CMK10

Is it the land around it? Some weird type of zoning? Or are people expected to just stay in Manhattan and head out?

Compared to the other major international US Airports (SFO, LAX, IAD, ORD etc.), the options at JFK are dreadful. Maybe half a dozen nearby hotels, many of which are old and frequently expensive Even going further into Queens doesn't help much. A search on Orbitz for "JFK" lists 24 hotels, some of which are JFK in name only vs:

- ORD: 47
- LAX: 49
- SFO: 65

This is not really a criticism, I'm genuinely curious.

JDiver

I am too. Truly nasty selections, and they're not nice.

The DoubleTree had a booking and award for my nephew's sig other, her name on the booking, they refused to admit her. (Probably used a dumb excuse so they'd not have to call it a walk.)

And my stays have been pretty atrocious at JFK hotels.

Youda thunk the Chamber of Commerce or someone would care sufficiently to advocate for decent lodging. "Welcome to America and its First City; stay in one of our airport flea bags and shut up!"

nrr

Sometime ago (is it still the case today?) airlines rented or owned apartments for their staff several miles from JFK. In other cities the airlines use hotels.
[Near the corner of Lefferts Blvd. and Metropolitan Ave. one would see lots of fas...]

Letitride3c

We used to have a condo at Crew Gardens, oops - better known as Kew Garden/Hills - depending on traffic, a fast 15 minutes to either JFK or LGA in a car service (or shared shuttle, etc.)

Another reason why long haul Asia airlines shuttled their off-duty crew 13 to 15 miles north closer to LGA in the Flushing area for overnight or R&R - where at least they can safely walk around outside & get choices for dining, etc.

RooseveltL

JFK history. In a land/zone of its own. At one point the only thing nearby was racetrack (that gambling model soon died).

Fast forward and introduce AirTrain which allows quick transport elsewhere. Makes airport hotel undesirable and a few of them shut down. If you are over night only for 6-10 hr is it worth it anything else go elsewhere.

The airport is old so space usage is awful around airport. If one had to redesign they would make a huge mega terminal like t4 and adjacent hotel. However, CDG, OLY and LHR, LGW all designed in the same era have equal flaws. Too far from the city but hotels only cater to air travelers so no investment for non- loyal or frequent guest. It has public transportation so alternatives are available as long as passenger can take a train.

themicah

Not sure about the domestic airlines, but some of the international airlines seem to put up their crews in Midtown Manhattan, as I see shuttle buses dropping off entire crews in various foreign airline uniforms all the time.

Markie

They are all awful in truth - I pick the Hilton as least worst (although the air-con noise is awful) or the Garden Inn as being cheaper, you get what you pay for. The HGI got better since it started sharing the bus with the Sheraton and so increased frequencies.
I just wish for a Hyatt Place.

dhammer53

Let's take a walk down memory lane. Back in the 60's, just about all international flights departed from JFK. Flying to Rome on your honeymoon? That meant staying at a no tel motel at JFK. I believe it was called Jade something or other. The other hotel was the former Ramada. That's on the approach road. That was it. You didn't really have any options.

Somewhere along the line, hotels started popping up one by one adjacent to the airport perimeter. There are some nice rooms out there, but don't expect an LAX experience. Eat at the airport or bring a sandwich, or do room service.

To answer the OP, JFK hotels were an afterthought. Hotels were built adjacent to existing neighborhoods, with no rhyme or reason. If you have been at a JFK property, you know what I mean.

Letitride3c

Hyatt Place, sure - it's at downtown Flushing, 1/2 block next to the Sheraton LGA East on 39th. Avenue. See the Golden Touch Transportation (popular shuttle used by airline crews) making their late afternoon/evening runs all the time. Q44 Limited Bus is slower on Main Street to Jamaica & then AirTrain to terminal, typically about 45 min. to 1 hour - SBS is coming soon & will make the trip faster, or about $40/local car service.

The "better" JFK hotels next to North Conduit Avenue are basically hidden behind residential blocks in the middle of nowhere - kind of crazy to drive out there to pickup up oversea guests booked there due to early AM departure, double-checked GPS to make sure I wasn't lost, LOL.

justforfun

Why is that hotel sitting empty for all these years?

edited:

I guess this is why:

http://nypost.com/2014/09/20/labor-i...irport-hotels/

sbm12

A bit of all of this. There isn't much land worth building on out there. And very little of the surrounding space has commercial operations which are necessary to support hotels (more people are staying because they have business in the area than because they are flying). So while LAX or SFO or ORD all have significant commercial operations nearby there is nothing similar at JFK.

bigjimbo99

Let me ask please, would the Hyatt Place in Garden City work, and how long/expensive would that trip be by taxi compared to the Hyatt Place near LGA? I'm thinking about that for a trip next year, and have never stayed at JFK. The JFK hotel prices look high to me, but I guess that's New York. They aren't too friendly to late checkout requests either. Alternately I guess I might just stay at the Hampton.

sbm12

Taxi would be much more expensive to Garden City; travel time might be similar depending on traffic. For the fare you're paying $5/mile (2x normal rate)after you cross out of Queens (which is the majority of the trip).

ESpen36

My guess would be that most travelers who have a lengthy/overnight NYC layover would rather stay in Manhattan, near the main attractions, not out in Queens, especially now that the LIRR+AirTrain combo is less than an hour one way.

GUWonder

Many a crew contract involves being placed in city center hotels of a certain minimum quality level when flying in or out of a foreign outstation airport. So even if there was a high quality hotel at JFK, airline crew contracts are such that staying at city center hotels would still be the norm for foreign airline crews. Perhaps JFK is what negotiators had in mind when making sure airlines didn't dump them at any hotel close to the airport.