Hillcrest Hotel Near JFK Airtrain

The room had a cockroach in the bathroom, the whole place was dirty, and it smelled of cigarette smoke, weed, and who knows what else. The smoke detector in my room was wrapped in plastic. Service was horrible. Their cleaning policy makes no sense: cleaners come to your room while you’re in it, then leave after 5 PM, so basically they never clean. There’s no microwave in the room, just one dirty one in the lobby for the whole hotel. The trashiest place I’ve seen, and a completely hellish stay. They should be banned from doing business there.

I spent 10 days here with my family and rented two rooms on the third floor. The rooms themselves were fine, but the service was awful. They only accept cash, not credit or debit cards. There was no room service or cleaning, and they didn’t change the sheets or towels daily. When I called for help, they’d say someone was coming, but I had to wait 2-5 hours. Think twice before choosing this hotel just because it’s cheap. Receptionist Mr Shon was unfriendly and disrespectful. They need to work on their staff and professionalism. Not recommended at all.

They didn’t explain ahead of time that the deposit and “secure parking area” both had to be paid in cash. I told the front desk I’d be back in 15 minutes after going to the bank, but when I returned there was nobody there. My reservation paperwork and driver’s license copy were left in plain view on the desk. Two other people and I waited 20 minutes for someone to show up. At checkout the next morning, they were confused about which room I’d been given, then asked me to sign a different set of papers. When I asked what I was signing and why it was different from the papers I’d already signed, the guy barked, “SO YOU CAN GET YOUR DEPOSIT BACK!” and rolled his eyes. The service was very unpleasant. I’d sleep in my car before staying here again.

The room was very basic, and I wouldn’t recommend it for an overnight or longer stay. The closet had no hooks or hangers, there was leftover food in the fridge, and the ice bucket was moldy inside. The front desk manager seemed reluctant to throw it out. There were no usual plastic cups either. The TV only had two good channels, and with just one nightstand, you and your partner would have to play rock-paper-scissors to get the good side of the bed. For a supposedly new hotel, it was disappointing and overhyped. It might work for a quick romp, just getting in and out, but that’s about it.