Check out our YouTube Video of our experience at the TWA Hotel at JFK Airport
After being shuttered for decades, the iconic 1960’s TWA flight terminal is the only surviving monument to the golden age of air travel at Idlewild, otherwise known as JFK Airport in Queens. This building has helped travelers idolize those high flying days of air travel, in movies such as Mame, and Catch Me If You Can.
Today if you are an Aviation Geek or love mid-century architecture and style, a visit to the TWA Hotel across from the Jet Blue Terminal 5, should be on your bucket list. If your schedule does not allow an overnight stay, a cocktail or two at the cocktail bar inside of Connie, the retired Lockheed Constellation airplane parked out front, or a leisurely stroll around the renovated Eero Saarinen terminal will inspire you to reserve a room.
In May 2019 after a three-year restoration that has brought the iconic wing-shaped air terminal to a new life as the centerpiece for the TWA Hotel. The 1962 building, a New York City Landmark in 1994, had already out of date by the time it opened as larger jetliners were replacing the smaller propeller craft. Though the terminal continued to operate and service passengers until 2001, when airport operations, think pre-flight security, outgrew the building that had travelers standing outside waiting to board aircraft, no longer the elegant era of air travel.
MCR Development, a well-known hospitality real estate developer took on a labor-intense project of restoring the Eero Saarinen designed Flight Center to period-correct detail. Now it serves as the central core, the 200K square foot lobby, of the TWA Hotel. The clean design was to appear like floating wings to attract travelers to fly the airline.
Today, after a multimillion reportedly upwards of 265-Million-dollar renovation the original TWA Terminal has been restored to its 1960’s glamour. Expansive amounts of open space give you the feeling of freedom under the floating wing-like roof. Large modern windows had to be remade to fit the original design, as well as penny tile remade and re-laid, restored terrazzo floors that seem to flow to the far reaches of the building. All of these give the space a fresh and open feel, just as it was designed to do. Views at the time, back in the 1960s, would have been of the arriving and departing airplanes and runways. Today the view is of the Jet Blue Terminal and the access road as well as the airports parking garages. That does not take away from the experience you will have standing inside the restored terminal building, walking along the chili-pepper-red carpeted flight tubes that passengers would use to access the gates, made famous in the movie Catch Me If You Can. These two tubes now connect to the hotel’s two flanking six-story sleeping room towers housing 512 guest rooms, as well as JFK’s Terminal 5 housing Jet Blue Airlines.
Between the historic terminal and the automobile access road that leads travelers to the terminal is an expanse of pavement on which a 1958 Lockheed Constellation airplane sits. Connie, as she is known and is one of the hotel’s cocktail lounges. As a historic aviation artifact, this is one of the must-visit aspects of the hotel. You walk out of the flight center and up the historic steps to board the plane, just as you would have in the day. Once inside, slide into the cockpit for the pilot, co-pilot or navigator experience, as they would have when it was in operation. The original controls and switches are all operational, not connected to anything, but you will have the fantasy of being a pilot in the heyday of aviation. Just be careful, as the cockpit space is small and the bank of switches in the ceiling will hurt if you jam your head into them as I did. Better yet, settle into one of the passenger seats for a cocktail, all the while imagining you are on a trip to some exciting destination.
While the tarmac around the plane is expansive, it is what is underground that houses the 50K square feet of meeting and ballroom space. While not convention center sized, is still spacious enough for a trade show, business event, or grand social soiree. With breakout spaces, cocktail bars and other areas for hosting events, all designed to keep with the rest of the hotel property in that mid-century modern style. And here you will find all the latest modern technical audio-visual and internet-capable amenities to bring any event into the 21st century.
TWA’s twin hotel wings named after 20th Century aviation leaders.
The hotel offers two sleeping room wings, the Saarinen and Hughes Wings, an ode to both the architect and Howard Hughes, the elusive aviation magnet of the era, who had owned TWA at one time. Both wings have rooms that have either an airport view or a TWA Terminal view and are broken up into a variety of rooms from standard King and double queen to Presidential suites.
Sleeping Rooms as well as Disability Accessible Rooms
https://www.twahotel.com/rooms/accessible-guestroom
We were lucky enough to snag what appeared to be a presidential suite on the seventh floor of the Hughes Tower. Spacious, modern and decorated in timeless mid-century style with a wall of windows it had a foyer bar area and a sitting area equipped with a wall-mounted flat-screen TV. The view was overlooking the terminal and taxiways. Which for AV Geeks like ourselves was a dream come true. The only worry we had, would we stay up all night and watch as the international bound planes were loaded and taxied out for takeoff on their overnight flights abroad. We did find as the night settled in, the traffic at the terminal slowed to a snail’s pace.
The king bed was comfortable and offered a sound night’s sleep with the plush with soft linens. And in the morning, we were not disturbed by the noise as the floor to ceiling windows are multiple panes of glass that keep the room quiet, even with both automotive and airplanes traversing about just a couple hundred yards away.
The only thing missing in the accessible room was the house phone (supposedly a rotary dial one,) a wastebasket, a clock, and in today’s world USB outlets, which may have been overlooked as they prepared the property for guests.
The bathroom while large and with Broadway Bright Hollywood lighting could have used a dimmer switch and a nightlight. For late nite visits to the Loo were like stepping on stage. The shower stall, a walk-in, roll-in one was small, as this was an accessible room, did have a seat for a disabled person — plenty of soft terrycloth towels and nice quality soaps and lotions.
On-Hotel Property Food Options
As one would expect, food choices are limited to on-property options. And when we were there on opening day two, just the Jean-George’s Paris Café on the upper level overlooking the entrance to the hotel and the Hughes hotel wing was operating. Both food and libation were well presented and well made with fresh ingredients. Spirits at the bar seem to be from New York State distillers, and while the options were limited, they were of a high-quality. And at a price that was not outrageous, as you would think of from either an NYC hotel or an airport establishment. As this property is truly an on airport, there is no walking down the street to find a nearby restaurant. Other food options are planned and will be appreciated, as the hotel is not convenient for stepping out and finding other options. We did wander over to the terminal, but food options were on the other side of TSA security, and we were not ticketed to go anywhere.
Modern Tech is the Key where the 1960’s vibe meets 2020 efficiency
Registration is on the street side at ground level in what once was the TWA ticket counters. Checking in to get your key, as well as valet parking, is all computer-assisted. Our valet ticket was via text message. The hotel check-in process uses a tablet screen with a credit card reader mounted on one side and a room key program pad on the other. While a bit onerous, it was the first time other guests, or we had seen or used it, which lead to confusion for many The front desk staff quickly resolved any issues and people were on their way. While we had checked in online earlier in the day when we arrived, the automated system told us to check with a front desk staff member, who informed us our room was not ready. An hour and a half after our arrival an email arrived indicating that our room was ready and to pick up our key at the front desk. That time was spent relaxing in the bar with a cocktail.
As the key-card system is automated, our key expired exactly at 11 am, and as we had not done late check-out our room was locked, which required a trip to the lobby to get a check-out extension. Hotel cleaning staff were gracious but did inform us that they could not let people into rooms. A response that made us feel more secure staying in the hotel.
Meeting Rooms, Events Center, Fitness Center, and infinity Pool
While the Saarinen building is all about open space tucked between parking garages and the Jet Blue Terminal, you might be surprised to find the outdoor spaces at the TWA Hotel are just as interesting with amazing views. The ramp where Connie the historic TWA aircraft, now cocktail lounge, is parked outside of the hotel is wide open and perfect for hosting an event with both the airplane and the building as a backdrop.
Underneath that the TWA Hotel has 50K square feet of modern mid-century style event and meeting space. To build that they first had to excavate and remove 74K cubic feet of sand, using four thousand dump trucks. The sand was donated to nearby Spring Creek Park for their storm resilience and ecosystem restoration project.
The hotel has also built the world’s largest hotel fitness center, at 10K square feet. Here you will find state of the art fitness equipment as well as classes to keep up your healthy routine. While on the top of the hotel you will find an infinity pool as well as more event space with sweeping views of the bustling airport.
Museum Space and Shopping
While the building itself is a museum piece of modern architecture, not unlike the Guggenheim or Getty Museum. The TWA Hotel has a variety of displays of period-correct history from vintage travel and aviation art to TWA employee apparel and uniforms. As well as automobiles of the 1960s and other devices say dial payphones. All on display, and in the case of the payphones and the Lockheed aircraft, you can pick them up and touch them.
Shopping is an important part of any travel experience. We found the TWA Hotel Store had some wonderful and well made TWA specific items, like clothing, card games and other things that were of the 1960’s era, just new and now ready to be the perfect retro gift items to take back home as gifts or remembrances. Also, you can shop at a Warby Parker retail store, the online glasses retailer; Shinola, the Detroit retailer of watches, leather goods, and other high-end items that have become popular in today’s modern age. Or maybe stop into The Reading Room to peruse books and periodicals.
Getting To the TWA Hotel and Terminal 5
The TWA Hotel is the only actual on-airport property hotel, located in the middle of John F. Kennedy Airport, adjacent to the Jet Blue, Terminal 5. You can get there by plane, as many will do, pre, post or in during a trip. The TWA Hotel is the perfect kick-off or wind down place, before or after a flight. And for those with connecting flights, the hotel plans to offer short term rooms to those on a layover between flights, a real benefit to a weary traveler, who wants a shower and a quiet place to sleep.
While a more mundane way to arrive is by private car, and the hotel offers valet parking for $48 a day plus tip – or you have the option of parking in the airport’s garage and schlep your way into terminal 5 and into the hotel.
Ground transportation by private, pubic, or shared automobile is easy. But for those that want to bypass the New York traffic congestion, the airport is accessible by air train which connects to both the NYC Subway system and Long Island Rail Road.
Want to reach the hotel in style? How about by helicopter? Blade provides helicopter service to and from the city, interestingly enough, this has long been an option to access the airport.
The more mundane way is by private car, and the hotel offers valet parking for $48 a day plus tip – or you have the option of parking in the airport’s garage and schlep your way into terminal 5 and into the hotel.
No matter how you arrive, allow plenty of time for traffic and delays, as that is the New York way.
