The Ramada Plaza JFK Hotel was a
Ramada
Ramada is a large American multinational hotel chain owned by Wyndham Hotels and Resorts. As of December 31, 2018, it operates 811 hotels with 114,614 rooms across 63 countries under the Ramada brand.
Name
The ''Ramada'' name derives from t ...
-branded
hotel at
John F. Kennedy International Airport, located in
South Ozone Park,
Queens,
New York City,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
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Film and television
* '' ...
, United States.
Description
While in operation, The Ramada Plaza JFK was JFK Airport's only on-site hotel.
["Ramada Plaza Hotel JFK International Airport"](_blank)
Archive
CHM (Capital Hotel Management) Properties. Retrieved November 4, 2012. It was located in Airport Building 144, a six-story,
[Leland, John (August 4, 1996)]
"Grieving at Ground Zero"
'' Newsweek''. Retrieved March 9, 2014. "The six-story Ramada, just off Kennedy airport, has been ground zero for the grief and incomprehension surrounding TWA Flight 800. It has been a place of prayer and condolences, of unlimited bar tabs and a presidential visit." white-brick building
[Swanson, Steven (November 1, 1999)]
"At JFK, Another Grim Routine in 'Heartbreak Hotel'"
'' Chicago Tribune''. "It is a routine familiar at the Ramada Plaza Hotel near John F. Kennedy International Airport, where this unassuming white-brick hotel has become known as "Heartbreak Hotel" because it is the place where family members have been brought after crashes involving planes that took off from the airport." with 478 rooms.
History
It was previously a
Forte Hotels
Forte Group plc was a British hotel and restaurant company. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until it was acquired by Granada in 1996. Its head office was in the London Borough of Camden. ...
-managed property that was branded as the
Travelodge New York JFK.
For several years, the
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ), the airport's owner, leased the building and site to the hotel-holding company
Westmont Hospitality Group Westmont Hospitality Group is a company nominally based in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada which owns and manages hotels. It was founded by the Mangalji family. It is one of the biggest hospitality management companies. It currently is managed by Majid ...
.
In 2009, a PANYNJ spokesperson said that Westmont Hospitality Group decided not to renew the lease for 2009.
[ Fickenscher, Lisa (September 25, 2009)]
JKF
' sic''] "Airport Hotel to Close in December". '' Crain's New York Business''. Retrieved November 4, 2012.
With the expiration of the lease in late 2008, PANYNJ resumed control of the building
and leased the facility to Highgate Holdings for one year,
although the PANYNJ preliminary 2010 budget issued in 2009 indicated that an estimated savings of $1 million per month would be achieved by PANYNJ with the reported closing of the hotel due to "declining aviation activity and a need for substantial renovation". The hotel closed on December 1, 2009, with almost 200 employees made redundant and the PANYNJ hoping to construct a new hotel on the airport property.
Until
TWA Hotel opened within the former
TWA Flight Center in 2019, there was no on-site hotel at JFK Airport.
Use as temporary housing
A series of nearby airplane-crash incidents, the flights of which originated at the airport
[ in the 1990s and 2000s, caused the hotel to be casually referred to as the "heartbreak hotel" when the facilities would be used as the temporary central housing and gathering place for family members of passengers and crew, as well as the media.][Adamson, April (September 4, 1998)]
"229 Victims Knew Jet Was in Trouble Airport Inn Becomes Heartbreak Hotel Again"
'' The Philadelphia Inquirer''. Retrieved March 9, 2014.["Hotel Near JFK Airport Is Familiar with Airline Tragedy"](_blank)
CNN. November 17, 2011. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
The crash of TWA Flight 800 in 1996 originated the use of the hotel facilities for guest housing, bereavement-related services and news gathering for crash-incident-related purposes.[ The hotel also hosted families of Swissair Flight 111 (1998),][ EgyptAir Flight 990 (1999)][Carey, Michael (November 1, 1999)]
"Crash of EgyptAir Flight 990"
. ABC. Retrieved March 9, 2014. and American Airlines Flight 587
American Airlines Flight 587 was a regularly scheduled international passenger flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport to Las Américas International Airport in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. On November 12, 200 ...
(2001) victims.[
]
See also
* List of buildings, sites, and monuments in New York City
* List of hotels in the United States
References
Notes
Sources
* Dunford, Martin. ''The Rough Guide to New York City''. Penguin Books. January 2, 2009. , .
* ''Successful Meetings, Volume 51''. Bill Communications. 2002.
* ''World Hotel Directory 1998''. Pitman Publishing
Pearson Education is a British-owned education publishing and assessment service to schools and corporations, as well for students directly. Pearson owns educational media brands including Addison–Wesley, Peachpit, Prentice Hall, eCollege, ...
. September 30, 1997. , .
External links
Ramada Plaza JFK Hotel
( Archive.org)
{{JFK Airport
Year of establishment missing
2009 disestablishments in New York (state)
Hotels in Queens, New York
Defunct hotels in New York City
Jamaica, Queens
John F. Kennedy International Airport
Ramada
Hotel buildings completed in 1957