AirTrain Plaza Hotel JFK Airport

The morning staff were friendly, and I managed to sleep okay in a basic room, but it seemed old, rundown, and a bit dirty. Checking in, the desk woman was rude and asked me for my PIN instead of handing over the card machine. I smelled smoke around the hotel, kept hearing people in the halls, saw people who seemed to be on drugs coming down from the rooms, and someone asked me for money in the lobby. As a woman travelling alone, I felt scared. Another guest told me someone had tried to get into her room at 10pm. Jamaica is apparently an unsafe area to walk around at night, which isn't the hotel's fault, but it's useful to know. Don't expect too much.

We left as soon as we saw the room. It was disgusting, and the photos speak for themselves. The strong smell of cheap perfume, cigarettes, and urine made it worse. Before that, the lobby already looked unclean, and the elevator was wet and nasty. We could hear loud music from another guest room when we reached our floor. This place used to be called “OYO Hotel” and has terrible Google reviews. A name change doesn't wipe out that reputation. Nice try.

The bed and pillows were comfy, and the morning staff kindly ordered me a taxi. I brought a puppy, which was why I chose this place, and nobody gave me any trouble about it. I also couldn't hear any other pets at night. The front desk young woman wasn't very welcoming, though maybe she was just tired since it was late. Other guests played loud music, but turned it off around 10 or 11pm. The decor wasn't really my taste, but it didn't matter much.

I came to New York for some beautiful days of travel, but this place feels like permanent darkness. I'm a Cyberpunk 2077 fan, yet I never expected to end up in a “hotel” like a Night City Mega Block. I write this from what seems to be the cleanest spot in the room while listening to an argument next door between a “lady of the night” and her “customer” over money. I'm stranded here until tomorrow's flight because I had no other last-minute option at a reasonable price, and I blame my own lack of research and poor lodging plans. The whole building feels grimy, deprived, and run down. Dirt seems baked into every wall, floor, and fixture, and walking through the automatic doors feels like a rabbit stepping into a cage. The so-called “guest food center” is an old soda machine like one you'd see in a laundromat and a single heavily used, questionable $35 microwave. I wouldn't trust a fly to snack in it, let alone put food in there myself. At night, the decaying halls make you feel you should be ready to fight or run. You've been warned.