Flying is usually part of a larger trip, but there are some occasions where aviation IS the main destination. Think airshows, aviation museums, aircraft factories, and the like. Included in that category are the select few hotels out there that are major AvGeek sights in their own right. We’ve written about a few of them, like LAX’s H Hotel and the Excel Hotel at Tokyo Haneda. But maybe the biggest name in the game is the TWA Hotel at New York JFK International Airport.
We wrote about the TWA Hotel in a pair of stories back in 2019 — one about the hotel itself, and one about the TWA Silver Wings reunion held there. We had a blast during that visit but didn’t actually spend a night at the hotel. Making a return for an overnighter was on our to-do list, and recently we got a chance.
Join us as we put on our HotelReporter hats and explore everything that this one-of-a-kind terminal-turned-hotel has to offer. We’ll walk you through the highlights, including Eero Saarinen’s architectural masterpiece, exhibits on TWA’s golden age, a rooftop pool with a runway view, and a bar onboard a real Lockheed Constellation.
Read on, and then decide if this place earns a spot on your personal to-do list.
The TWA Hotel is the only major hotel within the airport’s core, giving it a significant convenience advantage.
The hotel’s heart — in both concept and design — is Eero Saarinen’s iconic TWA Terminal that opened in 1962. There’s a model of the entire terminal in the lobby.
The gate areas have been replaced by JetBlue’s newer Terminal 5, but the iconic headhouse was protected by landmark status. It stood abandoned for many years until the hotel took it over. The guest rooms are in two more modern structures next to the original terminal.
The hotel’s check-in counter is exactly where you’d expect it to be: where the terminal check-in counters stood.
A few steps beyond the check-in area you enter the soaring heart of the terminal building. This area houses some seating, shops, and a small bar. The “sunken lounge” looks out on what used to be the main ramp. That area is now occupied by the JetBlue terminal. You’ll notice one plane still standing outside the main window — we’ll get to her later.
The hotel does an incredible job celebrating its historical heritage. The lobby contains an authentic Solari split-flap display.
Throughout the central building there are exhibits with TWA memorabilia.
There’s plenty of stuff celebrating the culture and design of the ’60s, like a old-school hair salon and even a Twister room.
Wandering around a distant part of the hotel we found an exhibit dedicated to decor of the 1960s.
At the end of one of the walkways to the hotel room blocks, there’s an in-depth exhibit about Eero Saarinen and the design process for the terminal.
There are even some of Saarinen’s design drawings on display around the hotel.
In a separate area there’s an exhibit about aviation magnate Howard Hughes.
If you stay here, save enough time to wander around the building and enjoy all the exhibits. The historical content alone would make for a packed afternoon for any aviation history enthusiast.
A Room With a View
We were excited to see our runway-view room, so we headed down one of the red-carpeted passageways that used to connect the headhouse with the gate areas.
We walked in to our room and went straight to the windows.
In the foreground you get to enjoy the huge variety of long-haul carriers that operate out of JFK’s Terminal 4.
Runways 4/22 are visible in the background, so there are plenty of chances to catch takeoffs and landings.
Regarding the room itself, size-wise it was on the smaller size but sufficient. The amenities cover the basics though not much beyond that. We loved the period decor, including some vintage TWA posters and reproductions of magazines from the 60s.
We spent a while taking in more views of the ramp. Check out some highlights in our video below, and don’t forget to show our YouTube channel some love if you enjoy videos like this one!
Next we headed one floor up to the roof to enjoy one of the hotel’s star attractions.
Infinity Pool Planespotting
What could be better than planespotting from a comfy hotel bed? How about enjoying close-up ramp and runway views from a pool?
The hotel’s rooftop infinity poor offers amazing views out onto the ramp. As you’d expect, time up here is a hot commodity, and so the hotel requires paid reservations during peak times. If you want one of the poolside loungers you should line up a bit before your reservation start time.
There’s a bar up here with a full kitchen, in case you get hungry while you’re swimming and/or planespotting.
Even the more casual non-AvGeek visitors were vocal in appreciating the views of JFK’s bustling ramp and runway activity.
From the pool you can see the ramp around Terminal 4 and also JetBlue’s Terminal 5.
Our two hours up on the roof flew by. From the roof we spotted the next stop on our TWA tour: Connie, an authentic L-1649A Lockheed Constellation.
Cocktails with Connie
One of our favorite parts of the TWA Hotel’s story is how it moved heaven and earth to get Connie to its premises. The passageway that takes you out from the lobby to Connie outlines her story.
The hotel’s website has an entire page on Connie’s history, her restoration, and her journey to New York, which included a trip through Times Square. Getting her restored and moved to the hotel was clearly a labor of love.
Onboard Connie there’s a fun variety of seating, including a section with old-school airline seats.
As a nod of respect to Connie’s history, her cockpit was left as-is. You can look in, but for the sake of preservation you can’t enter.
What drink did we have onboard Connie? A paper plane, of course! They have a whole list of aviation-themed coctails along with some snacks.
Wrapping Up the Day
We wrapped up our day with dinner at the Paris Cafe, the hotel’s restaurant that’s part of the Jean-Georges family.
Our server recommended the crispy salmon sushi as a fan favorite. You’re paying airport food prices here, but at least the quality is much more on par with a real restaurant than an airside terminal cafe.
After such a long day we thought we’d fall asleep right away. But the winds shifted so that the runway right in front of our room (22R) started getting used for takeoffs, so we did a bit more planespotting before calling it a day.
Is the TWA Hotel Worth Your Time?
We wouldn’t call this story a standard hotel review, since grading hotels for anything other than the AvGeek appeal is outside our area of expertise. There are some polarized thoughts about this place on the broader internet, to be sure.
Our main goal was to judge the TWA Hotel as a destination for aviation enthusiasts. In that regard, it gets rave reviews from us. The views alone are amazing enough to justify a stay and captivate you for hours on end.
The hotel clearly sees honoring TWA’s legacy and the terminal building’s rich history as its mission. It’s truly half hotel, half museum. As the best evidence of its commitment to TWA’s legacy, just look at its herculean effort to acquire Connie and make her part of the visitor experience.
We spent a full day and night here and were entertained the whole time.
A few quick FYI’s for any of you considering a stay. Food options are fairly limited — there’s the main restaurant and a small counter-serve spot in the lobby, but the food hall lost most of its vendors.
You may be worried about airplane noise messing with your sleep, but the rooms’ soundproofing is EXCELLENT. And the hotel is dog friendly, though with a significant pet fee.
On the topic of fees, there’s no denying that it’s an expensive hotel. Booking in advance, a basic room is in the upper $300s per night and a runway-view room is closer to $500. There are also upcharges, including for time at the rooftop pool. We can see why this place may be out of some prospective visitors’ price range. And many online reviews comment that for the price, the rooms are fairly small and simply furnished.
That’s a fair critique, but there are a few things to bear in mind. New York City is an expensive city in general, and the prices at this hotel are comparable to what you’d spend at other central touristy parts of the city. Also, operating any business on airport grounds is extra expensive. Most importantly, factor in that you’re not just paying for a room if you stay here. You’re paying in large part for the location, the views, the history, and the investment the hotel made in Connie, the pool, and restoring a long-abandoned terminal. When framed as an all-encompassing AvGeek experience instead of just as a hotel room, the value proposition feels better.
As for how to plan a visit here:
- The hotel is an easy add-on to any trip to New York City, especially tacked on to the beginning or end of a trip if you’re flying through JFK.
- My wife and I did this stay as a standalone trip from our home in Brooklyn and loved it. Tri-state area AvGeeks could make it a little weekend trip just like we did.
- Even if not spending the night, aviation history buffs passing through JFK could swing by to explore the terminal building and grab a drink in Connie. Non-guests can book time on the rooftop pool, though it’s pricier that way than it is for hotel guests.
- Since the pool is a major attraction, you might assume summer is the best time to visit. But in the winter the hotel super-heats the pool to 95 degrees, so you can still enjoy the space when its cold out.
As for what the hotel’s future holds in store, the closing thought of our 2019 story still holds true:
“As great a time as I had at the TWA Hotel, the path ahead of it isn’t an easy one. It straddles roles as a hotel in a competitive market and a tourist attraction targeted at AvGeeks, an amazing but admittedly niche clientele. Will it do well enough in either domain to operate sustainably? I loved my visit so much that I want the answer to be yes. But it depends on enough people — AvGeeks and others — feeling that the experience is worth the visit.“
Well, the place is still standing almost five years after we wrote that first story. And now that we’ve spent the night, we can say that for aviation history buffs and planespotting enthusiasts the TWA Hotel is definitely worth your consideration.
If any of you have stayed here and have thoughts, we’d love to hear them in the comments section below!
Note: we booked this stay at a discounted media room rate, and the hotel switched us to a Runway View room and provided some rooftop pool time for the purposes of this story. Opinions here are our own.
