Howard Johnson Inn – Clifton

Don’t do it. This place is in a downward spiral. Dont let them take you with them.
Stay home or anywhere else. Brown streak on toilet seat, unidentifiable smells, bed bug scares, phone with no dial tone, smell on handset, missing remote for TV, unsafe doors opening to parking lot, security doors unsecured and light not working in foyer.
However, if you were the type of person who always wondered what it would be like to stay in a dark, dirty dungeon or be the unwelcome guest of a relative who hated you so much that they stuck you in their musty, filthy basement or if you ever fantasized about being in a drug den, then this spot is for YOU.

What a dump! Walls are paper thin, carpets smell… NOT a place to bring a family.
Expected a nice stay, instead we barely got any sleep.

This must be the worst 126 $ spent… Howard Johnson should be ashamed to have this place carry his name. Switched rooms 1 time already and I don’t even want to say what previous room looked like. So sad and unfortunately I don’t want to keep complaining to front desk so I am venting here hoping it makes me feel better… so far not helping. Also air conditioning don’t really work either… HELP!!! Had to pick a star but not worth not even half.

Really nasty! $$ very pricey. roaches, drugs, no breakfast, rude staff. not to mention that is next to a cemetery

I’m not here by choice. I’m here by an emergency that happen where I live at. Evacuations occurred. Me my family and lot of people from my building.
1) the check in was ok no problem
2) the room was decent and clean, bathroom as well
3) before I left for a couple of hours I went to front desk to let them know that the housekeeper was on my floor and has not come to my room for a clean. I was told that someone will take care of it. Come back and room still looks the same. Bed undone and garbage full. No clean towels and no soap.
4) went downstairs to grab me a cup of free coffee in the lobby (which is not that bad and not that great either. It’s drinkable) once I got my coffee I told them that no one came and I need someone to come. Front desk said again it’s going to be taking care of. I waited and nothing.
5) I don’t know if it’s me but I know I took a shower before heading to bed, but I can’t stay still in this bed feeling all itchy
So my opinion I will give them half the credit

Nice place. Needed a room last minute & they accommodated me perfectly! Really nice staff. Highly recommend :)

I stayed here for all of 5 minutes before I knew I would never return. The rooms smelled of old, yes old its kinda of a mix between mold and dead. Besides the smell the floors are stained and sticky especially in the bathroom right in front. The beds are more comfortable then rocks so thats one thing. It also did have a balcony with a lovely view of a wall and a side view of a drained pool. Long story short we decided to stay only one night.

I stayed here for 4 nights and it was good. The rooms and halls had a refreshening scent throughout the day. There was a light smoky/​cigarette scent late at night. My room (122) was renovated and looked good. It also slept like 5 – 6 ppl as it had a sleeper sofa. The new 48″ TV was spectacular! Be aware, this place does NOT have a continental breakfast. However, it has a GREAT IHOP attached that is quick to serve and awesome food. Lastly, the commute to NY (Manhattan and Bronx) was an ease but be ready to pay tolls. I suggest, if you are planning to stay more than 3 days, to buy a EZ Pass. Great stay and would stay here again if in the area.

Stayed one night over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. The room was fine, but in the morning my daughter could not find her phone charger and when she looked she discovered a roach on the floor. I would give it a «3» except for that. Wish I could give it a 2 ¾. Everything worked. The bathroom was clean. In fact the room was clean, except for the roach. A good point was that there is an IHOP attached, so a really good breakfast was available. The downside of that is there was no continental breakfast provided by the hotel.

Really expensive, poor service, gross rooms. Rooms smell moldy and hallways look more like a party school dorm than a 345.00 a night stay hotel. Bathrooms are also sub par.

bed bugs mania!
checked in last night with a buddy. checked out within 5 minutes. checked under sheets-​bed bugs everywhere… brought them downstairs to show shay the manager on duty. he laughed at us. do not go there! i called ho jo headquarters filed a compaint – going to clifton health department next!

I had a terrible experience here. I was just planning on crashing here after a wedding and was only expecting a semi decent place to sleep after a night of open bar. The hotel staff was absolutely awful and wouldn’t honor my reservation that I had made through
. I would never recommend this place to anyone because of the staff. Please go to another cheap hotel in the area

I got this place to come to New York, my friends rented a car and I flew into La Guardia. We looked during the holiday weekend in NYC and many of the places wanted over $ 200/​night, Howard Johnson wanted just $ 80/​day. I am sure it will be cheaper during other times.
The positives aspects:
— Cheap price
— Big room, comfy bed.
— Close to NYC via car.
— Microwave, mini-​fridge, free WiFi, free coffee in room and lobby.
— The room had a citrus scent, and had a small patio!
The negative aspects:
— No breakfast. I’ve been to other Howard Johnson’s and they serve it.
— Construction near hotel made it hard to get out of the hotel and onto the street.
— They’re upgrading the hallway — a section of the titles was missing, one wall had paper all on it.
— The halls had a weird smell, and were not air conditioned.
— While in the shower, the water didn’t go down quickly — so it filled in the tub.
Overall it was okay, not 5 stars, around 2.5 to 3 stars. If you need a place to stay while you have fun in NYC via car I recommend this place.

Ok I get all the negative reviews here and have to admit I was a bit weary of what to expect after booking and reading what others had to say.
Bottom line is we paid $ 50 for a large room with a big balcony.
It was outdated but clean.
The hallways were muggy like the AC did not work, it doesn’t seem like your average Howard Johnson.
The guy at the front desk was Indian but spoke English just fine and was actually pretty nice.
I have no complaints about my stay here whatsoever.
It’s cheap and close to Manhatten, if you don’t want to spend much don’t expect much.
If you are only here to sleep you will be fine.
The internet is a bit slow but works just fine, they also have a fridge, coffee maker and offer toiletries, what more could you want for $ 50 a night?

The only reason we stayed here is because we were just planning on getting in late, showering, sleeping and leaving early. I read all of the bad Unilocal reviews, but thought, the only thing I need is a bed and a tub, all of the other unpleasantness won’t matter. Boy, was I wrong.
— On checkin, I witnessed a heated argument between the clerk and a 60 year old woman who appeared to be homeless, but was staying at the hotel long term. Apparently, she was paying day-​for-​day in cash, and there was a disagreement about which days she prepaid for. In the end, she pulled out three wadded up $ 20 bills from her pocket and dropped them on the counter. Yikes.
— Problems with hot water. (as other posters have mentioned) Tub drained slowly — don’t particularly like standing ankle deep in my own shower water. TV Remote didn’t work.
— They started power washing the windows or something at 8AM. Called the front desk, and asked them if they could wait a bit so I could catch a few more zzz’s. They waited about 15 minutes before starting again.
— Checkout experience — perhaps language barrier that others have referred to? (This is literally the transcript of the conversation)
Clerk: Can I help you?
Me: Yes, I’m checking out of ####. (hand her the keycards)
Clerk: (Types a little on her computer) Ok, you’re done. Go.
Me: Can I get a receipt please?
Clerk: (Rolls her eyes, prints out receipt and hands to me) Ok, bye.
If you are staying in the area, this should be the last resort.

Booked 2 rooms online to take advantage of the «online deal» and ended paying more in the end.
Here’s what I mean:
I was charged beforehand in order to lock in the lower rate. When I get there, the check-​in went smoothly. I get keycards for the rooms and I head upstairs to inspect. The elevator has a foul odor. I let it go. The hallway smells like smoke, not faint smoke, but vegas smoke.
The rooms are more of the same as far as odor, but at least they’re clean. Or so it seems…
I booked the rooms for my sisters. Each had their own room. An hour after they settle in, one of them calls me to tell me that she found a bed bug in her hair. She then calls the front desk and the clerk states that there is nothing she can do until the manager arrives in the morning. At this point, both of my sisters have lost all confidence that they will get a bite-​free night’s sleep. They check into a Holiday Inn Express.
Mind you, this all transpired at 12AM. Having to uproot from your room after you unpack and settle is not something they wanted to do. Me trying to negotiate a refund with the night clerk at midnight is not something I wanted to do either.
I’m not one to complain, but I have a distinct feeling that I will not be refunded for my «stay». And that’s really unfortunate, so much so that I’ve drafted a letter to send to their corporate office. I’ve never done that before, but this offense and the lack of an effective contingency plan by the hotel staff warrants a scathing indictment.
Here comes the whoop ass…

I had a very good experience, staying here for five nights.
There are two negatives: one is the odd smell in the hallway. However, my room had no such odor. The other negative is that the staff speaks little English. However, there is usually at least one person at the desk who speaks fluent English.
I found the staff to be exceedingly polite and even overly helpful. I asked one of the Indian male housekeepers for an extra towel and he insisted I take two, in a friendly family-​like way.
If you have a relaxed attitude, you will get what you want, and more.
The young lady behind the desk saw I was having trouble with my GPS and spent about five minutes re-​configuring it for me. Then she came from behind the desk (it wasn’t busy) and sat down with me in the lobby and showed me every step of how to use the GPS and told me to come see her if I had any needs. If you’re getting service that good at any five star hotel, congratulations.
However, there is one gentleman, identifiable by the turban he wears, who speaks little English and is also hard of hearing. If you approach him with a question, chances are you’ll get a horrible impression of the place as it will seem he is ignoring you. But he is family, probably an owner, and that’s the way it is. You are in an Indian (actually maybe Pakistani? Sorry, I don’t know) family environment, so the sooner you synch up with it, the happier you will be.
An IHOP is attached to the motel. The Tick Tock Diner, a classic Jersey spot, is a ten minute walk. Starbucks and other franchise restaurants (and Costco) are a five minute drive.
There was plenty of parking, but it gets close to filling up on weekends. I never had a problem finding a parking space.
Wifi is free and consistently up. My room was clean and comfortable. Everything worked. It had a microwave, a bar fridge, full cable on a big tv, a safe. The air conditioner worked beautifully and did not make any strange noises.
The motel is on a highway so there’s the constant buzz of traffic. Rooms have a large balcony. Lots of sunshine and fresh air coming through the open sliding doors. Heavy drapes darken the room even on a sunny day. I had a pleasant, safe, friendly, and relaxing stay.

After getting what seemed like a good rate online, and getting a slight AAA discount, checked in around 9 at night. Front desk was barely useful, and slightly rude, but there may have been a communication gap.
Room seemed nice, was clean, and did not smell like smoke like the hallways did. It also seemed like the halls were not even mildly air conditioned, but the room was a comfortable level when we stepped in. Since I wasn’t planning on sleeping in the hallways, I figured this would be fine. We unpacked our things, and left for dinner down the road at the Tick Tock Diner.
When we got back, we unloaded the remainder of our baby gear, and got ready to settle in for the night. This is when we found out that there was no hot water for a shower!
My wife called down to the front desk to ask how long she should expect to wait for hot water, and was told 10 to 15 minutes at this time of night. (11:15pm) — Even if this was true, it does not make any sense. Either you have hot water or you don’t. And the fact that they KNEW there was an issue and had an answer so quickly is a little disconcerting. My wife addressed these questions, and was hung up on.
So we waited about 5 more minutes, with the water running to see if things were going to change. They didn’t. I called the front desk. How long? 15 to 20 minutes this time of night.
We ended up running the bath water for about 25 minutes before giving up, and deciding to just try in the morning, since it would no longer be «this time of night» anymore.
9am– No hot water.
Also — woke up in the middle of the night to the smell of smoke. Might be the room next door, doesn’t matter– I want a non-​smoking room for a reason.
The mattress might as well have been a cardboard box. It was awful.
Sheets were worn out, and the extra pillows were gross.

I’m in agreement with Sue and Meredith. The staff barely speaks English and the place reeks of smoke.
I only skimmed the reviews below me, but no one mentioned the enormous eye sore the drained and abandoned pool is! We had a lovely room with a pool view. Gross.
IHOP was PACKED on Sunday 5÷3÷09 but I expected it. A lot of people were in the area for the Bamboozle music festival (that’s why I was there too).
I think our nightly rate was $ 52, you really can’t beat it if you’re looking for a cheap place to stay just outside Manhattan.

I’m a pretty positive person. So far, only 2.3% of my Unilocal reviews have been one-​star. This review is going to raise that to 3.4% but I can’t help it — I can’t review this place any better.
The ENTIRE hotel reeks of stale smoke. We were in non-​smoking rooms, but they smelled awful. The corridors on the third floor also smelled like smoke. It was obvious that they had tried to hide it, because the first room we were in also smelled like some kind of cover-​up spray, and also mildew.
In our first room, there was a dirty washcloth next to the TV and a candy wrapper on the armchair. This wasn’t why we changed rooms, though — we did that because we felt unsafe. That room was on the first floor, and had a patio instead of a balcony like on the higher floors. The patio door had a charley bar, but it was not locked when we arrived. We asked to move immediately (we prefer interior corridors, period) but nothing was available; they promised we could move the next day. In the morning, we wanted to leave our bags with them so we could spend the day in the city, but at 10:30am — before check-​out time — they said our new room was ready now. Either the previous occupant had checked out and the room had been serviced already, or they didn’t bother to look the night before for an available room.
The whole place really just reeked of smoke, though. The towels and sheets smelled fine, so it’s clearly in the draperies, upholstery, and carpets.
The IHOP on site is constantly busy. On Friday morning we managed to get a table, but on Saturday and Sunday mornings there was no hope — it must be the only breakfast joint for miles, because there was a TWO HOUR wait when we asked.
We saw a few other hotels nearby — the HoJo may be the cheapest, but I’d go somewhere else next time, even if I had to pay a little more.