News: JFK's new hotel with a view
A new hotel will open at New York John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK) on May 15. TWA Hotel has 512 rooms and is located in the central terminal area between the international terminal building and the jetBlue facilities, enabling it to offer a welcome respite to travellers who have to stay overnight at the airport.
A modern block of rooms is situated either side of the icon TWA Flight Center, which was designed by world-renowned architect Eero Saarinen and opened in 1962. The facility has been closed since 2001 but was added to the National Register of Historic Places four year later. The tubes that connected the main building to the gates were seen in the movie Catch me if you can. The TWA Flight Center has been refurbished and will become the centre piece of the new hotel and will include its main lobby and restaurant.
Saarinen's iconic terminal will become the centre piece of the TWA Hotel.
Cocktail lounge and rooftop bar
Two features are likely to stand out for aviation enthusiasts. A piazza in front of the Flight Centre will accommodate a Lockheed L1649 Starliner aircraft which will be used as a cocktail lounge. It has been carefully restored to its former glory and painted in Trans World Airlines colours, and was transported to JFK in early April, having deteriorated to an almost derelict state in Maine over more than 20 years.
The Starliner will become a cocktail lounge as part of the TWA Hotel at JFK.
The other - even more exciting - feature of the TWA Hotel is its rooftop pool bar.
TWA Hotel's rooftop bar features an pool, sun loungers and views over the action.
The roof top Pool Bar & Observation Deck includes a 63-by-20-foot infinity edge pool which will be turned into a pool-cuzzi with water heated to 100F in winter. The 10,000sq ft observation deck overlooks JFK's Runway 4 Left/22 Right and Jamaica Bay. It also provides a view of the Bay Runway, measuring 14,511ft and the second-longest in North America. Food and drink will be available.
Hotel guests will be welcome to use the facilities during their stay, while non-residents will need to make table reservations.
Collection
The developers have restored Saarinen’s masterpiece building, and also amassed more than 2,000 artifacts for show, many of them donated by former TWA employees and their families. Exhibitions will initially focus on two major themes: TWA’s history including Howard Hughes’ tenure, and Saarinen’s development of the terminal at JFK. The collection includes 440 TWA uniform pieces, 43 TWA travel posters, vintage furniture and large-scale TWA artifacts such as a luggage tug. Future exhibits will delve into the dawn of the jet age in New York and the mid-century modern design movement.
Bookings for rooms and tables at the Pool Bar are now available via www.twahotel.com
Text © The Aviation Oracle, images © TWA Hotel / MCR