TWA Hotel

Global aviation took off in the 1920s, with major US cities quickly clearing space to establish hubs. New York was uncharacteristically late to the party, relying on private airfields until nearly 1930, when the city’s innate competitive streak took hold (particularly when Newark, New Jersey, beat it to the skies).

The most impressive feat of local airports was the volume of records and milestone flights that started or ended on those runways, like those piloted by Amelia Earhart, Howard Hughes, and Charles “Lucky Lindy” Lindbergh. The latter adjusted his goggles and took off from Roosevelt Field on Long Island in search of the Orteig Prize: $25,000 to the first aviator to complete a nonstop flight between New York and Paris. His single-engine plane, made of canvas, cleared telephone wires by a mere 20 feet upon takeoff, yet a gentle climate was on his side. Navigational calculations were performed by hand, as he worked the foot pedals and held the flying yoke between his knees. The other inspiring technology of the time was “pilotage,” known these days as “looking out the window.” Luck and ace pilotage conveyed him across an ocean and into history. Thirty-three hours after his wonky takeoff, he did a victory lap around the Eiffel Tower before landing at Le Bourget airfield to a crowd of 100,000, hollering with frenzied elation.

Lucky Lindy used the swell of international veneration to develop air travel into an industry, writing, “America has found her wings, but she must yet learn to use them.” He became the technical director for Transcontinental Air Transport (later TWA), helping to plan its routes, determine its stops, design airports that would welcome its planes, and interview every pilot.

Though Lindbergh plunged from grace, naturally the airline industry ascended in every way, achieving the height of jet-age cool by the early 1960s. That’s when celebrated architect Eero Saarinen designed the world’s most glamorous airline terminal: JFK’s swanky, three-story TWA Flight Center—a masterpiece of mid-twentieth-century modernist architecture.

The head house (or main building) stopped functioning as an air terminal in 2001. The Port Authorities of New York and New Jersey assured its protection from demolition. Still, it went largely unused until incorporated into an expansion of Terminal 5 as JFK’s only on-site hotel. Today, the modernized time capsule is best enjoyed during long layovers, for a nostalgic nightcap, or in moments when you’d like to pretend you were screaming along with the masses as The Beatles arrived at the terminal for their first US visit.

In homage to the glamorous Jet Age, many of TWA Flight Center’s details have been updated with replicas of the originals. The large departure board, a feature since its inception, was fully restored. The hallways employ this blood-red carpeting, evocative of the original lounge (even if you never visited). The hotel staff help enable the time-traveling experience by sporting vintage-inspired TWA outfits, for extracredit retro delight.

A total bonus is that you don’t have to fly to go in an airplane. The last model of its kind, a Lockheed Constellation L-1649 Starliner—once preferred for long-haul flights—was shipped to the site for conversion into a cocktail bar. The lounge has fondly been nicknamed “Connie” and sits just outside the hotel. Guests (and special canines) are invited to board and sip while experiencing aviation history.

If cocktails enjoyed inside a vintage airplane along with fellow adventurers isn’t your jam…perhaps reassess your priorities. But either way, they’ve got you covered: there’s a retro-chic Pool Bar, a wallto-wall Twister game room you never realized you needed, rotating museum exhibits, or the Sunken Lounge—“the Tub”—located where passengers used to wait for flights. If you feel eerily stuck in the 1960s, clear your head at the rooftop infinity pool. It doesn’ promise the cleanest air, but as it neighbors a 10,000-square-foot observation deck—it does deliver a spectacular view of those epic runways, should plane spotting be of recreational interest.

The TWA Hotel is a testament to the aviation visionaries who soared in or out of its airport. It makes use of vintage TWA memorabilia that otherwise would have landed in a dumpster. It makes egregious plaid fabric look cool. And most importantly, it enabled Connie to once again find her wings, delivering high-flying cocktails.

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