Yesterday, following the official opening of the TWA Hotel at John F. Kennedy Airport, we checked ourselves into a room to get the full experience. Quick recap: it’s fabulous! Stepping inside really takes you to a different era, and there’s certainly is no other hotel airport quite like this. The interior design of the hotel rooms is by the firm Stonehill Taylor, which also designed the interior of the vintage Connie plane cocktail bar at the TWA Hotel. Stonehill Taylor’s team writes of the project, “By offering a modern refuge with a thoughtful, strong sense of design and space, the rooms are meant to make guests feel the same appreciation and excitement for aviation that travelers once felt during the rise of the industry.”
A real LIFE Magazine is on the retro-style counter (original address label and all) with 35 TWA Hotel branded pencils per room, a TWA Hotel notepad, and a I Heart TWA pin. One of the best design details is the cocktail bar with hanging martini and wine glasses, very ’60s style .
You can book not only overnight stays, but also short day stays for layovers or just to experience the rooms. On these short stays (available in different time frames from four to twelve hours at a time), you can make free long-distance calls on the rewired vintage rotary phones, use the WiFi, take a shower, and bask in the vintage glory of the Jet Age.
Our room featured a view of the original Eero Saarinen TWA Flight Center, but you can also choose to have a room facing the runway. On that side, you can catch a view of Runway 4 Left/22 Right and the Bay Runway, the backup landing strip for the NASA space shuttles. With specially designed glass, you actually cannot hear a sound from the airplanes when you’re in the rooms.
The bathrooms have a Hollywood style vanity with large light bulbs lining both sides, TWA Hotel branded cups and product dispensers, and fun pops of red in various places.
A retro Etch-a-Sketch, a Sugar Daddy and TWA Hotel branded wooden airplane round out snacks that were curated to have a retro feel, though still exist today:
View from the hotel room:
Additional photos:
Next, check out more photos inside the TWA Hotel from opening day!
