Our little Frankfurt Hahn Airport is all grown up. Or so it seemed to me on Memorial Day weekend, when we flew to the UK on Ryanair. At the risk of sounding like an old coot, I remember the good old days…. If you haven’t flown out of Hahn lately, many changes have taken place there. And with a three-hour delay to my outbound flight, I had ample time to take note of what’s new on the scene.

One positive change was that there’s now a hotel right on the territory of the airport itself. B&B Hotels offers rates from 49 euros per night for a double, breakfast not included, even without an advance booking. There’s a second facility within two kilometers, InterCityHotel, offering rooms for 81 euros for a double, including breakfast. Making that cost more bearable is the fact that you can park your vehicle there for up to a week free of charge. If you’re going to be away for a second week, parking will set you back just 25 euros; four week’s worth of parking there, the maximum allowable length, will cost you 75 euros. (Contrast that with the 160 euros you’d pay for the same length of time in the parking lot adjacent to the airport itself, and you have yourself quite a deal.)

Public transportation in and out of Hahn seems to be on the rise as well. I counted up to 22 departures daily by Bohr bus company between Hahn and the Frankfurt Airport and main train station, starting from 5 a.m. right up until 12:30 a.m. Cost is 12 euros one way for adults, 6 euros for children up to age 7. Those living in Heidelberg, Ludwigshafen or Mannheim will also be able to find their way with the bus company Hahn Express. The ride from Hahn to the last stop, the McDonald’s at Heidelberg’s main train station, will take you around two hours and set you back 18 euros. Parking at Hahn now costs 8 euros per day, or 40 euros per week. That rate is per day, rather than based on a 24-hour time period, so if you leave your car for just one overnight, expect to pay for two days. And wow, that parking lot just keeps on growing. I’m curious to know -- has anyone has ever experienced a break-in while parked there? While that has not happened to us personally, our car’s external fog lights were stolen back in 2005. The obvious precautions of leaving nothing valuable in sight apply.

Should you find yourself at Hahn airport with time on your hands, here are some ways to spend it: Proceed to the Mezzanine level. From there, you can watch the planes taking off and landing. Plop down at the Café Gallery, which has a decent menu, fairly reasonable prices and seating by the balcony. You can sprawl out a bit, and it’s good for watching passers-by below or reading the newspaper. Visit Player’s Island, which offers pinball, electric darts, foosball, billiards and four computers with Internet access for 5 euros an hour or 50 cents for 6 minutes.

For eating and drinking, I liked the looks of the Jung bakery, which was selling wraps for only 2.35 euros and slices of cake for 2.10 euros. For breakfast, a good bet might be the Bit-Stop, on the ground floor to the right as you enter the terminal. It had an American breakfast on the menu, as well as scrambled eggs and bread and butter for less than 4 euros. If you prefer the German-style breakfast, try your luck with the B&B hotel, at 6.50 euros for the buffet. The cheapest cup of coffee, just 1 euro for a cup to go, was spotted at the outdoor “Ditsch” kiosk, near to the bus stop.

Note once you pass through security, the eating options dwindle and costs go up, up up. There is a “travel- value” shop once through, so you can still pick up the odd bottle without violating the rules governing liquids.

If you’re flying to Rome, Milan, Florence, Dublin or Bratislava, you can stop by the Terravision kiosk inside the terminal and pick up tickets for bus transfers at your destination, saving a wait in line at the other end.

Other amenities spotted included a currency exchange booth, 2 ATMs, six rental car agencies, and, curiously, displays from many agencies offering real estate in the area. House on the Moselle, anyone?

How would you rate your latest experiences with Frankfurt Hahn?