come fly with me: all about the new TWA hotel at JFK airport

Last Saturday I went to check out the new TWA hotel at JFK airport. If you remember, last year I went to visit the TWA lounge in World Trade Center (you can check out the post here), which is basically a mini version of the new hotel, so I was so excited to check out the full scale version. The hotel is in the original TWA Flight Center, which was built in 1962, and has been abandoned since 2001. They spent $265 million dollars to restore it to its original 1960’s glory. On May 15th it officially opened to the public, so anyone can go check it out. Here’s some more details if you’re planning a visit:

Getting There:
Most New Yorkers dread trekking to JFK airport for an actual flight, so you might think we were crazy for making the trip there willingly, but to me it was definitely worth it! You can take the A or E train from Manhattan then transfer to the AirTran. The AirTran costs $5. In total, it took us about an hour to get there from lower Manhattan. Once you get on the AirTran, you get off at terminal 5 which is the JetBlue terminal. We got a little lost at first once we were in the terminal, but they did have signs directing us downstairs. Once downstairs, you then take an elevator to the TWA hotel. 

Cost:
Even if you’re not actually staying at the hotel, you can still go to check it out. It’s free to go, but there are places you could spend money if you so choose. 

Things To Do:
Connie:
When we first got there, we headed right outside to Connie, the airplane turned bar. Because last weekend was still sort of a soft opening, they weren’t fully functioning yet. I called the night before to see what time they opened and they said “late morning to early evening”, so they didn’t have set hours yet. The plane was open when we got there around 12 so we were able to go on and take photos. They were also serving free Prosecco, so we took advantage and had a few glasses each. Around 1 they opened for the day and passed out menus. Since we were already a bit tipsy, we didn’t order anymore drinks. The prices are definitely on the high side, but expected for New York City and the ambiance is totally worth it to pay a little extra for a glass of wine or beer. It’s not everyday you can drink on a vintage plane with 60’s music playing in the background, right? I took a photo of the menu if you want to get a better idea of pricing.

The Sunken Lounge:
This lounge is back inside. We took some photos here but didn’t get anything to eat or drink, but I did see a lot of people ordering martinis. I imagine the pricing is comparable to Connie. 

Paris Cafe:
This is the Jean George restaurant located upstairs. We didn’t eat here this time around since we had brunch before coming and weren’t super hungry, but from what I’ve heard, like the other bars, it is a bit pricey but worth it for the atmosphere. I definitely want to make a reservation and come back to eat here!

TWA Store:
There was a little store where they were selling TWA merchandise. I bought the pin I’m wearing in the one photo for $2.

You can easily come here and not spend a penny and still have plenty of fun. There’s lots of photo ops, from the pay phones, to vintage cars, to magazine stand. They also have flight attendant uniforms on display through the years, which is really cool to see. If you get hungry while you’re there and need some food on a budget, they also have a food court with different vendors. Overall, we spent about 3-4 hours here.

If you have any other questions feel free to ask! You can also check out their website here for more information or to make reservations.