This is the third and final post regarding my recent stay at the TWA Hotel, the only on-site hotel at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. It is a wonderful dedication to the one-time global carrier and now defunct Trans World Airlines.
Following my visit to the Lockheed Constellation turned cocktail lounge, I continued to explore.. One of the first things to admire are the graceful, sweeping lines of the walls, stairways and upper walkways as well as all the natural light that graces this Eero Saarinen designed building. In fact, there are no right angles in the concrete shell of the original structure. It is a sight to behold. One can't help but appreciate the time, money and effort that went into the restoration of this beautiful building that dates from the dawn of the Jet Age.
Next, I noticed the split flap departures and arrivals board with its authentic mechanical operation manufactured by Solari di Udine of Italy. This is the “clickety-clack” board you may have seen (and heard) in years gone by at most airports as well as many railroad stations. Solari made the original board which graced the TWA Flight Center and was contracted again to create the newest ones at the hotel. There are actually two; one of them displays mythical flights to and from the far corners of the world while the second board in the Sunken Lounge is colorful and changes to read NYC, JFK or TWA in white letters against a red background.
The Sunken Lounge itself is a wonderfully designed premiere bar in the main building featuring chili pepper TWA red carpeting and a floor to ceiling wall of glass overlooking the “Connie” parked outside on the tarmac. This lounge is in the shape of a half circle with individual seating along the outside curve with additional seating inside the half circle in either individual red stools with small white bar tables or red banquettes.
Understandably, seven of the eight lounge menu pages are devoted to cocktails, spirits, wines and beers. The drinks menu features 1960s classic cocktail favorites like the Sunken Lounge Martini as well as others with whimsical names including Come Fly With Me (inspired by Frank Sinatra’s 1958 album cover) and the Howard Hughes, named after the former TWA President. As in the ‘Connie,” these signature offerings are served with TWA flight wings and garnished with TWA swizzle sticks in a rainbow of colors. Small bites are listed on the final menu page. They offer soft pretzels, marinated olives, smashed avocado, hummus, a cheese board and a butcher’s block selection of charcuterie.
The Departures Hall offers locally made quick meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. At present , there are five businesses offering culinary fare ranging from a gyro with chicken over rice to salads, grain bowls and veggie plates. If you’d rather not take your purchase back to your room, tables are also available. Fooda is the company that operates the Departures Hall. It’s the first airport food hall for that company which also oversees lunch pop-ups in more than 20 major cities and 2,000-plus locations in the US.
The Paris Cafe and the Lisbon Lounge are located in one half of the upstairs space. World renowned chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten oversees both the cafe and the lounge. The restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and accepts reservations which are highly recommended. In the Lisbon Lounge, you can also enjoy full day menus but seating here is available on a first come, first served basis and reservations are not accepted. Breakfast is served in both locales from 8:00 AM to 10:30 AM, lunch is available from 12:00 Noon to 2:30 PM and dinner is offered from 5:30 PM to 10:00 PM. The lounge is open until 11:00 PM.
Although supposedly inspired by the legendary and solicitous Royal Ambassador (First Class) service aboard TWA's international flights, I wouldn't put pizza, pasta, burgers and tacos in that mix. However, the menu does include Wagyu Beef Tenderloin and Parmesan Crusted Organic Chicken. Even so, I think the hotel could have done far better in terms of their menu offerings for this restaurant.
The other half of the upstairs space which also formerly housed the TWA Ambassadors Club is devoted to museum exhibits. MCR and Morse Development partnered with the New York Historical Society to develop these exceptional displays. The team’s research took them from Kansas City, home of the TWA Museum, to Yale University’s Saarinen archives to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey which donated the original blueprints for the TWA Flight Center. Hats off to the developers who even hired an archivist to catalog every single item!
More than 2,000 artifacts were reviewed for the museum, most of them donated by former TWA employees and their families. Some of the artifacts on display include a flight attendant’s log detailing five years of travel and in-flight amenities from gilded playing cards to silver serving pieces. There is also a large and very attractive area devoted to flight attendant uniforms from the 1940s through the 1990s. The mannequins feature the work of designers with such famous names as Oleg Cassini, Pierre Balmain and Don Loper. Also featured is a single Captain's uniform which dates from the early 1960s.
One of the most fascinating areas for an av-geek like me to explore was that housing TWA’s former headquarters furniture. The pieces were placed in a re-creation of the office used by Howard Hughes during his tenure as the President of the airline which he acquired in 1939. This room also includes the giant globe used by Juan Trippe, founder of TWA’s arch rival Pan American World Airways. On loan from the Pan American Historical Foundation, Trippe was often photographed with this globe and was said to plot his airline’s expansion plans measuring distances between destinations with string! Hughes successfully thwarted a PanAm takeover attempt of TWA in 1941.
Sadly but finally it was time to turn in and I enjoyed a restful and very quiet nights’ sleep. Waking early the next morning, I reluctantly bid farewell to Saarinen’s masterpiece as I had an early flight to Raleigh leaving from LaGuardia Airport. I’ll cover that return journey in an upcoming post. In the interim, thanks again to my sons for their thoughtful birthday gift of a wonderful night’s stay at the TWA Hotel. If you've been following these posts, you could tell I thoroughly enjoyed myself!
Until next time…safe travels.
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