Ramada Plaza Hotel - Jfk Airport Jamaica

Like a few other reviewers (and seemingly most of the people staying in the hotel when we were there!!), our flight was overbooked...so we volunteered to stay in NY an extra night. Fate decided (or at least the airline did) that we'd be staying in the Ramada Plaza.Firstly..they were supposed to pick a group of us up at the airport. We were told it'd take 10 minutes - it took about 40 till they arrived and, when they did, the shuttle was full. Anyway, we squeezed on and got to the hotel - where there was a long queue to check in. First impressions (apart from the queue) were good - the lobby looks nice.Our room was OK, although it was quite dark, it was clean, and the only stain I could see (in the dark light!) was one cigarette burn on the carpet.The deal the airline gave us included meals in the hotel - unfortunately!! The food was pretty disgusting.The staff were pretty rude too. The only good thing about the hotel was the free shuttle (especially seeing as they charged us $44 for a return trip to a nearby mall which was only 10 minutes away!). I was just glad the airline paid for it - as I certainly wouldn't have been happy if the money was coming from my own pocket!

I had gone there with friends to wish my good friend off to Argentina.

We stayed there because of the location. The only positive thing about Ramada in JFK is the location and lobby was decent. The part that made this place a dump is that we did not have hot water. We had to call front desk to have the engineer check it out. The room look like it had not been updated since the 60's. We had gotten a non-smoking room...but we could smell an old smokey smell. Staying at Ramada was not worth the money we paid for it.

Great hotel to stay at if you require overnight accomodation at JFK Airport. Free Shuttle bus to airport. Hotel and room clean. No aircraft noise. Breakfast and bar prices a little bit on the expensive side.

would use again.

SUMMARY FIRST- I would stay here again. Rooms are comfortable, lobby very nice, not too noisy and the security and lay staff were very nice and helpful .I really have no complaints. It was MUCH better than what I expected after reading all the reviews on this here site. I expected the hotel from Hell and was very pleasantly pleased with my experience.ABOUT our STAY..... I stayed here while meeting my daighter while she was on a bussiness trip from Aug2-5th '03 and going back Aug 7-8th'03. VERY Convienient location ( a little tricky at first to get to from the VanWyck Expressway). Daiughter took the FREE shuttle from the airport.I watched the front of the hotel and saw shuttles showing up faster than the one every half hour, as noted around the lobby. We both had economy rooms. SUNDAY AFTERNOON Check in ( no line what-so-ever), was a little off kilter because my daughters name was not in their computer as was three other people in her corp group ( funny it was there when I had a gentle man behind the counter see if my daughter had checked in yet in the morning ), and the counter person Lady, did not want to talk to management for some reason to find out what happened. BUT the lady did rectify the problem on her own after about 15 minutes of calls to my daughters company( no answers) and then just ending up giving her a room away from her group (at corporate expense) without any prompting from us.(which did not bother us, she got her room and that was all that mattered).Our room was very clean and nicely decorated. ( king size bed , two chairs, nice tv and plenty of dresser draws. ( so was our daughters room) and other corp training members from my daughters company. ROOMS WERE.... I would say spacious.(room 651/mine) , Daughters room was too (618) .Bathrooms small but nicely tiled , decorated, fully stocked and equipt with a hair dryer. an iron and ironing board was also supplied. We had a large window with a NY skyline view, and the air conditioner worked VERY WELL !!! I am a bug fanatic and I saw not one single creepy crawly the whole time I was there. BELIEVE ME I looked ! Hardly heard the planes, ( for being so close to the airport I expected a LOT of noise).Wake up calls were forgotten by the staff two mornings, but we had our travel alarm clocks.Free Ice by the elevators.Maid service was very nice and very eager to please us.FOOD...No problem getting meals or snacks no matter WHAT the time was. (chineese food & pizza delivery from area establishments ( recommned Leonardo's pizza)/ and pizza and other snacks from room service is available) For a midnight snack , we went downstairs and the bar tender (very nice/ Barbra), was more than happy to get for us & ring up 2 pieces of fresh chocolate cake ($2.50), ice cream ( hagen das-$2.95 pint/ $1.95 cup ) , and piece of fresh cherry pie ($2.00) from the A'La Carte provided in the resturant , after the resturant closes . Dinner at the resturant was a bit pricey ($12.00 burgers w/ fries) and tasted good, but what bothered me was the automaticly added Gratuity which I do not like because if the waiter already knows that he's getting a 15% tip, then he does not try to please you as much. They tend to ignore you & I did have to wait 20 minutes for a fill up on my $2.89 regular cup of coffee , at breakfast, at this same resturant. (which i did not realize was also available as a continental breakfast on the same ala carte ). ( resturant staff does like to get those automatic tips and pushes the resturant or bar menus a bit much)NEARBY.....( we followed a sign for a seafood returant and We found a IHOP 2 miles away on Rockaway Blvd (a right turn off the ramp) with excellent food and prices (Brenda , our waitress ) set a good tone for our wonderful meal when she greeted us so warmly !Back to the hotel.... A Snack bar (that also sells coffee for $2.89, and cake that is in a case (two days ) for $4.95) , Has a Coffee/expresso machine in front of it , tasted absolutely WONDERFUL and cost only $1.50 ! BUT if you forget to put the cup down first it could cost you $ 3.00 ! It is not automatic !A piano player showed up in the lobby on monday, which added a nicer touch to the place. My husband loved all the tv 's in the lounge area tuned to news and sports. I liked the outside patio and little surprise gardens.BRAND NEW LITTLE GIFT SHOP- with nice little knick knacks, candy , newspapers...etc. They did not take Credit Cards yet , they had just opened a few days before i got there and were not set up for them yet .

INTERNET/FAX/COPIES...Bussiness Center available in lobby.Internet with email access was available for $ .20 minute. Did not see the other services prices.I would recommend this hotel. It is a three star , right by the airport , has free shuttles to and from the airport , is clean & decent , provides room service and laundry service ................and that's that.For a 3 star, On a scale of 1-10 , I'd give it a 6.(10 being best)

The hotel has a great lobby with marble and new carpet and decor. That is the good part. The bad part is the fact that they have mold and roaches in the elevator ,and an undescribable filth behind the ice makers and vending areas. The rooms were adequete, until you turn on the rusty , old a/c units. The bathrooms were not "newly appointed" or "modern" as advertised, but were instead old and moldy with rusty mirrors and a missing vent cover on the exhaust fan. The room was sort of clean, but the a/c vent kept falling off revealing moldy carpet and duct tape repairs. I would not reccommend this hotel. stay in the bates motel, the creepy crawlies in that hotel are not real. Never stay in this hotel!!!!

We booked a room for one night plus parking for a fly/drive package. When we got back from our trip (the night's stay was at the end), not only did they not honor the confirmed rate of $133.00, but they couldn't give us a satisfactory room. We asked for a double but got a single. When we complained, they gave us a new room on a different floor, which was enveloped in marijuana smoke. It was as hot as an oven with no ac control. We tried to open a window, but the noisy plane traffic won't allow it. We went back to the front desk to complain for the 3rd time, and told them we did not want to stay there and offered to pay for parking. They said there would be no charge (just to get rid of us), and gave my credit slip back. So we drove the 3.5 hours home (after flying 20 hours from China). One month later, a charge of $193.39 appeared on my credit card, and I can't get rid of it. Nobody at the Ramada JFK will even call me back. Nobody at the Ramada customer service dept. will do anything about them because it's 'independantly owned'. Don't stay here...you'll be sorry.

Sometimes fate cuts in and the overbooked British Airways flight you'd arranged a month in advance leaves you stranded in a hotel even crack addicts would likely avoid. Black ring around the tub, rust on the mirror, shards of plaster on the carpet, stains on the bed sheets, hair on the pillowcase, aftermath in the toilet and a half empty can of beer tucked behind the TV in the cupboard. Gap in the window pane let in more frigid air than what tepid warmth belched out of the AC unit. Neighbors were loud, staff threatening and shuttle bus better late than never. Took two showers once safely home to wash away the ick factor of that horrid little room.

We ended up staying in this hotel after our flight was cancelled.

We waited approximately 35 minutes to check-in. The desk staff were more concerned with chatting to airline crew members who were allowed to push to the front of the line.

A member of staff marched up and down the line bellowing out instructions for wake-up calls and shuttle buses, telling us that if we didn't place our wake-up call by 1am it would not happen. This was very helpful at 12.30am, stuck in the lobby...

The room was horrible, the decor dated and dirty. The heat/ac did not work properly and just blew smelly hot air in the whole time.

The bathroom was nasty, with rust up the mirror, a door that didn't close, dirty fixtures etc.

We got no sleep due to the fact there is no soundproofing between rooms - we could hear all the nocturnal habits of a couple down the corridor in addition to all the slamming of doors/shouting of the other guests.

DO NOT stay in this hotel. DO NOT believe what the other websites tell you about refurbishment or nice facilities. STAY AWAY.

1/03

This might be the closest hotel to JFK airport, but it must be worth looking further afield. We arrived at JFK from Miami and stayed the night of January 1, 2003 prior to catching an early morning flight to UK. We had to make three calls and wait 50 minutes before a shuttle bus arrived at the terminal. The room was just about acceptable, although we were woken at 3 in the morning by noisy kids in the room next door. Restaurant/bar facilities are abysmal - and expensive. The "buffet" consisted of shrivelled chicken wings, ditto fish fingers, and an indescribable pasta mixture. So we passed on that and moved to the bar area which offered McDonalds/BK style fare at luxury hotel prices. At 8 pm there were no burgers and no steak sandwiches. Two chicken sandwiches, two beers and two glasses of wine came to 65 dollars, though it has to be said that the waitress was efficient and friendly.

The overall experience is NOT to be recommended.

Put up here because of British Airways overbooking. Worst hotel I have ever been to. never go here. The rooms are horrific and you can here everything going on next door. Courtesy bus doesn't run and the queues are huge for check in. The worst night of my life.