, 26R.

EDHI/XFW - Hamburg Finkenwerder - Moxy - June 2026

The Moxy at Finkenwerder opened in September 2025. I booked there for location as I was doing an Airbus tour and did not even think about the "airport view".

Rooms 101-127 all have partial runway views Hotel has parking €20 but local streets are free. 

On checking in I was allocated a room by chance on the 3rd floor with what turned out to be an airport view from room 317. 

 
 

Based on the map rooms 307, 309, 311 , 313 315, 319 , 321 or 323 would look to have similar views.


Note 317 was a "Queen Sleeper" room. But the windows by the lift give a view of Hangar 7 and Leak test.

Some photos with a camera rather than mobile phone can be found here https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCzjSL 

The photo below shows the view from room 205, being a Queen Room with a single bed.  From here, you can see aircraft parked in front of the Engine Run Bay and, anything using or crossing the runway.


KTEB/TEB - Teterboro - Holiday Inn - June 2026

We stayed at the Teterboro Holiday Inn where we got a room with two queens and free parking.  You can't see the field like you can from the Hilton but you can see landers and departures from here. The room was a 4th Floor room facing Newark and we were able to see the landers there as well.

LPFR/FAO - Faro - Dom Jose hotel Quarteira - June 2026

Not an Airport hotel but great for a holiday location, ask for a sea view room and you wont miss much, pool faces the sea so nothing missed from there either. Aircraft pass about 2000' landing and 3000' departing

https://maps.app.goo.gl/pn4ppMa7Xyo9ocXg9

Credit Martin Cole.

EGLL/LHR - London Heathrow - Ibis Styles Bath Road - June 2026

Rooms ending in 2, 4, 6 ,7 and 8 at the Ibis Styles on Bath Road also have a view across the airport.  View from 402 below.

Credit Mark Curran





SPJC/LIM - Lima - GS Hoteles-Callao - June 2026.

This hotel was booked through Bookings.com and is a bit more like a guest house.The room was next to reception and faced a busy road,might not be for everyone.The view from the room was the approach to RWY 16R and the approach to 16L is directly over the hotel.

The hotel has a roof area where you can see the end of RWY 16L and read off aircraft turning on to the runway.



EDDH / HAM - Airport Plaza hotel - June 2026

I Stayed in the Airport Plaza hotel which is towards the runway 15 threshold. They run a shuttle bus regularly so transport isn’t essential. There is a good view of 15/33.

Credit Richard Paulson

EDDL / DUS - Dusseldorf - Holiday Inn Express - June 2026

Stayed at the Holiday Inn Express at the airport requesting an airport view, on check in was given room 622 .All departures and arrivals can be seen although no terminal views.


Credit Malcolm Fitzgerald




EHAM/AMS - Amsterdam - Sheraton Amsterdam Airport - June 2026

After a walk around the piers headed for the Sheraton, around a 10min walk from arrivals.

I reserved a Club King airport view room at the Airport Sheraton with breakfast. (Twins also available) the airport is 10 minutes walk from the terminal. I was allocated  room 844 and wasn’t disappointed - the view offered excellent views of 06/24 and 36R/18L - nothing was missed and great views of E/D/C/B piers and freight.  Club lounge served food from 5pm until 7pm,alcohol 5 until 10pm (happy days) and breakfast was excellent.  Hotel isn’t cheap however extremely pleasant for spotting.


Credit Malcolm Fitzgerald


LGAV/ATH - Athens - GK Airport Suites - June 2026

Happy to report a cheap hotel option, superb semi-distant view of whole airport, cargo, terminal, hangars. aircraft on finals are at 1000ft. GK Airport Suites, The Hotel has a shuttle by arrangement. The Hotel itsself is unmanned and I was given code for lockbox with the key inside. I was allocated room 302, any x02 room is fine and the hotel has five floors, I believe the x01 rooms would also work as well. 

The room has a small balcony but the room is huge with a double bed, 2 singles a kitchen and fridge. Its a short walk to a small supermarket, grills, pizza place. I paid US$140 thru expedia. When you look at the room pictures on the website, control tower is visible in the distance

https://maps.app.goo.gl/zrgpqv2Yq3763noH7

Credit Nigel Prevett
 

ABE/AEP - Buenos Aires Aeroparque - Almarena Puerto Retiro - June 2026

Stayed at the Almarena Puerto Retiro, Affiliated by Meliá hotel. This is approximately 2.5km from the airport directly under the flight path.  I requested a high floor room ( Superior river view) and was allocated room 1402 which is on the top floor.  Any room on the lower floors ending 01 to 03 will also be fine but the rest of the rooms will only see arrivals on RW31


 From this room I could see 95% of departures on runway 13 from the veranda as most bank sharp left on departure.  ( photo 1). When landing on runway 31 nothing is visible from the room as everything is directly overhead at 2,500ft.  Fortunately the hotel has a roof garden accessible from the 14th floor and everything is visible from here.  If the room terrace is closed there's a window in the  roof terrace door so everything can be seen after it crosses over the hotel.

Some notes about the hotel :

There are no shops or restaurants close to the hotel. The hotel restaurant was fine and not expensive.  The closest supermarket was around 15 mins away.  However it's not a place to venture out at night. Also being directly across from the docks it can be very noisy,
especially if a container ship is being unloaded.  If visiting in summer (Nov - Mar) the hotel has an outdoor pool where everything will be seen passing overhead. From the hotel roof you can see the two A.4 Skyhawks preserved at the Argentine Navy HQ which is about 5 mins walk from the hotel.  I took an Uber to the airport (£6) and walked along the perimeter fence
and took photos with no issue.


Credit Jim Findlay

EDDF/FRA - Frankfurt - InterCity - June 2026

In the opinion of the submitter still the best hotel for spotting at Frankfurt.  The Intercity is a 10 min walk to the spotting area at the end of the runway.

I had room 3062,Neil and Phil had room 3060. I had reserved a double standard plus room which has an airport view and breakfast, the lads had reserved a twin.  Views are good when landing south westerly and also includes the northern runway, although trees can be frustrating. Nearly everything can be seen without leaving the room.  Zeppelinheim viewing area is around a 10 min walk.

On the final morning they switched round to north easterlies - aircraft arriving at northern terminals and departures on north easterly runways can be seen.  Southern  runway departures, southern cargo terminal and new terminal arrivals cannot, as they stop short on the runway.

Credit Malcolm Fitzgerald


EHEH/EIN - Eindhoven - Tulip Inn - June 2026

The  hotel is attached to the terminal. Views ideal if you are facing the west or military ramp, other side east facing would give view of end of runway only (departures/arrivals), the airport is quiet so there is no real reason to visit but it would be ideal when the US helicopters are changing over through the Dutch/Belgian ports or when military transport exercises are being held. The hotel expensive for what it is, breakfast extra and typical buffet type.  Parking is a pain as you have to use the dedicated parking lot 5/10 min walk away and 25e/night.

Credit Phil Globe


EHAM/AMS - Amsterdam - Novotel Hoofddorp - June 2026

This Hotel is away from the airport however it does have some views of the airport.

This is a modern 4 star hotel with 13 floors (12/13 are executive rooms), its not a cheap hotel so will not appeal to all, there is a restaurant and bar on site. its a 5 min walk to the bus/train to airport centre and the viewing deck or 10 mins walk to supermarkets/shops for supplies.  Car parking in connected car park to a cost of up to EUR20 per night. 

I was on 10th floor at the end 1032  and as such has 2 windows front/side which means pictures can be taken (400mm) of aircraft departing runway 24.  Floor 8-10 I would think is what is required and you need even number rooms. Excellent views of Schiphol if a little distant..  Other than the Polderbaan. all the runways can be seen and as long as you are ok with electronic means spotting not an issue  

All aircraft landing on Polderbaan taxy past as per Picture 1.  Aircraft arriving onto 27 or departing off 18L can be seen as per Picture 2.  Departures off 24 or cargo can be seen Picture 3.  Biz jets can be seen arriving/departing at distance in similar area to Picture 2.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/81xU5ryZWJuxjWmZ9

Credit Phil Globe.

Picture 1.

Picture 2.

Picture 3.

EDDF/FRA - Frankfurt - B'Mine - June 2026

The B’mine Hotel at Frankfurt Airport is located in Gateway Gardens which is a recently constructed district to the north of Terminal 2, where there is a cluster of hotels and offices.

It is a mid-range, boutique style hotel with a few quirks, including the car loft where you can take your car up in a lift and park it right next to your room. More conventionally, however there are also “normal” hotel rooms including mostly single rooms in a style akin to Citizen M.

I stayed over for one night on business in January 2026 and the hotel was an easy 13 minute stroll from the front of Terminal 2. There is also an S Bahn stop nearby (lines S8 and S9).


View from the room.

I was allocated room 719. The highest floor is floor 10.

East is to the top of the image, with the airport facing views on the left. The four smart double rooms on each floor are at either end.

As I mentioned all the smart rooms face away from the airport.

The room, above, with its bed by the window

Above is the view from 719 in the daylight. Arrivals to 25R (new runway) would come from right to left here. I wouldn’t go for a lower floor than this.

If, however aircraft are landing from the east (25’s) then this room, although facing away from the airport would provide a view of aircraft approaching the “new” runway.

There are however windows at both ends of the corridor facing east or west. The east window by the main lift lobby gave me a view of all inbounds to the 07’s and outbounds off 18 as they climbed above T2 at about 1500 feet.

Above is the lift lobby facing south.

Facing east from the 7th floor, lift lobby.

My visit was pretty much during the hours of darkness which made things really difficult so this is very much a summer hotel.

My room on the 7th floor was as low as I think you could go without other buildings getting in the way.

The Roof bar and Restaurant

This is located on the 12th floor with an outside terrace and panoramic views of the airfield.

I wandered up at 6pm hoping to secure a table by the window for dinner, I couldn’t, the restaurant was fully booked all evening. I was also told the outside terrace was closed. It wasn’t, it was fully open with people wandering on there to smoke.

I was accommodated for dinner and had a very nice burger at the bar, but there was no view and if you wanted to see something you’d have to run to the terrace.

Overall

It’s a decent hotel with probably the best views of Frankfurt Airport, it has a great view over T3, so when it opens later in 2026, this will also be a big appeal for it.

It’s also easily walkable from T2.

Some views from the terrace are below

There are a few caveats which I’ll summarise below.

  • This hotel would be much better in summer when there’s daylight and you can see things more easily from the bar, restaurant and actually eat outside on the terrace.
  • There is a lack of twin rooms and singles facing the airport, you will need a Smart Double “Planespotting” (or a Car Loft) if you want to spot from the room.
  • It is easy to spot from the lift lobby (daylight helps).
  • Go higher than the 7th floor for the best view
  • If you don’t want to eat in the restaurant, there’s a coffee and sandwich place on the ground floor, there are also restaurants and supermarkets nearby.
  • You can eat in the restaurant for breakfast, lunch or dinner as a non-resident, so if you want a few hours on the terrace, this is an option.

An alternative report from June 2026.

We booked a plane spotting room for our 3 nights and were allocated 923.  As alluded to the spotting rooms are the two end rooms either end of the corridor.  The 9th floor windows open however there is another sheet of safety glass in front of the window.  The room has good views of landing traffic on runways 25C/L, by going to the window at the end of the corridor (right outside the room) you can see 25R arrivals but will need FR24 etc, to know if something you need is imminent.  By looking flat against the window (or by opening the window) and looking right you can see departures off 18 also you can see arrivals of 25R when they taxy out past the fuel tanks, but only briefly and cannot be read off.  Departures off 25 C/L can be seen as they clear the terminal buildings.

The restaurant/bar/breakfast area is excellent as everything can be seen (unclear if they would let you sit in there all day).

https://maps.app.goo.gl/CNTLpoWXKFv7xmH37







KCLT/CLT - Charlotte - Courtyard by Marriott Steele Creek - May 2026

The Courtyard by Marriott, Steele Creek is a couple of miles to the south of Charlotte Airport, opposite an outlet mall.

As hotels go in general, this is a lovely modern hotel with excellent amenities including an outdoor pool, gym, and most importantly a 24 hour tuck shop in the reception selling snacks and soft drinks. Car parking on site is free.

From a spotting point of view, it is more than adequate.

I stayed one night and rang ahead earlier in the day to request a high floor room facing east, the request was noted and I got exactly what I asked for.

I was allocated room 402, which is the room right at the end of the corridor on the top floor, you couldn’t get any better. Any even numbered room from 402 through to 422 will give a similar view.

Room 402 is a room with one King Bed with Sofa Bed.

Even rooms with higher numbers than 422 will also get a view, but maybe not quite as good.

Basically, from here, you will easily get half of the action at CLT. If aircraft are departing to the south, you’ll get them all. If they are landing from the south, you will also get them.

Arrivals (or departures) from the north are trickier as these are 6 or 7 miles away. While I was there, I was picking out arrivals on the eastern most runway without too much difficulty, but arrivals from the north on the western runway were at too tight an angle.

If you were on a lower floor room you wouldn’t see anything to the north but you’d be fine with stuff arriving / departing to the south.

Charlotte has no hotels right next to the airport, so I did a lot of research trying to work out where would be best, and I was pleased with the outcome – it was ideal for a one-night stop.

Once the CLT Overlook had opened at 0800, however, I drove over there for the superior view which you wouldn’t’ manage to get from any hotel. The two locations complemented each other quite nicely.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/xAHtoVZRd55BLYTW8




The second image shows the view from the room giving an unobstructed view to the east for any arrivals or departures from or to the south.

The final image above is the view of the arrivals from the north, the lights are just above the apartment block but can be made out clearly with good optics.