Update: Here’s my review of the TWA Hotel JFK.
I’ve written about the awesome-looking TWA Hotel JFK, which just opened this week. The hotel looks like a dream for aviation geeks, given all its TWA branding. Furthermore, JFK Airport is otherwise one that has a lack of decent hotels, so to have a great hotel connected directly to Terminal 5 is fantastic.
I’ve heard mixed reviews from those who have stayed at the hotel already. It seems like they may have opened prematurely and weren’t quite ready for “primetime,” though I’ve heard from others that it’s awesome. I’m excited to check it out myself.
Anyway, I wanted to point out something that I find interesting, which I imagine some will find value in. In addition to the TWA Hotel accepting overnight bookings, they also sell bookings for “day stays.”
Specifically, you can book a room at the TWA Hotel for the following windows:
- 7AM until 11AM
- 8AM until 8PM
- 10AM until 4PM
- 12PM until 6PM
As you can see, you can book anywhere from a four hour window to a 12 hour window. This could be an awesome alternative to just hanging out in the terminal in the event that you have a long layover, as you could instead use the hotel’s gym, plane spot from the pool, or enjoy any of the other amenities.
The day stay rates don’t show up under the usual search page, but rather you have to search on this page to find them. Just select your desired check-in date as your arrival date. While the departure date will automatically appear as the following day, the reservation will be for the day you show as checking in.
So, what are TWA Hotel day stay rates like?
- The 4-6 hour blocks cost $149 plus taxes and fees ($185.37 all-in)
- The 12 hour block costs $209 plus taxes and fees ($254.22 all-in)
It goes without saying that these are really steep prices, and the $209 rate is really close to what you’d often pay for an overnight stay here.
I still think it’s worth pointing this out, for anyone who has a long layover at JFK but really wants to check out this hotel, because it could be worth it.
However, if you have a long layover you can always visit this hotel without actually booking a stay here. You can check out the public areas, and the hotel also has several restaurants and bars. $149-209 will go a long way to buying food & drinks at this place, I’d imagine.
While you can’t use the pool if not staying there, you can make a reservation at The Pool Bar & Observation Deck, which at least gives you the same view.
Bottom line
I have long layovers at JFK more often than I’d like, and the TWA Hotel will definitely by my new hangout in those situations. In some cases I could see it being worthwhile booking a day stay here, but otherwise you can always just visit the restaurants and have a drink or food, which is much more economical.
Save your original confirmation . Screen print all room descriptions and prices as hotel may try to downgrade you without compensation.
I booked a runway view suite with two queens and when I arrived was told I had not and was given a regular room with no view. Fortunately I was able to pull up their confirmation email. At first they said non available - tough luck. When I said I wanted the differenced credited...
Save your original confirmation . Screen print all room descriptions and prices as hotel may try to downgrade you without compensation.
I booked a runway view suite with two queens and when I arrived was told I had not and was given a regular room with no view. Fortunately I was able to pull up their confirmation email. At first they said non available - tough luck. When I said I wanted the differenced credited back to my credit card based on the price the day I booked they magically found a runway view king suite.
The only apparent difference between a suite and a regular room is an uncomfortable couch that is under rather than facing the TV. It may be a few square feet larger. It certainly is not two rooms which is how I interpret the word "suite" to mean
The Paris resturant was surprisingly good. Prices are about what you would expect in a downtown NYC resturant.
Staying here is an interesting novelty, but you can do better for you hotel dollar with a short Uber ride which probably will be a lot less hassle then lugging bags on air tram. The gym is nice and has a $25 buck day use. For a layover consider a work out and meal at TWA's Paris resturant.
@Lucky: You need to review this place as soon as you can.
I am just here and it has a lot of small issues remaining, but WOW!
The pool!
The lobby!
And what a great gym.
I can see a lot of multiple hour layovers at JFK coming my way, being spent at and in the pool.
This building was my home airport back in the day. I loved it! Just looking at it brings back memories of starting in the miles game as a TWA Royal Ambassador. I'd love to find my old membership card and show it at check in.
I agree with others. Just simply being there was an amazing feeling! I went on opening night and didn't think it was a port authority terminal. There were free drinks here and there though and it was so much fun to meet other aviation geeks; especially former TWA employees who remembered the original TWA terminal in its glory. I had a great time! Yes, I think they prematurely opened the hotel and there were certainly...
I agree with others. Just simply being there was an amazing feeling! I went on opening night and didn't think it was a port authority terminal. There were free drinks here and there though and it was so much fun to meet other aviation geeks; especially former TWA employees who remembered the original TWA terminal in its glory. I had a great time! Yes, I think they prematurely opened the hotel and there were certainly kinks here and there (i.e. my Paris Cafe reservation that I made on the first day reservations went live was abruptly cancelled the day before).
It would have been great to meet the other OMAAT readers (heck I may have met some of you!)
Stayed here this past weekend. Overall it is a must see, but I recommend waiting a couple months for the kinks to get ironed out. Agree with others that it seemed they "opened early," but even still the whole thing is just really really cool. Examples of some of the "growing pains" issues we encountered:
- On check-in our room type (runway view) was not available- these views are apparently only from the top...
Stayed here this past weekend. Overall it is a must see, but I recommend waiting a couple months for the kinks to get ironed out. Agree with others that it seemed they "opened early," but even still the whole thing is just really really cool. Examples of some of the "growing pains" issues we encountered:
- On check-in our room type (runway view) was not available- these views are apparently only from the top two floors of one of the wings of the hotel (due to the position of the JetBlue terminal); we were told the AC was not working on those floors. I suspect the rooms are just not finished yet, as we could see into some of them from the restaurant and it was clear the furnishings had yet to be fully set up.
- A lot is still unfinished in general: the hotel is dotted with missing fixtures, trim, etc; the pool is just flat out not ready- can't even go on the roof at all; the gym's yoga studio is still a construction site; the former Ambassador Lounge is being turned into something (not clear what); and the Connie cocktail lounge is still getting its finishing touches.
- Service is still very very unpolished, and it feels somewhat like they are trying to operate the hotel with a much smaller staff than they should. The front desk is an odd setup with a long row of self-check-in kiosks but only 1-2 actual staff members manning the desk at any given time to help when the self-service kiosks invariably don't work (as ours didn't given our reserved room wasn't available). Our dinner in the Paris Cafe took over 3 hours, and one of our entrees didn't show up for over 45 minutes even after 4 different members of the staff went to check on it- the whole time it felt like the staff was stretched very thin. Service was also very unpolished in the Connie cocktail lounge (which is supposedly operated separately from the hotel itself).
All that said- the hotel is incredible. A lot of really cool uses of the former terminal space, and all of the "theme" details are really thought out. It's clear they invested a lot of money in the hard product aspects of the property, maybe even to the point of being over the top in some places:
-The hotel check-in desk utilizes the old airline ticket counters, complete with a functioning checked baggage conveyor.
-The staff uniforms are all 1960s themed (my favorite were the valets'/bellhops' TWA baggage handler jumpsuits); even the engineering staff wear vintage TWA aircraft mechanic uniforms.
-The Paris Cafe decor is really well done (tulip chairs and tables, etc), and the food is quite good if a little small on the portion sizes.
-The two former flight information displays in the lobby have been refurbished back to the original 1960s Solari flip board designs- one displays mock real-time flight information and the other displays a rotating welcome message / TWA logo design.
-The gym is easily the best hotel gym I've ever seen in my life, and it's not even finished. They claim it will be the largest hotel gym in the world, and I believe them. It has a full Peloton cycling studio, a yoga studio (when they finish it), and (the first time I've ever seen this in a hotel gym) actual barbells, complete with several sets of Eleiko competition weight plates. Why anyone needs IWF-certified calibrated plates in a hotel gym is beyond me, but I'm sure not complaining.
-The rooms (the only part of the hotel that is new construction) are really well done and look just like on the website, although they oddly lack closets. Vintage TWA branding on everything, from the elevator floors down to the coasters under the cups in the bathroom. They even made great use of the flight tubes- the new guestroom wings are attached to the existing terminal via holes cut about half way down the flight tubes. Really cool to walk down the tubes to get to your room.
Definitely planning to check this out again in another few months when hopefully everything is done and the service is humming.
@Ivan - why not walk outside and across the street the the elevator by the cab stand?
@Lucky,
You used to be able to click on the comment count on your articles and it would take you to the first comment, this appears to be broken. Also would love to hear your thoughts on this:
http://gothamist.com/2019/05/17/twa_hotel_flight_center_photos.php#photo-1
I am so excited to check it out!! I remember going to JFK on long summer nights in the early 90's with my brother to just hang out and watch the planes and we always went into the TWA terminal walking through those iconic flight tubes straight to the gate area where massive 747-200's we're parked right up to the windows...
Apologies for editing error in the above.
Should be:
“...that gave it a more Port Authority Bus Terminal vibe...”
@Lucky,
Has the hotel addressed non-guests crashing out on the couches that was reported after the grand opening that gave it more a more Port Authority Bus Terminal vibe than premier hotel?
I stayed there on May 16. Pool and Gym not even close to open. Really nice Jean George restaurant and food was excellent.
The WSJ has a good story on this written by Jason G*y today. He is a great writer so I highly recommend it.
I tried to post this earlier and I couldn’t figure out why the comment went off into the ether which I now suspect is because his last name is verboten on this blog so we will see if this works.
I mean, that's so much higher than any other day rate around the world. LHR or Paddington day rates are sub 100 usd. Shame on them for gouging.
I’ve not gotten around to reading it yet but Jason Gay has a pièce in the WSJ this morning that should be pretty entertaining since he is a terrific, and funny, writer.
The TWA Hotel sounds so cool. If only Priority Pass had a participating restaurant there!
I also stayed opening night. It was, and is going to be awesome. My room had the new car smell and I noticed the bottom acoustic seal wasn't installed on the door, thus the hall noise. This will all quickly get resolved. Waiting for the pool deck to open.
Long-time One Mile at a Time follower.
I stayed opening night. Yes, much was unfinished and rushed, but it was *awesome*. I loved it. They maintained a very faithful feel. The bar in the Lockheed “Connie” four-prop is a stroke of genius, and overall good taste prevails.
Flaws would include a surprising amount of hall noise leaking though the door (especially given the ultra quiet super thick windows), no meaningful room storage, and the fact that there really needs to be a...
I stayed opening night. Yes, much was unfinished and rushed, but it was *awesome*. I loved it. They maintained a very faithful feel. The bar in the Lockheed “Connie” four-prop is a stroke of genius, and overall good taste prevails.
Flaws would include a surprising amount of hall noise leaking though the door (especially given the ultra quiet super thick windows), no meaningful room storage, and the fact that there really needs to be a way to get to the hotel directly from AirTrain, rather than via the JetBlue terminal, which you get to via a crazy long skywalk hike only then to come back through one of the TWA tubes. It’s probably a 10-15 minute walk. Also, the pool deck is still a construction site; no one is yet allowed up.
Overall I am delighted that this amazing space is once again open to the public, and has in my opinion remained unspoiled. They just have some kinks to work out.
@Lucky, please do a OMAAT meetup here!
Arriving at 7am at BKK from BOM and looking at a 13-hour layover before flying out to VTE, I gained great appreciation for 'day stays.' I called Novotel Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport and explained what I wanted to do and they said no problem. I just needed to go to the hotel's website and book a "day stay", which had these terms and conditions:
"Valid only for the day of booking between 8am and 6pm for...
Arriving at 7am at BKK from BOM and looking at a 13-hour layover before flying out to VTE, I gained great appreciation for 'day stays.' I called Novotel Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport and explained what I wanted to do and they said no problem. I just needed to go to the hotel's website and book a "day stay", which had these terms and conditions:
"Valid only for the day of booking between 8am and 6pm for a maximum of 10hrs. NO overnight stay allowed. Normal public rates apply for late check-out or overnight stay. Valid credit card required to secure booking."
The whole process was fast and efficient and the 10h 'day stay' cost me ~$158, excluding a 19.7% VAT, placing it between the 4-6h and 12h time slots offered at the TWA hotel, which means that even in BKK 'day stay' rates are quite steep. However, that is to be expected based on the standard laws of economics.
I have booked one of these 12pm-6pm day stays for me and my
Partner at the start of August we are on the 9pm BA flight so we are just gonna chill here for the afternoon and then head to CCR closer to departure time.
My partner is no so thrilled about watching the planes but I’m sure my credit card and the bar will fix that
@Sam - All the terminals are connected landside by the AirTrain. You can't walk easily between the terminals (with the exceotion being between T1 and T2) and with some it's downright impossible without walking in the actual street. Google Streetview is good for looking these kinds of things up.
How easy is it to connect from other terminals to 5 and vice versa? Can you walk to the JFK terminals? Thanks!