Thanks for this trip report thus far - I was just looking at this hotel yesterday. I have a longish 9 hour layover at JFK in January and was thinking about booking this hotel for a day room (I have been to NY a few times and it's always fun but I can't be bothered to run into and out of Manhattan for 4 hours or whatever I would have). I will wait until closer to see if the reviews improve - way too many on the various rating sites have poor experiences such as you mention. It is fairly new they are likely still working out kinks but if it doesn't improve I'll think of something else to do. I'm not spending $140 for a day room if I can't get in it and if it isn't what I want.