RTWSTARALLIANCE

I know Hilton corporate reads this forum.
Please forward this to the GM at the
Doubletree JFK. I have a reservation at this
Hotel coming up. Before conducting a search
I cxld a reservation with another chain. Now
the price has gone up. I have read really
bad posts on this Hotel. Can anyone update
a little more or should I still be scared?
Status is Diamond. Thanks

JimC

I had to overnight there a couple weeks ago. No complaints. I waited no more than 10 minutes for the shuttle, and again about 10 minutes the next morning for the shuttle back to JFK. The room (king bed) was on the top floor and was fine. I think I saw a card about recent renovations, but can't remember.

Although I was not offered a cookie at checkin, there was a snack box in my room with cheese, crackers, and bottled water. I was given a breakfast voucher but didn't use it. I'm gold.

I don't think you have anything to be scared about.

dctorres

Hi,

I stayed at this hotel in June. The shuttle service was fairly efficient and the hotel was clean (I should hope, since it opened in January I believe).

However:

1. The restaurant is bar-none the worst I've ever visited. We went twice, thinking we had bad luck the first time. The first time the order was screwed up (after waiting 30 minutes for breakfast in an empty restaurant) and the second time.... the waiter never came back after giving us orange juice. The hotel manager said he would take care of it and would remove the restaurant charges from the bill.
2. On a picky note, there are several spelling errors on the the emergency information located in front the elevators on each floor. Not very professional.

FWIW, not a great hotel, but if you have to stay by the airport and want to get a Hilton stay under your belt, it is allright -- certainly when the room was under $100/night.

dt

RTWSTARALLIANCE

I did a search before arriving. I should
have listened. Here are the facts of our
stay-

a. The word "Club" does not mean up the
Doubletree food chain but below. This is
a small five story building. No "Club"
lounge or amenities.
b. I had to call twice for the shuttle van
to the Hotel. Took 32 minutes to arrive.
Pick-up is on lower level and not upper
level as previously told via phone when I
called Hotel from SMF. Short 5 minute
ride to Hotel from JFK. Shuttle back
leaves every 30 minutes on hour and half
past.
c. Room are very small and standard. Much
noise yes even with windows closed on
front of Hotel. Room move to back of
Hotel after check-in and hearing room
noise. A little noise in back of Hotel.
At this point actually longing to
Sheraton JFK if that gives you a clue.
Their walk-up AAA rate actually $9 less
than Doubletree Club JFK.
d. The light bulb in entry hall was out.
e. The bottom mattress pad sheet was not
pressed and had some previous persons
hair.
f. The restaurant is as bad as written. My
friends burger was raw inside. They took
it back and microwaved it. Did not
replace the fries. She did not finish
and of course we got a bill for the whole
meal. Bad. There is a Burger King about
a half block away.
g. The air circulation is very bad in the
rooms. You will have to run the AC all
night.
h. Set our alarms for 5:30 AM. Did not
check the rooms alarm. Cardinal sin.
It went off at 4:55 AM. Hence I am up.

The positives- free internet access, a
welcome basket for my friend who is a Gold,
short distance to JFK and nice fitness room.

I called down to the front desk. Will let
you know how I did on rate. You are
advised. Regards

dctorres

I see the Restaurant has not changed. I am certain that they will remove your friend's dining charges. They did that for me. However, I see that my suggestion to the manager of sacking everyone there and starting over went in one ear and out the other.

One thing I didn't like is that you enter in the lobby and then have to go down a set of stairs to get to the elevators.

As for the rooms... there was barely enough room to put my suitcase in the room and still be able to open the door.

The positive -- the free Internet access and the fact that it is 10 minutes from the airport, which is quite nice after a flight in from Europe.

fredmartens

Does this place really suck that bad (yes! I can read!)? I'm doing a mileage run end of Sept. SEA-JFK and am planning on staying there...just from about 10PM to 6am...or should I just "eat" the $50 increase and stay at the Sheraton?

dctorres

If it is just a mileage run, it passes...it's clean, just badly run.

fredmartens

Ok, I gotta admit, I was apprehensive about staying here after all the negative posts I've seen on this property.

Well, I stayed last night on a SEA-JFK-SEA mileage run, and I gotta say I was very pleasantly surprised. The shuttle arrived within 15 minutes, the driver cordial and helpful. This property is almost brand new, five floors within about 5 minutes of JFK (man, is JFK a mess with all the construction!).

Yup, like the posts say, it's kinda weird going down half a flight of stairs from the lobby to catch the "going up" elevator. It's not poorly lit at all, as some previous posts implied. And, yes, the rooms are on the small side, but isn't that pretty typical of an in-city property? Considering some of the other rat traps I've seen adjacent to JFK, I was pretty impressed. Everything was very clean and the bath amenities were more than adequate.

Check-in was a ten minute wait, but the clerk had a basket of fruit, cookies, crackers and bottled waters waiting. I was informed of room service hours, given a breakfast voucher, put in one of the best rooms on the 5th floor, and given a prompt wakeup call when asked. The staff was very efficient.

The shuttle left for JFK on time this morning, the driver very courteous and helpful. There's also free DSL internet access in a business center on the ground floor as well as a fitness room. For $87 adjacent to an airport, I thought this was a pretty good value and though I wouldn't plan a vacation around the place, it was more than adequate for a short business or pleasure stay.

This property is not as bad as it's been made out to be in several posts here...who knows, maybe Hilton read some of these FT posts and cleaned up the place!

tinkybelle

Good to hear.
Is there anything better at the airport?

Pat H

Fred, what kind of rate was the $87? I booked a room there for a Friday night in March and the best rate I could find was $99 thru orbitz.

------------------
Pat

CA Platinum

I recently missed a stay at this loacation that I had reserved, but failed to show up for. My credit card was charged $123, as they are allowed to do when you don't cancel a reservation.

I was very impressed at how easy it was to get the manager of this hotel to reverse the charge. He was very pleasant and understanding, and took care of it immediately.

fredmartens

PatH, one thing I have noticed this year is that Hilton prices are way up at all of the properties that I book. I have found the averages to be between 20% and 200%. I'm not surprised that the $87 rate at the DT Club JFK is no longer available; this was a rate that I booked on the DT website in 8/02.

For example, the DT Hazard Center in SAN has gone from a routine price of about $87-$94 a night to $107 and up. Some HGI's that I used to book at $59 a night are now at $149. It's ridiculous.

Last year, I was very loyal to Hilton and stayed over 60x at their properties; this year, I doubt I will qualify again as their rates have escalated. I am using Wyndham webrates more and more as well as Hotwire for stays.

Unfortunately, there are some areas (like JFK) where your airport hotel choices are severely limited. Try the rates at the Hampton JFK, I understand that is a nicer property.

Pat H

Thanks, Fred. I did try the Hampton Inn and the lowest rate there was $129. The odd thing is that I could only get the $99 rate on Orbitz. HH.com kept telling me the DT was sold out.

------------------
Pat

tinkybelle

Hampton has an over 50 rate at 115 for april 03

kawoh

am on a priceline bid, any one know how their treat HH Golds on priceline bids - if anything?

also would be great if someone please had an email address for the hotel so I can get them to drop my HH number into the reservation.

thanks!