Sleep come free me!

September 21, 2024 2:41 AM

I'll be arriving at JFK at about 8AM after an absolutely HEINOUS 48 hours of air travel, but my hotel in Manhattan (W. 42nd St) doesn't allow check in until 1PM. Anybody have suggestions for someplace I can go lay down and sleep for a few hours?
posted by richmondparker to Travel & Transportation (15 answers total)

Not sure how updated it is, but sleeping in airports has some ideas.
posted by freethefeet at 3:10 AM on September 21

Not sure if that is an option and I acknowledge this may be middle age speaking but I’d book an extra night at my hotel and check in at my convenience.
posted by koahiatamadl at 3:31 AM on September 21 [20 favorites]

If it's possible with your travel plans to actually call the hotel front desk the night before, you may luck out on an early check in. You can also ask for a call if the room becomes available even a few hours earlier than 1. Front desk people are able to make all kinds of things happen that the corporate booking site can't.
posted by phunniemee at 3:54 AM on September 21 [32 favorites]

If you go the route suggested by koahiatamadl, then suggest booking directly through the hotel and also making a note that you will be coming in late. Otherwise, might be considered a no-show and lose the room. Relative had problems, with third-party booking the front desk basically ignored them, and never got a refund.
posted by jellyAntGetsTheGrant at 3:57 AM on September 21 [10 favorites]

The TWA hotel at JFK is very fun and often has very reasonable day rates starting at 6 am. Highly recommend in these sorts of situations!
posted by MeadowlarkMaude at 4:10 AM on September 21 [30 favorites]

I think I heard about this site from a similar question on MeFi a couple months ago: Dayuse has many hotel rooms available for the day (including very fancy rooms for much less than you would pay for a night). There's also Nap York which is basically a by-the-hour hostel with two locations in Manhattan.
posted by mskyle at 4:50 AM on September 21 [7 favorites]

If you're going through customs and then waiting for luggage and then getting an uber and then driving at least an hour still with the dregs of morning rush hour from JFK to midtown you won't be getting there til close to 11 anyways. I'd go with seeing if the hotel can let you check in early.
posted by ojocaliente at 5:47 AM on September 21 [27 favorites]

Seconding TWA hotel at JFK. You can book for minimum 4 hours. Sleep, shower, get some lunch, etc.
posted by greta simone at 6:20 AM on September 21

I would be worried about oversleeping in an airport hotel and missing my check in at the main hotel, I vote for booking another night and telling front desk you’ll check in late.
posted by ellieBOA at 6:48 AM on September 21 [1 favorite]

Seconding ojocaliente, you don’t have 5 hours to kill, you have at most 2, and I bet the hotel can let you check in at 11.
posted by rhymedirective at 6:54 AM on September 21 [4 favorites]

JFK has a Minute Suites in terminal 4 (near gate 39).
posted by mezzanayne at 8:04 AM on September 21

Others are making a good point about how much actual time you have to kill; FWIW if you get a day room for four or six or eight hours you don't HAVE to go check in to your regular hotel immediately, you can sleep until 3 or whatever, then go check in.

If you're looking for more casual snooze, even if the hotel can't let you check in any earlier than 1PM, you may be able to doze in a comfortable chair in the lobby for a couple hours (after letting the hotel staff know that you're ready when your room is).

Another option might be a massage or a visit to a day spa - not necessarily sleeping, but relaxing!
posted by mskyle at 8:27 AM on September 21 [1 favorite]

I agree that if you arrive at JFK at 8am, you are likely to get to the hotel at around 11am, and many hotels offer early check-in if you contact the front desk a little ahead of time. I recently had a red eye flight to Seattle and arrived at the hotel at 10am, and even though check-in wasn't until 2pm I was able to check-in at arrival.
posted by coffeecat at 8:38 AM on September 21 [2 favorites]

Confirming what others have said: I think my request for early check-in was turned away once in more than a dozen times of asking for it, and even then they held my luggage while I went and did other things.
posted by Mo Nickels at 9:53 AM on September 21 [1 favorite]

A lesson I learned long ago is that presenting the desk clerk with twenty bucks “for your trouble” goes a long way toward improving their troubleshooting abilities. They might suggest a solution that wouldn’t occur to you, e.g., sleeping on a couch in a quiet corner or even a mysteriously-early room that is mysteriously-available.

Otherwise I’d go with the “sleeping in the lobby” solution. No hotel is going to object to that if they know you’re checking in. When you show up at 0900 you can start with “I’d like to check my bags till check-in time, oh, here’s something for your trouble…” and see where it leads you. Good luck.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 2:58 PM on September 21