Originally Posted by
jdrtravel
OP says that they are arriving into NYC the night before a super early flight. I used to live in NYC and love all that it has to offer, but the OP seems to pretty clearly be asking about a place to sleep and get up at probably 3 or 4 am to get to the airport. It does not seem like OP will be taking advantage of anything the city has to offer. Airport hotels are not great, the Hilton or Radisson or the like will be fine. They will have a decent room and food available on site.
This is not a bad suggestion, but the others, including me, who have done both are making the point that even with an Uber or taxi, you're still 15 minutes from your terminal--as with many major airports although you can see where you're going the entire time you're traveling there, it still takes longer than it should look to do so. So there's a savings of maybe 15 minutes each way. I won't blow off an extra 30 minutes of sleep, but it's not "crazy" to suggest that Manhattan will offer a better selection of hotels with more to do, especially if the OP is coming in relatively early in the evening.
And if you don't know the hotel situation at JFK, you could easily book at a hotel that advertises itself as an "airport" hotel and be more than a 30-minute ride away.
OP, your best solution is probably the Radisson, Crowne Plaza, Hilton, Courtyard, Hampton Inn, or Hilton Garden Inn--all of which are on the fringes of the airport--and take an Uber or taxi. I'm not crazy about most of the other hotel options around JFK until you get deeper into Brooklyn or Manhattan.