Attached directly to Terminal 5, The TWA Hotel is easily the most convenient hotel for anyone needing quick and easy access to the John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK).
Convenience comes at a cost however. It’s hardly ever the cheapest option, and you could probably will save a lot of money by choosing a hotel located off airport property instead.
But what happens when you choose the cheapest room they have? What exactly are you sacrificing by paying less? Let me show you…
My full review of the cheapest room at the TWA Hotel
The TLDR: the “cheapest room” isn’t a particular type or style of room at the TWA Hotel. All the rooms are basically the same (unless you’re ballin’ out in the Howard Hughes Suite), with the only difference being the quality of the view from your window.
Basically, you’ll get a pretty nice room when you pick the least expensive option possible. It’s just that the view won’t be all that great.
Location
The TWA Hotel is conveniently located adjacent to Terminal 5. All terminals are connected at JFK via the AirTrain, which runs 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
You’ll find the entrance (the elevator actually) in the baggage claim level of Terminal 5.
Rental car information! Visitor information! EMERGENCY EXIT ONLY! ALARM WILL SOUND! Assuming you can avoid all of the distractions, you’ll find the elevator leading to the TWA Hotel at the far northwest corner of the baggage claim level in Terminal 5.There are only two choices once inside the elevator. You know what to do.The elevator door opens and…voila! It’s 1965 again (except for the present day JetBlue employee).But wait! Turn to your left, and you’ll see a replica of Sir Jack Frye’s office. And before you scurry off to Chat GPT or Wikipedia to find out who Jack Frye is, let me save you some time: he was the president of TWA from 1934 to 1947.Turn to your right for a history lesson (which is kinda important because, as you’ll learn, Jack Frye was the founder of Standard Air Lines, which then merged with Trans World Airlines). How embarrassing it would be to waltz into the lobby thinking that TWA was Mr Frye’s creation.Continuing on. Next step is this artery-like walkway leading to the lobby of the hotel.“So this must be what it feels like to be a blood clot. And I had no idea that Jack Frye wasn’t actually the founder of TWA!”
The lobby (and checking in)
The lobby of the TWA Hotel is a destination all its own. So even if you’re paying the least amount possible for your room, you’ll still get the full experience of the lobby and its hip 1960s vibe. The best part? You don’t even have to be an airplane and airline nerd to appreciate it.
Reason number 25,357 why this is the greatest hotel in the world: the reception desk / check-in area here in the lobby is in the same location of the TWA check encounters back when this was a functioning airline terminal. The only thing missing is the roar of unmuffled Boeing 707s ripping off runway 31R in the background (and signs on the walls pointing you to the nearest nuclear fallout shelter).Also missing was a smartly dressed / super friendly / cigarette scented TWA employee to check me in. Unlike how they did things back in the 1960s, the only way to check in to this hotel is to do it yourself with these self serve kiosks. Congratulations to me!The iconic (and very vintage) split-flap departures and arrivals board. I don’t know man. The drugs they had in the 1960s must’ve been good.There’s even a fully restored Lockheed Constellation parked outside that has been converted into a bar. This alone is worthy of a full review, which I will do someday (whenever I can find the time to launch reallycoolvintageaircraftthathavebeenconvertedintoabar.com). It’s gonna be epic!
Getting to my room
There are two different wings of the TWA Hotel (the Hughes Wing and the Saarinen Wing). My “poverty” room for the evening was in the Hughes Wing.
Make like a blood clot (a big one – all lumpy and firm) up this corridor to find the elevator leading to your room.
It’s worth noting that the lobby is located on level 4, so don’t make the mistake that I always do the morning after and blindly press the “1” button and the elevator in attempt to return to the lobby. You’re gonna end up in the basement.
I wonder how many times the cleaning crew have had to rush in to clean off a hastily written “T” at the end of the TWA logo here on the floor of the elevator? “$20 says that it’s a weekly thing.” Those of you whose right leg is shorter than your left leg will very much appreciate the curved walkway leading to your room here in the Hughes Wing.Room 681 is my room / box / cubby hole for the night.
Cheap room overview
As you’re about to see, there was nothing about my room that looked cheap. As I’ve already mentioned, most of the rooms at this hotel look the same. They are nearly all the same size with the same layout, the only difference being the view.
“Yeah baby!” (read that in the Austin Powers voice for full effect)This isn’t a very big room, but it is quite stylish. And functional. And clean. And fairly well maintained. Clever too. Kinda small tho.And unique! There are no trash bins in this room. Simply place your rubbish on these pads, and the cleaning crew will take it away. I’ll bet they absolutely love picking up everyone’s snotty tissues.Here we have John Glenn imitating a TWA hotel cleaning staff member picking up a fresh snotty tissue. Pretty cool, eh?So yeah, as I was saying: these rooms are a little small but nice. And it just occurred to me that there are no tissue boxes in this room. Snotty tissue problem solved!There’s always a “I’m just gonna watch you while you sleep” chair. But at least this one is stylish.“Hello? Housekeeping? Yeah, I was wondering if you could send up a box of tissues. Thanks!” Any excuse to use this fully functional (and very cool) rotary style phone is a good one.Oh and yeah, this king bed was very comfortable (almost forgot this was a hotel review for a moment). #whewThis is probably the 5th or 6th time I’ve stayed at the TWA Hotel since 2019, but it’s the first time that the wireless phone charging pad didn’t work. I (I mean my phone) was so looking forward to this!The “let’s get drunk before our flight” station, complete with fancy glassware, an ice bucket, and a mini bar / refrigerator.The mini bar / refrigerator was kind of gross actually. Then again, what do you expect when there’s no tissues around to wipe it down every now and then?
The view
I guess I got lucky. The last time that I paid for the cheapest room possible, I ended up in a basement room with a view of a set of doors leading to what looked to be a mechanical access room. Fun!
This time, however, I was on an upper level with a pretty nice view of the main structure of the iconic TWA theme building (and the airport terminal in the background).
You can’t expect much of a view when selecting the cheapest room at this hotel. That said, I kind of got lucky this time. This’ll work!
The bathroom
One of the best things about paying for the cheapest room possible of the TWA Hotel? You’re guaranteed to have a bathroom just as nice as what is in the most expensive rooms. They’re all the same. Pretty much.
Shit. Perhaps I should’ve checked the bathroom first before making all those tissue jokes earlier. And look at that. There *is* a trash bin in here! There goes any excuses I had to leave snotty tissues all over the place.A shower big enough to park an Airbus A350 Boeing 707 in.Three sizes of bath towels for your drying pleasure: the DC-9, the 707, and the 747. God I miss TWA.
Pros and cons of a cheap room at the TWA hotel
The best thing about scoring a cheap room at the TWA Hotel is that it won’t look (or feel) cheap. Pretty much every room they have is going to be a nice one.
The bad thing of course, is that even the cheapest room is likely going to be more expensive than what you could find at one of the many hotels surrounding the airport. Be sure to read my review of the JFK Sheraton if you don’t believe me.
This is a really nice property though, and I don’t mind paying extra for the experience (and convenience). It’s totally worth it IMHO.
Pros
It doesn’t matter how much you pay for your room. Everyone still has access to all of the same bars and restaurants and rooftop pool.
All of the rooms are nice. There are no “cheapo” / bare bones budget rooms here.
Who cares if it’s a bit more expensive than other hotels located near the airport? The convenience alone is worth it!
Cons
The biggest risk of choosing the cheapest room is that you may end up with a pretty lousy view. Be prepared.
It’s still kind of expensive. Did I mention that already? I can’t remember.
Scott has been traveling the world since 1997, and is the founder and author of SleepAndReview.com. He never had any aspirations of being a hotel reviewer, but one thing let to another, and...well...here we are.
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