New York City

THE TWA HOTEL AT JFK AIRPORT – A REVIEW OF OUR STAY

10.25
TWA HOTEL // PHOTOS AND REVIEW

You may be wondering why we stayed at the TWA Hotel for only one night on Saturday? We accidentally booked our flights to New York the day before we could check into the Hamptons house we’ve been staying at this week! Instead of dealing with changing our flights, my mom booked us at the TWA hotel for one night. This hotel used to be the terminal for Trans World Airlines, a major American airline that existed from the 1930’s through 2001. In recent years, the terminal was turned into a fabulously retro hotel and it’s one I’ve been dying to visit! The hotel features a real plane-turned-cocktail bar, multiple experiences of the past (Twister! Old Cars! Shag carpets!) and eye-catching details all over the property that take you back to TWA’s prime flying years. Click here to check out photos of the TWA Hotel!

Naturally, I had to shoot some outfit photos on the property – not one, but three! This is the first. I had yet to photograph this Lela Rose number I picked up ahead of a wedding in August, and I figured a tea-length dress like this would be perfect for TWA’s many vintage backdrops. I actually purchased this dress using all of the earnings I’ve made from selling my clothes on Poshmark! If you’re looking to invest in a piece like a cocktail dress, handbag or really good pair of shoes, selling pieces you no longer wear is a great way to save up to get there! I talked all about my experience using Poshmark here if you need some tips to get started.

Anyway, I had many of you ask my thoughts on our stay and to share a review of the TWA hotel! Considering this hotel is such an experience in and of itself, I figured a blog post was the best way to dive right in…

CHECK-IN

My flight landed later than my mom and sister’s from Austin, so they picked up their bags and got checked in before swinging back around to pick me up. My mom and sister said check-in was a bit unusual as it was pretty much all self-service. In addition to checking yourself in on a thing like you do at the airport, you are provided with a cart to transport your luggage from the lobby to your room. Sounds easy right? Well the rooms are all a pretty long walk from the lobby! If you have a ton of luggage or are traveling with older or disabled people, you may have some difficulties with this.

THE ROOMS

The rooms themselves are great for a short stay! Comfortable, attractive, clean and they make great use of the space with the layouts they’ve chosen for each room. Two things to note about these rooms? There really is no closet and only one trash can in the room (the bathroom). As the hotel is attempting to be the most green hotel in New York, they make it nearly impossible for you to dispose of any trash – there are two flat surfaces on the desk for you to place trash and recycling. No containers or anything. There are two hooks for you to hang clothes on, but there’s no actual closet! It really doesn’t matter if you’re only staying one night like we did, but if you plan to stay longer this would be frustrating. I imagine most people staying at the TWA Hotel are there for a short time though.

We did learn you can do daytime stays in addition to staying overnight! This would be a great idea if you have a long layover and want somewhere to shower, rest, eat or get work done before your next flight. It’s something I would certainly consider if I ever had a bunch of time to kill, but not enough time to make a trip into the city worth it! One more important thing to note: as the hotel is literally on JFK airport property, one concern would likely be hearing planes fly overhead, right? Well before opening the hotel, the entire building was soundproofed! I swear we couldn’t hear a thing.

THE FOOD

We ate dinner Saturday night and breakfast the following morning at the Paris Cafe. While the food was decent, service wasn’t great. They messed up my sister’s order both times, and at breakfast it took 20 minutes for them to bring my mom a coffee! The space is really cute though and it worked for our meals while we were staying there. Didn’t really make sense for us to eat elsewhere – leaving and returning through JFK traffic was a bit daunting!

THE HOTEL ITSELF

Where the hotel really shines is in the fun experience rooms and the architecture/design of each space. My mom and I popped into Connie, the plane-turned-bar Saturday night after dinner! There was a private event going on so the staff seemed a little overwhelmed, but it was fun to see. We of course took full advantage of the property for my photography purposes though, so in that sense I think staying there was totally worth it! There’s even a rooftop pool you can enjoy on nice weather days, but it was too chilly while we were there to check it out.

All in all, we enjoyed staying at the TWA because it was just so darn cute and a fun look at what interiors/airlines were like back in the day! Food and self-service aside, if you need accommodations for one night or a daytime stay this one is a fun option!

Stay tuned for more pics from this blast from the past property and more pictures + outfits from New York over the next couple of weeks!

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