Yesterday my bid was accepted by Priceline for a 3 star hotel near JFK. I wanted to make a gift of that to my daughter and son-in-law who will be staying just one night in NY on their way to Europe. Crowne Plaza JFK is the hotel which accepted the bid. At first I was elated because Crowne Plazas are usually o.k., but when I read reviews on Trip Advisor, it appears that many, many people out there think that this hotel should be avoided like the plague. I contacted Priceline, and, of course, they say that they can do nothing about allowing me to rebid. I know I agreed to accept whatever results might come through, but I had confidence that Priceline would be reliable with its screening and wouldn't put its clients in questionable accommodations. In other words, I trusted that they would verifiy the condition of their properties. Please, someone out there, if you have had any experience recently with Crowne Plaza JFK, let me know--positive or negative. If necessary, I'll eat what I paid for the one night and put the kids elsewhere. Thank you.
Barbara

It's in Jamaica, Queens. Not exactly a preferred area here in the NY metropolitan area. If you had read previous posts here about hotels in the JFK area airport, they are much less to be desired.

Unless they are just there for the night and don't intend on getting around, then I don't see why they can't stay there. But, if they intend on going to Manhattan, then this is heck of a long way, about 1-hour by subway, E train, to midtown. Plus, they have to be comfortable enough with the Jamaica Queens subway area surroundings.

By the way, I think you have an incorrect understanding about Priceline and other travel bidding sites. They offer hotels, but are not responsible for how others (i.e. Tripadvisor) review them. One thing that is quite a common understanding , though - the cheaper the bid, the worse the hotels and areas become.

Thank you, bill boy. They have a friend in the city who will pick them up at their hotel and they will spend the day together. My thought was that it would be advantageous to be in good proximity to the airport for their flight out the next day. That way they could use the hotel shuttle and wouldn't have to incur the extra expense for a taxi. They won't be wandering around the hotel area. They just need a decent place to sleep.

Without knowing all the details it's hard to give advice. What time is their flight out to Europe? How well traveled are they? How much did you pay?

This is not a great hotel and I would only stay out near JFK if they have an 8 am flight. Otherwise, staying in Manhattan is much much better. None of the JFK hotels are great but this is at the bottom of the barrel according to the reviews on tripadvisor. According to the reviews, the hotel shuttle to the airport is not very reliable.

Except for the am flights to London, most, if not all flights to Europe leave JFK between ~5pm to 9pm or so.

Unless they are on the am flight or are arriving very late the night before, your logic of being near the airport and using the shuttle doesn't make sense.

Lessons learned. In the future, be sure to check out biddingfortravel.com before going to priceline. You'll see what hotels are in each category on priceline, what others have paid, and can also access hotel reviews.

Don;t know what arrangements they have with friends - or where the friends are from. If they're local in queens - this may not be much worse than the other JFK hotels - which are all bad.

Otherwise I would stay in Manhattan. Just grab a cab from JFK (fixed price) have dinner in the City and then have a good part of the next day to see Manhattan sights. (This is assuming they are taking the usual evening flight out of JFK.)

A three star by JFK couldn't have set you back too much. I'd chalk it up to experience and as the others have said, unless they have an 8AM flight out, I'd get them another hotel.

Priceline will not refund your money refund your money based on heresay which is why it is so important to arm yourself with as much knowledge as possible beforehand.

That is why we preach read, read, read www.BiddingForTravel.com before you bid.

We will be arriving JFK at 3:40 pm on a Sunday, after having been traveling since 5:00 that morning and need a hotel to overnight in.

Not interested in sightseeing, etc., just sleeping in and relaxing in preparation for our 9:30 pm flight overseas Monday night. Have read such horror stories of the JFK airport hotels, is there another option that is affordable (i.e. under $200 total)? Probably not, but do any area hotels offer late check out, by chance?

Would prefer something with shuttle service so we don't have to deal with transporation issues, but open to any suggestion. We normally stay in 2**hotels in Europe and this level of service suits us fine if this gives an idea of what we are after.

For our needs, would Priceline be the best bet? Thanks for any and all suggestions

Ooops-too late at night-I thought I was on my own "new" thread! Will repost this. Thanks.

klondike, have a look at the panamhotel.com in Queens. It's not right near the airport but offers free shuttle service to both JFK and LGA. It's basic but fine.

Hi, Jed--
We've got our Borneo plans all in place now, but for some reason I was reading through the Borneo posts and came across your request for info on the JFK Crowne Plaza. Despite my fears re cleanliness, etc., the kids said that the hotel was o.k. The room was on the small side as they remember, but it was clean and the bed comfortable. Good continental breakfast. Shuttle service was fine. That was almost 2 years ago, though, so things may have changed for better or worse.