Snow job by hotel costly

A COMPANY that owns a Courtyard by Marriott hotel near Kennedy Airport will have to pay more than $65,000 for gouging hundreds of consumers who’d been left stranded by a 2016 blizzard, under a settlement with state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office.

Granite JFK LLC and Crossroad Hospitality Co., which owns and operates the Courtyard by Marriott New York JFK Airport hotel, will fork over $48,000 in restitution to customers and pay another $17,500 in civil penalties to the state for overcharging guests stranded at the airport during the blizzard of January 2016, Schneiderman’s office told the Daily News on Sunday.

“The Courtyard by Marriott took advantage of hundreds of stranded people who were simply seeking the safety of shelter during and after this massive blizzard,” Schneiderman said. “This settlement holds the hotel accountable for these actions and prohibits it from happening again.”

Schneiderman’s probe found that the Courtyard by Marriott increased its rates for consumers during the storm by 45% to 75%, compared with the average room rates for the week prior to the storm.

Last year’s storm, dumped a record 27.5 inches of snow in the area, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The two-day storm that slammed the East Coast resulted in a travel ban on all roads in New York City and Long Island, a mass transit shutdown and a suspension of all airline, bus and rail service in and out of the city.

It also left thousands of stranded travelers with no choice but to stay in area hotels.