I spent Wednesday night at the Hyatt Regency JFK Resorts World, and had my strangest Hyatt experience since getting yelled at by a manager in summer 2023, and my stay a week before that which was worse.
This is a property that I’ve had good things to say about in the past. I’ve gotten suites there. They have a club lounge. It’s new and clean – which is normally all you can hope for near JFK airport.
When I turned up at check-in, they couldn’t find a reservation for me. I gave them the confirmation number and they insisted it was a reservation for January.
- I have made mistakes like that before. About 16 years ago I made a booking for the wrong month at the now-Hyatt Regency Suvarnabhumi airport. And a dozen years ago I booked the wrong Hyatt Regency in Miami.
- However I knew I’d even gotten the online check-in invitation for the hotel that morning – so I knew I didn’t make a mistake!
My confirmation did show the reservation was for Wednesday night. The manager looked at it and said that the booking had been changed by central reservations that same day. “Someone at Hyatt is messing with you.”
I hope not! I’ve asked Hyatt to look into it, but my working guess is:
- Someone knew that American Airlines would be debuting a new plane the next day at JFK airport
- That I’d likely have to fly in the night before for it
- And the odds-on favorite for where I’d be spending that night was by the airport at the Hyatt.
- So they called Hyatt pretending to be me and messed with the booking.
Update: Hyatt tells me that “the error was made at the property level” (not at central reservations, or by a reader contacting Hyatt to maliciously make a change) and apologized.
After finally checking in, there was 20 minutes left to evening lounge service so I went straight there. There was a food spread, but there were no plates left.
So I went to the Resorts World food court. I wanted a boba, so I ordered and paid for one. But I was then told they had no boba. I could wait until they brought some up, or get a refund. I opted for the refund. It turned out that waiting for it was faster than waiting for someone to process the refund, so after 10 minutes they made me a boba, which turned out to be the worst I’d ever had.
I went up to my room, went inside, and discovered that the lock on the door would not lock. So I went back to the desk. They wanted me to wait for engineering, since they were short on rooms. I insisted they give me a different room, and they did.
Then – despite the bedside clock saying “alarm – off” the alarm went off in the morning. Because at this point, of course it did.
Naturally in the morning my room key didn’t work in the lounge. When they switched my room the night before, they carelessly didn’t key it for lounge access. At check-out I had to get them to remove a charge for wifi. I’d say it was still a decent stay, except the pillows weren’t great and I didn’t sleep well, either!
But where else to stay for a JFK airport overnight? I want to love the TWA Hotel, and it is still both striking for nostalgia and convenient. But it is not a good hotel. They’ll nickel and dime you for everything (actually $20 and $50 you). They’ve even had the gall to charge hotel guests to use the pool. And vagrants hang out in the lobby.
I agree with you on the TWA Hotel at JFK. Quite underwhelming. Seriously expensive and tiny room. Still,, my sister was a stewardess for TWA in the early 1960s so it was quite nostalgic for me to stay there. Once.
Could it be that the reservation was accidentally messed up by a Globalist MHC rep trying to help you?
@GUWonder – I can barely get a response to an email from my MHC
The JFK area as a whole is a hotel void. You either have higher priced mediocre hotels, or cheaper fleabags. There is good food near JFK (Don Pepe, , but hotels? No.
The boro of Queens however has more diversity in terms of food than just about any place on the planet. If I were having a layover, I’d consider taking a couple of Trains to Flushing. (Closer to LGA) There isn’t a Hyatt Regency, but there is a Hyatt Place there that’s basically in the center of a modern Asian outpost. With the money not spent at the airport, there are excellent food choices within walking distance. Many Asian airlines put there people up in this neighborhood for layovers as well.
Gary – how do you get to the hotel? They don’t have a shuttle, and I always seem to get a pissed off cabbie or Uber driver on such a short trip.
Why don’t all companies let you 2FA your account, so this mischief can’t happen. I’m fine with it as an option, but if I opt for it, then no changes without 2FA. I rather like what Accor does with their points. If I want to cash them in against my hotel bill, the clerk does the work, then Accor emails me a code I have to give the clerk, and only after entering that code (otherwise unknown to the clerk) does the redemption take place.
I had a strange stay at this property last month. My door lock was an issue as well, wonder if we were in the same room. Also, the smart ass lady working the front desk in the morning needs to find a new job. She was so rude and condescending on the phone that I let her have it. Oddly when I went down stairs to depart for JFK she as there with the guard and both were staring at me as I left. Shame as I was looking for a decent option close to the airport for future stays.
New Marriott JFK is a possible contender. We were there on an AA distressed voucher and hotel was ok. Lounge was better than the Hyatt in both available food and ambience.
It’s resorts world and they are criminals
HYATT was desperate to get a nearby presence to JFK
The club lounge offerings are crap
@ Dwondermeant – crap compare to what ? Other than no can drinks it is actually even better than the club at HR Chicago, and WAY WAY better than the Commodore lounge at Hyatt grand central
I’ve had mixed experiences here. It’s a pretty wacky development, and I’ve always had billing issues (resort fee added onto points bookings, etc.). But the rooms are extremely nice for NYC, as is the club lounge. The last time I was there a few weeks ago, I finally explored the casino and found a window serving $6 drinks on the first floor – fun!
Re: hotel room alarm clocks – we just unplug them at this point. a) too bright; b) go off unbidden; c) we need the plug for a CPAP.
I’ve stayed there once. It is an awkward location, but they gave me a suite, a 4 pm checkout and I found the lounge to have adequate food at dinner and breakfast. It was a $25 Lyft ride to the terminal. I believe I used an expiring free night cert. I’d stay there again for the price of a $25 Lyft ride. There is a way to get to the terminal with a 20 minute walk, a $3 subway ride to Howard Beach, $9 Air train to the terminal.
Sheesh, between this and Mesa, it’s been a ‘screw Gary in-particular’ kinda day, huh?
@GUWonder — If that was ‘helping,’ then I don’t want ‘help.’ Bah!
@This comes to mind — All these programs should have 2FA; hearing the stories about Alaska hacks, recently, too, it’s a no brainer.
Gary, shame on the hotel staff for treating you so poorly.
I agree with you about the TWA Hotel. It has great memorabilia in the lobby, an unbeatable location and history, but otherwise, it’s a big disappointment at every turn. I really wanted to love this hotel.
Sleeping in a quiet part of the terminal with noise canceling headphones on is better than this.
@All Due Respect — Reminds me of that movie ‘The Terminal’ with Tom Hanks… ‘eat to bite?’
I visited the TWA Hotel for old times sake (I used to be a TWA Red Card back in the day), and sat in the lobby bar with my wife to have a drink. I ordered my goto martini (“Beefeaters on the rocks, very dry, with a twist”), and the bartender got it wrong (made me a dirty martini – ouch!). A rude awakening that yes indeed, times have changed for this classic Eero Saarinen masterpiece.