I enjoyed a rare opportunity to take my kids onboard a vintage airliner when we climbed board the Lockheed Constellation at the TWA Hotel at JFK Airport.
Lockheed Constellation At TWA Hotel
After out JetBlue flight from London to New York, we made a beeline for the TWA Hotel because daddy (me) needed a cup of coffee. There’s an Intelligentsia Coffee in the lobby adjacent to the check-in desks that is open until 4:00 pm each day and it was 3:50 pm when we finally got out of baggage claim. Yes, I ran.
Thankfully, the coffee shop did not close early and I enjoyed a heavenly cortado, which hit the spot so nicely.
While my wife Heidi rested with the bags, I took my kids, Augustine and Claire Marie, out to the Lockheed Constellation parked on the hotel patio, which now serves as a bar. It was 4:00 pm and I did not expect it to be open…but it was.
I think I got more excited than my kids did. Augustine was more excited about the propellers than the aircraft itself and Claire Marie thought this was our connection to Los Angeles. I was excited because this was the aircraft (and airline) that my father and uncle took when they moved from Chicago to Los Angeles in the 1950s.
Onboard, most of the seats had been pulled out and replaced with couches that faced each other. However, there were four rows of 2-2 seating that would make every coach passenger today swoon…they were so much more comfortable that the slimline seats of this generation.
We took a peek in the cockpit and it looked…old. Flying the Connie looks a lot more complicated the modern jetliners of today.
It did remind me a bit of another Lockheed plane that is now a bar (and restaurant)…Na-Oh in Bangkok.
> Read More: Na-Oh Bangkok (L-1011 TriStar Restaurant) Review
Back inside, we took a few more pictures before making our way back to Terminal 5. The hotel has a few Instagram-ish photo-ops set up and Augustine stopped to “get his hair done” after I explained to him those “helmets” (as he called them) were vintage blowdryers.
CONCLUSION
There’s something so cool and unique about this hotel. While I prefer to stop here for coffee and stay at the offsite Hyatt Regency or in Manhattan, this Eero Saarinen masterpiece is a temple for every av-geek.
I wish the TWA Hotel had chosen a more realistic plane, like the Convair 880 or Boeing 707 or even 727. The Super Constellation was obsolete when the TWA Flight Center was operating.
The plane is fine but not entirely realistic. Many of them had hat racks and some had 5 across seating. The aisle wasn’t as wide. The ceiling lights are not from aircraft.
I miss Terminal 6 / TWA domestic terminal / National Airlines terminal/ America West-UA terminal that I M Pei designed
@derek … Hotel changed the interior , but the fuselage and cockpit are indeed “realistic” as in “real” . My own opinion is that TWA was the finest airline company in my memory . I knew many of the employees and passengers , and they were all both “real” and “cool” .
I love everything about that place (except Intelligentsia). Howard Hughes’ old desk is fantastic. I took a picture there with my dog on what turned out to be his last trip. It gives Dr. Evil vibes and I love it. I call it the “perfect picture,” and its framed and displayed prominently in my house.
Why not Intelligentsia? The coffee machine and the Black Cat espresso beans are sumptuous!
@Matthew … Thank you for the “heads-up” on the impressive coffee places you visit on your travels .
However , I am puzzled by the relevance of the name “intelligentsia” , which sounds a tad pretentious . Perhaps an airliner-theme shop would refer to “lift” or “speedy” ?
Intelligentsia is a Chicago-based coffee chain (now owned by Peet’s Coffee) with generally excellent coffee. There several locations I frequent in Southern California.
Honestly, there’s one in downtown Austin about 5 minutes walk from my house, and they’re never nice or friendly when I stop by. They steal my sunshine. It’s turned me off of the brand. I also think their espresso is a little too strong for my taste.
@Jerry … Agree because (a) a coffee stand ought not be haughty to the paying customers , and (b) all espresso is too strong for anyone’s taste ( unless one is from Milan ) . By the way , in Milan no business would be so pretentious to have an affected name such as “intelligentsia” , even conceding the coffee is delicious .
I choose a JFK departure solely to stay at the hotel, I can’t wait. I know the hotel isn’t great but I excited to see the architecture.
It is indeed beautiful – just stunning. Does AA house crews at TWA Hotel?
Indeed a beautiful plane. I flew in them as a kid. Great for its time. Still, much less smooth and much noisier than planes today.
@Arthur … Also , the TWA staff and it’s passengers were far nicer than seen on planes today , and they were not over-crowded with carry-on bags .
Glad to see the Starliner painted properly
For many years the airplane and its sister ship sat in private section of the LEWSTON/ AUBURN AIRPORT IN AUBURN ME. MAURICE RUNDY OWN BOTH AIRPLANES.
THE GERMAN FLAG CARRIER SPENT MILLIONS ON TRYING TO RESTORE ONE OF THE STARLINERS TO FLYING CONDITION BEFORE RETURN THE PLANE BACK TO GERMANY UNFINISHED
My memory of the Super G Constellation including wing tanks was a non-stop Lufthansa flight from Chicago to Germany in 1958. It was with my late father who was visiting his country of birth for the first time since he’d left it since 1926. I was 22 years old and an undergraduate at an American University. What a fantastic airplane.