German Motorway Hotels? A3 sth & A5 mid

[jbk]

Im wondering if anyone has an experience on the stretch of Autobahn between the A3 at Frankfurt and A5 down at Karlsruhe area. Basically after a long drive i reckon i'll be ready to pull off the road and find a hotel somewhere along that mentioned stretch. Wondered if anyone knew a) whether there were any/many hotels not far from these routes and b) whether there were any specific recommendations of one that's half decent enough to get a proper 6/7hrs of shuteye? Thanks

[krallicious]

How far will you have driven before you reach Karlsruhe?

Just have a quick look at some of the hotel comparison sites as there will be lots around the Karlsruhe area but if you can make it to the Baden Baden area then you are just around the start of the Black Forest and there are a lot of Gaeststueben which can be very nice. They are the German posh B&B equivalent.

[jbk]

It's about 550km to Karlsruhe so entirely dooable to get there or even Baden Baden and hole up there for a bit of kip. Are there the 'Formula 1' motorway side motels down there like there are on many French autoroutes for example? Or does one generally have to pull off into nearest town to find hotels?

[krallicious]

I have not seen an hotels directly next to the Autobahn (a la Formel 1) but as most of the A5 is now virtually roadwork free and largely de-restricted, I haven't been paying too much attention

Pulling off into a local town is not a problem as the A5 is very close to both Karlsruhe and Baden Baden.

Have a look on hotels.de for an idea of what is in the area.