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Ramada Plaza JFK Doesn't Need To Please Anyone

Where: Kennedy International Airport /Van Wyke Expressway [map], New York, ny, United States, 11430

When you're the closest and most popular hotel to an airport that often has weather delays, why worry about pleasing guests?

As we boarded a flight out of JFK last week--a flight that then sat on the runway for four hours--we were regaled with tales from passengers who had spent the night there after their flight the day before got cancelled. The airline shuttled passengers off to the usual spot, Ramada Plaza JFK. Apparently even with a price of "free," this is not where you want to be spending the night.

Our fellow passengers mostly used descriptions that can't be repeated here, but "crappy" and "awful" were some of the milder ones. Can it really be this bad, or did they just catch the hotel on an off night?

If the reviews on TripAdvisor are any indication, their stay was typical. Headlines on reviews there read "Don't stay here," "What a dump," "Only if you are desperate," and "I'd rather sleep in the airport than stay here again."

Apparently the first impression in the lobby isn't bad, but it goes downhill fast after that. Says one reviewer:

"It's great to arrive half-asleep before the sun comes up so you don't have to look at the ickiness of the room. I thought I had stumbled into a youth hostel by accident. The doors to the rooms are teeny and spaced about three inches apart and the carpet in the dim hallway is nasty. Since I was there to sleep, I was rather annoyed that the short curtains along the long window were about three inches too short, thus, letting in huge beams of sunshine and completely defeating my purpose of being there.

Unfortunately, the rules of economics are clearly in force here. If you're in a position with little competition and your business flow depends on flight delays, not happy customers, why bust your butt to improve? Just keep cashing the checks....

For photographic proof of how dumpy this place is, a picture of a rusty bathroom fixture is provided after the jump.