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PHOTOS: The TWA Hotel at JFK is officially open!

2019-05-15T18:14:00-04:00

The much-anticipated rebirth of Eero Saarinen’s historic TWA Flight Center at JFK Airport is complete. The TWA Hotel officially opened on Wednesday, more than two years after the project broke ground in Queens and over 18 years since the iconic 1962 terminal shuttered. Developed by MCR and Morse Development, the two six-story crescent-shaped buildings contain 512 rooms, a rooftop infinity pool and observation deck, event space, food hall, luxury fitness center, and retro cocktail bar.

Photo courtesy of TWA Hotel/David Mitchell

TWA Hotel at Saarinen's iconic Flight Center to open in May

2019-02-08T18:14:00-05:00

It’s official: The TWA Hotel will start taking reservations on February 14, in anticipation of a soft opening on May 15. [...] The hotel’s opening will be the culmination of years of work to revive Eero Saarinen’s beloved midcentury landmark. The TWA Flight Center, a stunning example of Space Age architecture, closed in 2001, and has largely been hidden from public view since then, save for a few tours and events here and there.

The TWA Hotel at JFK Airport previously on Archinect.

From rotary phones to martini bars, the new TWA Hotel at JFK Airport travels back to 1962

2018-04-24T11:42:00-04:00

It was 1962 all over again at New York’s John F. Kennedy airport yesterday. After three years in development, the public got a first glimpse of the highly anticipated TWA Hotel—and it’s groovy. With the Eero Saarinen-designed TWA Flight Center as its centerpiece and spiritual core, the 512-room hotel is poised to be a shrine to the so-called golden age of travel.

Connected to Eero Saarinen's TWA Flight Center, the new TWA Hotel plays up its architectural history — from the authentic Saarinen-designed Womb Chairs in each guest room to the rotary telephones. Certainly, the four-star plus hotel is equipped with contemporary amenities, like 512 “ultra-quiet” guest rooms with soundproof glass, conference space for up to 1,400 people, a museum devoted to the Jet Age, and a rooftop observation deck and pool, to name a few.

TWA Hotel behind Saarinen's iconic JFK terminal tops out

2017-12-15T18:13:00-05:00

That didn’t take long: Just about a year after celebrating the groundbreaking of the TWA Hotel, the developer behind the project, MCR, has announced that it’s topped out. The hotel will complement—and connect to—Eero Saarinen’s iconic 1962 TWA Flight Center. The whole shebang is on track to open in early 2019 as the TWA Hotel.

JFK’s TWA Hotel on track to open in 18 months

2017-09-29T11:29:00-04:00

MCR Development officially launched the mid-century modern TWA Lounge on the 86th floor of One World Trade Center on Thursday and provided a deeper look into plans to convert Eero Saarinen’s historic TWA flight center at JFK Airport into a hotel, event space, and dining destination. According to MCR’s CEO Tyler Morse, construction of the hotel is on schedule; it will go vertical on Monday, top out in December, and have its curtainwall applied by January.

If everything remains on schedule, the project is expected to open in 18 months.

'TWA Hotel' hopes to revive Saarinen's iconic terminal at JFK

2016-12-07T13:01:00-05:00

water would bubble again in Isamu Noguchi’s green marble fountain in the Ambassador Lounge, softly masking the tik-a-tik-a-tik-a-tik-a-tik chatter of a Solari di Udine split-flap display board announcing flight departures and arrivals [...] The architects of the hotel project are Beyer Blinder Belle and Lubrano Ciavarra Architects. Beyer Blinder Belle was responsible for the sumptuous restoration of Grand Central Terminal in Midtown Manhattan.

The $265 million TWA Hotel project, slated to open in late 2018, would be connected to Saarinen's Trans World Flight Center and Terminal 5 through tubes that used to guide passengers from TWF to their aircraft. As reported by the Times, the Hotel plan has been hailed by preservationists for its restoration of the terminal, which will require developer MCR to "remediate asbestos throughout the headhouse and rebuild or update mechanical systems." However, preservationists aren't so jazzed about the hotel's six stories, one fearing its height would "effectively imprison the headhouse, both reducing the amount of natural light entering it and severely restricting the outward views from the interior.”

For more on Saarinen's terminal and happenings at JFK:

Eero Saarinen's dormant JFK terminal to become Jet Blue hotel

2015-09-18T12:33:00-04:00

JetBlue and MCR will build hotel rooms from the ground up next to the terminal and refurbish the interior of the building to become the property’s main entrance. [...] It is to have 505 rooms, 40,000 square feet of meeting space, up to eight eateries and an observation deck. The old terminal will serve as the lobby, with the rest of the hotel set back from it in a new building.

Jet Blue's hotel will be JFK's first, finally utilizing Saarinen's masterpiece after 14 years (and counting) of vacancy.

For more news at JFK:

JetBlue tapped as prospective developer for JFK TWA terminal

2015-04-16T17:34:00-04:00

[JetBlue Airways] reportedly wants to get into the hotel business by partnering with New York-based hotel developer MCR Development to turn the landmarked terminal into a 500-room hotel. The deal isn't final—the parties are in 'advanced negotiations'—so things could still fall apart...The Port Authority previously chose hotelier Andre Balazs as the developer, but Balazs backed out after realizing how long the project would take. He told the [WSJ] his company had 'more interesting opportunities.'

Previously: Hotelier Andre Balazs to convert JFK’s historic TWA terminal into a hotel and conference center

Hotelier, Andre Balazs, to convert JFK’s historic TWA terminal into a hotel and conference center

2013-09-09T19:55:00-04:00

The Eero Saarinen-designed terminal will be transformed into a hotel and conference center, along with food and beverage offerings, retail space, a spa and fitness center, meeting facilities and a flight museum. “It is a great honor to be entrusted with the preservation and revitalization of this masterpiece by my personal architectural hero,” said Balazs. He added that he’s looking forward to the approval of his final proposal by the PA board, but didn’t comment on a specific time frame.