Pianoman109876

I have a super early flight out of JFK and am coming into the city the night before. What is the closest (or most convenient) hotel to stay in to get to T4? Any suggestions?

ATOBTTR

remyontheroad

Can't really tell you much about the local hotels or how frequently their shuttles go but I'd leave plenty of time in the early morning - and consider a car from the hotel.
Just from stepping off the shuttle and getting up to the platform, waiting for the airtrain and the ride over to T4 and getting up to check-in, I'd estimate that 25-30 mins to be safe - especially if you're not familiar with the whole setup.

Knowing that the walk to your gate is going to be another 2.6 miles once you get inside, I'd definitely skip the short walks, long waits between trains, long escalators and long platforms and take a car right to the curb.

bennos

It looks like the TWA Hotel doesn't actually open until May 15, though once it opens it'll definitely win as most convenient. Otherwise, options fall into two groups:

1. Off property airport hotels, involving a shuttle of some form to get to Federal Circle, and then AirTrain to yet you to T4.
2. Stay in Manhattan, with specific areas being preferable depending on whether you want to take transit (Penn Station or something along the A or E line) or a car (near the Midtown tunnel or Williamsburg Bridge).

If you're coming into Manhattan anyway, it's probably easiest just to stay there. If you're leaving early enough (let's say before 7am on a weekday) a car will get you to the airport in less than 40 minutes (and only slightly longer for LIRR from Penn Station), which isn't that much longer than going down to the lobby and waiting to pile into an airport shuttle, and still having to get on the AirTrain.

Note JFK T4 AirTrain is inside T4 (one level down from departures), so once you arrive there isn't that much more walking vs having a car drop you off curbside.

cmd320

This is really the best advice. If you can't stay here, then just stay in Manhattan and take an early train or something. The hotels around JFK are some of the worst in the country IMO. Calling the area third world would be being kind.

lwildernorva

Other than the TWA when it opens, it's surprising but true that going into Manhattan and staying around Penn Station might be equally convenient as staying at the "airport" hotels around JFK. The AirTrain/LIRR combo gets you into Manhattan in about 30 minutes, and there are a number of decent hotels within 10 minutes walking distance of Penn Station.

If you decide to stay around the airport, you still have to take the AirTrain to Federal Circle--the last stop before Jamaica Station--and you'll then need to wait for a shuttle. If you're lucky, the shuttle for your hotel is there just as you get off the AirTrain. If you're not, you may be waiting 10-30 minutes for your shuttle, and then, even if you're near JFK (Crowne Plaza, Radisson), it still takes 10-15 minutes to negotiate the convoluted road system around the airport to your hotel.

There are more choices in Manhattan, and many nights, the room rates are similar to what you'll see with the airport options.

remyontheroad

Definitely with everyone about Manhattan.
That point about the Airtrain is true, but it's emblematic of the problem with local hotel option - each step is pretty small so it feels like it shouldn't be a big hassle - but you add them up and it's a lot.

All this makes we wonder if there aren't cooler hotels other places than Manhattan that might be fun to spend a night - maybe cheaper and a quick car to the airport.
Some hipster place in Rockaway, or a chain hotel in Jackson Heights or Coney Island?
Could be interesting...

jdrtravel

I'm sorry but the people suggesting that staying in Manhattan is going to be just as quick as staying at an airport hotel are crazy. Stay at one of the airport hotels and take a taxi or Uber to T4.

FAA

JFK is one of those airports that the hotels in area simply suck.

I suggest staying Manhattan.

Better hotels and things to do and a cab or Uber will get you to T4.

rogo

They're a little crazy yes. But they're not quite as crazy as the distance would make it seem. And those "near airport" hotels are so hit and miss.

davetravels

I've stayed in Queens a few times. Cool, and different. TONS of int'l food to choose from, super discount shopping, and, likely cheaper than Manhattan!



It also helps that I speak decent Spanish.

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.

lwildernorva

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.

Duke787

This is a tough one. The Manhattan option makes sense if you have time to actually enjoy being in NYC but the hotels will hit you with more fees including destination.

If literally just a short overnight would stay at one of the close hotels and take the 8-10 minute early morning Uber over the 25 minute train + 5-7 minute AirTran

ATOBTTR

I have to agree. Last year I went to NYC twice, stayed in Manhattan once and stayed right by JFK once. When I stayed in Manhattan, we arrived at JFK at 10 pm on a Friday evening and got in the cab around 1030 PM. It still took well over an hour to get to our hotel in Central Manhattan. Traffic coming out of JFK was awful and Manhattan was bumper to bumper traffic. Getting back to JFK on Sunday morning was slightly better but still heavy traffic in Manhattan and heavy traffic around JFK.

Later that year we stayed overnight at JFK after coming back from Europe. Had an ~11 PM arrival into JFK. Our flight left for Texas at 2 PM the next day. We stayed at the Hampton Inn by JFK which was more than adequate. To get to the hotel, we did have to take the AirTrain to Federal Circle; thankfully the shuttle was there right as we came down, so we got lucky in that regard. On the way back to JFK the following day, the hotel shuttle took all of us straight to the terminals - we didn't have to deal with the AirTrain going back to JFK. Maybe just lucky on our part there too but was certainly convenient enough.

But I would certainly agree that if you don't want to mess with the AirTrain and shuttle, just get a cab and take it to an airport hotel (Hilton, Hampton Inn, etc.) which will be more than adequate for an overnight place to sleep.


Who doesn't use Google Maps to check a hotel location prior to booking it these days?