Originally Posted by
progapanda
You actually don't need to exit the hotel property at all, especially if the weather isn't great. The "tubes" connect the hotel to the arrivals level of Terminal 5 (via elevators) and then you can go up further to the AirTrain connecting concourse using escalators. I did this last month.
If the weather is bad that's definitely an option. But it's almost 3x the walking distance from the main lobby of the hotel vs. the route shown above.