TWA. Up, up, and away.
February 19, 2019 5:20 PM Subscribe
“Vintage tunes drift through the hotel in a curated soundtrack featuring Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, The 5th Dimension, Dusty Springfield, Rosemary Clooney, and Dean Marin. Airline beverage carts with snacks and carbonated sips are speckled throughout the grounds, while a champagne fridge filled with Moet & Chandon, TAB, and miniature bottles sits at the ready in the lobby for a boozy fix. “An abandoned airport terminal at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport has been reborn as the TWA Hotel.
As a child of the 60s who has witnessed this building journey from futuristic to retro and loved it the whole while, I am definitely going to book a stay.
posted by Lyme Drop at 5:47 PM on February 19, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by Lyme Drop at 5:47 PM on February 19, 2019 [7 favorites]
When I saw the TWA sign, I thought I'd either time-slipped or there was a production filming in JFK.
posted by betweenthebars at 6:09 PM on February 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by betweenthebars at 6:09 PM on February 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
I half expected to see Tom Hanks chasing Leonardo DiCaprio through this place.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 6:15 PM on February 19, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 6:15 PM on February 19, 2019 [10 favorites]
Dean Marin, as the article calls him, sounds like a Pynchon character.
posted by smelendez at 6:26 PM on February 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by smelendez at 6:26 PM on February 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
A refrigerator filled with Tab!
posted by adamg at 6:33 PM on February 19, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by adamg at 6:33 PM on February 19, 2019 [6 favorites]
Needs a monolith.
posted by pompomtom at 6:53 PM on February 19, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by pompomtom at 6:53 PM on February 19, 2019 [8 favorites]
Dammit, I thought this was, like, a streaming service.
I have been flying a lot since I was a toddler and never passed through this terminal. Worth pondering.
Hm, what are the rates?
posted by mwhybark at 7:00 PM on February 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
I have been flying a lot since I was a toddler and never passed through this terminal. Worth pondering.
Hm, what are the rates?
posted by mwhybark at 7:00 PM on February 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
Dean Marin, as the article calls him, sounds like a Pynchon character.
I think he's Dean Martin's cousin from northern California.
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:03 PM on February 19, 2019 [6 favorites]
I think he's Dean Martin's cousin from northern California.
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:03 PM on February 19, 2019 [6 favorites]
215-239 for a one night stay in early August. For NYC that is not terrible. hm.
posted by mwhybark at 7:04 PM on February 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by mwhybark at 7:04 PM on February 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
Hm, what are the rates?
If you can wait until May 15, the first available date, and choose advanced purchase rates, a not bad $224 per night. $242 if you want the view.
posted by Preserver at 7:05 PM on February 19, 2019
If you can wait until May 15, the first available date, and choose advanced purchase rates, a not bad $224 per night. $242 if you want the view.
posted by Preserver at 7:05 PM on February 19, 2019
I loved flying through this terminal, so glad it's being preserved. I love that they kept the big info board (I wonder what they'll be displaying on it?).
posted by equalpants at 7:10 PM on February 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by equalpants at 7:10 PM on February 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
The AP podcast Get Outta Here interviewed Tyler Morse, the creator of the TWA Hotel. Fascinating details, such as the thickness of the window glass to reduce airport noise.
posted by Quaversalis at 7:25 PM on February 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Quaversalis at 7:25 PM on February 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
Tempted to take my plane-crazy kids so they can just watch the airplanes!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:35 PM on February 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:35 PM on February 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
Tempted to take my plane-crazy kids so they can just watch the airplanes!
It's times like this I find myself wishing my own parents were THIS into being parents of a child.
posted by some loser at 7:45 PM on February 19, 2019 [17 favorites]
It's times like this I find myself wishing my own parents were THIS into being parents of a child.
posted by some loser at 7:45 PM on February 19, 2019 [17 favorites]
I would love to spend a night here. Totally my sort of place.
posted by Making You Bored For Science at 7:49 PM on February 19, 2019
posted by Making You Bored For Science at 7:49 PM on February 19, 2019
If they don’t film some of Bond 25 there, then they are missing out.
posted by valkane at 8:47 PM on February 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by valkane at 8:47 PM on February 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
(Also, unlimited international calls for free?!? I'd invent ways to take advantage of that!)
Ooh - you could call Australia and ask them which way the toilet flushes!
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:50 PM on February 19, 2019 [5 favorites]
Ooh - you could call Australia and ask them which way the toilet flushes!
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:50 PM on February 19, 2019 [5 favorites]
No way, this is so awesome! I loved seeing it the one time I went to NYC, and the last I heard there was a struggle to save it. I'm not sure JFK is the best place to home-base for a visit, but it's worth taking an extra day to stay overnight either upon arrival or before departure.
posted by rhizome at 9:08 PM on February 19, 2019
posted by rhizome at 9:08 PM on February 19, 2019
Wow, I was really expecting that to be much more expensive.
posted by bongo_x at 10:13 PM on February 19, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by bongo_x at 10:13 PM on February 19, 2019 [5 favorites]
Maybe they'll make the LAX Theme Building into a hotel also -- wouldn't that be cool?
Although, either place -- I'd visit, hang out in the lobby for a while; but who wants to stay out at the airport?
posted by Rash at 10:48 PM on February 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
Although, either place -- I'd visit, hang out in the lobby for a while; but who wants to stay out at the airport?
posted by Rash at 10:48 PM on February 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
This is so very cool. The only way it would be even cooler is if Pan Am did something similar.
posted by davidmsc at 10:53 PM on February 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by davidmsc at 10:53 PM on February 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
I flew through the terminal as a child. I remember when the airport was called Idlewild. Now, you pass this and walk around it to get to the JetBlue terminal.
You meet some really interesting people at an airport hotel bar. People from all over the world passing through.
I will definitely be booking a night.
posted by AugustWest at 11:59 PM on February 19, 2019
You meet some really interesting people at an airport hotel bar. People from all over the world passing through.
I will definitely be booking a night.
posted by AugustWest at 11:59 PM on February 19, 2019
Is there a Pan Am built terminal anywhere?
Sure. Miami City Hall. It was built in the seaplane era - you can still spot where the Boeing 314s used to tether.
posted by aurelian at 12:20 AM on February 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
Sure. Miami City Hall. It was built in the seaplane era - you can still spot where the Boeing 314s used to tether.
posted by aurelian at 12:20 AM on February 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
For that matter, I think the San Francisco terminal is still there on Treasure Island. Same period, and murals, etc.
posted by aurelian at 12:21 AM on February 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by aurelian at 12:21 AM on February 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
The rotary dial phones are nice, but really they need a massive CRT TV in a cabinet to match up.
posted by Segundus at 1:09 AM on February 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Segundus at 1:09 AM on February 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
audelian appears to be correct, but access seems tricky. I had no idea! I only have ever ended up on Treasure Island when the very confusing six or seven lane interchange across the bay befuddles me, which is to say both infrequently and reliably when I take that bridge.
posted by mwhybark at 1:36 AM on February 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by mwhybark at 1:36 AM on February 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
Oh wow, for years I've timed my departures and arrivals at JFK so I wouldn't need to overnight there. And how perfect for flight cancellations due to weather.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 1:56 AM on February 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by TWinbrook8 at 1:56 AM on February 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
Ha, wow. A large part of my job is booking international travel for various people through JFK and I've been getting spam emails about this for months, all of which I deleted without reading. But this is super cool. Thanks, metafilter! In addition to being cool, it will also add a huge convenience factor to travelers through JFK.
posted by something something at 6:32 AM on February 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by something something at 6:32 AM on February 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
My god, I've never *wanted* to go to an airport before!
posted by JanetLand at 6:57 AM on February 20, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by JanetLand at 6:57 AM on February 20, 2019 [3 favorites]
Reasonably priced too - for an airport hotel, definitely would consider this.
posted by jkaczor at 7:45 AM on February 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by jkaczor at 7:45 AM on February 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
JFK airport hotels are notoriously grim and quite inconvenient. (Their access roads to the airport can be traffic-clogged AND they aren't allowed to operate shuttles to the terminals; the shuttles run to the AirTrain terminal only.) Being at T5 and on the AirTrain directly to the other terminals, good restaurants and bars, and not being a total dive or next to sewer treatment (no joke) could make this a big success. May take some time for people to re-engineer their travel habits to take advantage. I regularly fly out at 6 a.m. from T8 and think that this could start to be very congenial vs. waking up at 3 a.m. in the burbs.
posted by MattD at 8:29 AM on February 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by MattD at 8:29 AM on February 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
I was so sure for so long that it would be demolished, that I don't even care that proles like me will never get to use it
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:12 AM on February 20, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:12 AM on February 20, 2019 [4 favorites]
I regularly fly out at 6 a.m. from T8 and think that this could start to be very congenial vs. waking up at 3 a.m. in the burbs.
I mean, what if you could clear TSA when you check in?
posted by rhizome at 9:53 AM on February 20, 2019
I mean, what if you could clear TSA when you check in?
posted by rhizome at 9:53 AM on February 20, 2019
I'm a bit ashamed of how much I like this. Since I was a kid, I've always wanted to live in the airport. Though, I'd pick a somewhat different period soundtrack.
Here's hoping this catches on elsewhere. I'd love to spend a night in Charles de Gaulle. With a bed and a shower, I mean. Not in the usual, "your flight has been delayed by 12 hours" way. Also, seconding the LAX idea. I remain deeply sad that I never managed to pass through during the hours when the restaurant was open, back when the restaurant was open.
posted by eotvos at 1:09 PM on February 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
Here's hoping this catches on elsewhere. I'd love to spend a night in Charles de Gaulle. With a bed and a shower, I mean. Not in the usual, "your flight has been delayed by 12 hours" way. Also, seconding the LAX idea. I remain deeply sad that I never managed to pass through during the hours when the restaurant was open, back when the restaurant was open.
posted by eotvos at 1:09 PM on February 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
Ooh - you could call Australia and ask them which way the toilet flushes!
Drop me a memail for my number.
posted by Thella at 1:17 PM on February 20, 2019 [3 favorites]
Drop me a memail for my number.
posted by Thella at 1:17 PM on February 20, 2019 [3 favorites]
I'm ever so happy I got to fly through Idlewild JFK back in 2000 on my way to and back from a trip to London. For someone in love with that whole era of architecture, even experiencing it at the end of its operational life was kinda magic, and to see such a gorgeous bit of architecture salvaged and preserved in such a respectful way makes me very pleased indeed.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 3:03 PM on February 20, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 3:03 PM on February 20, 2019 [3 favorites]
My mother was a TWA flight attendant for forty years (fired for getting pregnant with my big sister, got her job back when the Supreme Court said that was uncool). I am definitely taking her out to the restaurant for Mother’s Day.
We flew a lot when I was little, in the seventies and eighties, and I loved that terminal. The big biomorphic flipboard! The overhead walkways!
posted by LizardBreath at 6:57 PM on February 20, 2019 [5 favorites]
We flew a lot when I was little, in the seventies and eighties, and I loved that terminal. The big biomorphic flipboard! The overhead walkways!
posted by LizardBreath at 6:57 PM on February 20, 2019 [5 favorites]
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posted by Rufous-headed Towhee heehee at 5:44 PM on February 19, 2019