Hey all you architecture fans out there, this place needs to be on your bucket list! Eero Saarinen’s TWA terminal at JFK airport in New York City has recently been renovated and reopened as the TWA Hotel. Perhaps I wasn't paying attention, but I had no idea this project was in the works. I stumbled upon it while using Google maps to try to find a hotel close to JFK airport, as our flight for Easter weekend was arriving at midnight. I noticed the hotel icon right at the airport and was absolutely delighted to discover the terminal had recently re-opened as a hotel with all upgrades true to the 1960’s style.
Trans World Airlines commissioned famed architect Eero Saarinen (think St. Louis Gateway Arch and Washington Dulles Airport) to design it’s Trans World Flight Center in 1955. The thin concrete shell structure features luscious curvilinear forms for a futuristic look. Architects Kevin Roche, John Dinkeloo and Cesar Pelli were key collaborators from Saarinen’s Detroit office. Roche and Dinkeloo saw the project through its completion when Saarinen suddenly died of a brain tumor in 1961.
historic photo
The City of New York designated the terminal a historic landmark in 1994. The TWA Hotel opened in May 2019, with 505 guest rooms, 40K SF of meeting space and a 10K SF observation deck.
Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, our Easter trip was canceled. We had prepaid for our 2-night stay at the TWA Hotel--I've never prepaid for a hotel room before, but I thought this was pretty risk-free-- not! Luckily, we were given credit to use within a year. Although we haven’t stayed there yet, we did have some extra time at the JFK airport in February and we checked out the lobby. It was a bit tricky to find the way to the hotel via Terminal 5. We took the Air Train and exited at Terminal 5, but lost track of the signs and couldn't figure out how to make it over to the hotel. After retracing our steps, we noticed the small elevator that led to the sky bridge to the hotel.
I could spend all day just studying the geometries and stair details.
Check out the TWA Hotel site for additional photos and features of the hotel.
A couple of things we saw were: exhibits of airline uniforms form the past, twister room, food court (only a few vendors). Things we didn’t see, but will definitely check out on our return: a great roof-top deck, a Runway Rink (ice skating on the tarmac) and Connie Airplane (1958 airplane parked outside that has a cocktail lounge inside). The guest rooms have Knoll furniture and vintage rotary phones. I can hardly wait to stay in this place!
Have you stayed here? What are your thoughts?
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