JFK airport hotels - all bad?
 

Unfortunately, we have to stay overnight near JFK before a flight, and Trip Advisor has rather negative reviews for all the hotels in that area.

Any thoughts on which one sucks the least?

If none of them are very good, I'm wondering if we should just choose the Ramada because it's closest to the terminal.

The tripadvisor reviews for the first 5 hotels at JFK actually sound a lot better than they had. They are

Days Inn JFK Airport
Hilton Garden Inn Queens / JFK Airport
Hampton Inn NY-JFK
Holiday Inn Express At JFK
Courtyard New York JFK Airport

The Ramada reviews are NOT good.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev..._New_York.html

They are generic, airport hotels. What are you hoping for that you aren't finding?

To answer MikeT's question, I guess I'm looking for a place that does not inspire a lot of comments like "Stay away!", "worst hotel ever," etc.

I'm really not that picky - frequently stay in a Days Inn near Harvard that is pretty darn basic.