Forget Holiday Inn, Hyatt, and InterContinental. The on-site TWA Hotel at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens was just named the Best Airport Hotel in North America by international air transport rating organization Skytrax, and it’s home to a year-round rooftop infinity pool, an airplane-turned-cocktail lounge, and a room dedicated to an enormous game of Twister.
Sounds to us like a fabulous way to get a head start on your vacation festivities!
The retro hotel opened on May 15th, 2019 after transforming the head house of the TWA Flight Center, designed by the architect Eero Saarinen and completed in 1962, and two flanking buildings into a 512-room oasis.
Every last detail of the venue comes together to transport guests to the 1960s–so before you travel to your vacation destination you can travel back in time!
The hotel’s most notable amenity is the rooftop infinity pool that overlooks the tarmac. Heated at a constant steamy temperature of 95º, guests will be delighted to know that it’s open year-round.
But that’s not all. The hotel gives a whole new meaning to airport drinks at one of the city’s coolest cocktail lounges: The 1958 Lockheed Constellation “Connie” airplane.
The plane served as an Alaskan bush plane shuttling supplies to Prudhoe Bay and, now fully restored, features murals by artist Mario Zamparelli and an original navigation system.
This historic airplane-turned-bar serves up your favorite libations all while you sit parked on the tarmac. Try the Vodka is My Co-Pilot, Connie’s take on a martini, before playing one of the vintage games to pass the time.
And once the drinks have you loosened up, you can head to the hotel’s ginormous Twister Room for a good dose of nostalgia. The room is covered in all different sizes of colored polka-dots–even on the ceiling–and has a spinner on the back wall so you can actually play the game just as you did when you were a kid!
Win or lose, there will be a cocktail waiting for you at the Sunken Lounge right next door, slinging retro drinks with swizzle sticks once enjoyed in-flight.
If folding your body into a pretzel isn’t really your thing, you can always get your heart pumping at 10,000-square-foot fitness room, complete with:
- 14 Peloton bikes
- 12 treadmills
- 10 ellipticals
- TRX Suspension Trainer, kettlebells, resistance bands
- A full yoga studio
Or, for those who really want to transport back to the 60s, you can head to the Sweet’N Glow Salon in the hotel lobby for an unbeatable photo-op under the beehive hair dryer or posing alongside the retro wig collection.
Once you’ve worked up an appetite, visitors and guests can dig into dishes such as black truffle pizza and salmon sushi at Paris Café by Jean-Georges. The café serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
The Airport Hotel Awards are based on guest surveys which assess hotel standards on various metrics including, but not limited to:
- Overall experience at the Hotel
- Access to/from Airport to Hotel
- Friendly and professional Reception Service
- Cleanliness of Bedroom and Bathroom
- In-room amenities
- Leisure, Fitness and Spa facilities
- Quality of Food
- Value for Money
The TWA Hotel also ranked as the third best hotel airport worldwide. Additional awards previously given to the hotel include the United States’ Leading Airport Hotel and New York’s Leading Airport Hotel for four years.
You can find TWA Hotel near JFK’s Terminal 5 and book your stay online. View Skytrax’s report of the Best Airport Hotels 2025 here.