Untapped Cities has been very invested throughout the years in the restoration of the landmarked TWA Flight Center and its transformation into the TWA Hotel. We’ve closely followed developments and construction since the very beginning and now, after years and years of waiting, the time has finally come. And on the most romantic day of the year, no less! On Thursday, February the 14th, at noon EST, jet setters can finally book a stay at the TWA Hotel at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. The TWA Hotel’s soft opening will take place on May 15, 2019, and in just two short days you can start reserving guest rooms for that date and beyond.
With 512 midcentury modern-inspired guest rooms flanking either side of the landmarked TWA Flight Center airport terminal (the heart of the hotel), the TWA Hotel has more than enough space for the busy business travelers and offers extravagant amenities such as a 10,000-square-foot gym, a rooftop pool, lightning-quick Wi-Fi and free long-distance calls on rewired, vintage rotary phones. The retro rooms designed by New York City firm Stonehill Taylor feature floor-to-ceiling windows that are extra thick to cancel out runway noise.
Image Courtesy of the TWA Hotel
In addition to the sophisticated guest rooms, the hotel will also feature impressive public and event spaces. The TWA Hotel will offer a 50,000-square-foot event space, a 10,000-square-foot rooftop observation deck, and a museum devoted to the Jet Age with vintage flight attendant uniforms and authentic TWA ephemera on display. As if that wasn’t enough, the TWA Hotel will also feature six restaurants and eight bars, including The Paris Café by Jean-Georges and a cocktail lounge inside a restored 1950s Starliner jet.
Photograph by Max Touhey Courtesy of the TWA Hotel
The TWA Flight Center airport terminal opened in 1962 and was designed for Trans World Airlines by Eero Saarinen, the famous Finnish-American architect known for his neo-futuristic style. The terminal closed in 2001 and for years the fate of the structure was unknown. The building, with its thin white shell roof, spread out in the shape of a pair of wings, was declared a New York City Landmark in 1994, and in 2005 the airport terminal was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2015, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo confirmed that the Saarinen building was going to have a new life as JFK Airport’s only on-airport hotel, and construction on two new hotel wings started in the fall of 2016.
Rendering Courtesy of MCR DevelopmentÂ
A grand opening celebration will take place in the fall of 2019, but in the meantime keep your calendars marked for February 14th, and gift yourself this Valentine’s Day with a stay in this Saarinen-designed landmark. Room rates start at $249.
Next, check out Photos: TWA Cocktail Lounge Airplane Travels from Maine to NYC’s JFK