Who doesn't love frosting? It's sweet. It's sugary. It's pretty. But on it's own (when it's not covering yummy, delicious cake) it lacks something. You could eat it all on it's own, but it wouldn't be satisfying. Frosting may complete the cake, but alone...it's just sugar. It's not fulfilling.
And so it is (in my opinion) with the TWA Hotel at JFK airport. There's no denying it's cool, but is lacks substance.
I recently spent a weekend at the hotel, attending a convention. (That in of itself deserves it's own post and maybe that will be coming your way shortly...if I can manage it.) I was BLOWN away by the look. There are so many cool things displayed. You are whisked back to the 1960s; or at least the way you might imagined the 60s SHOULD be. To clarify further, the TWA Hotel attempts to take you back to the early 1960s; it provides the icing on the beginning of the decade.
The hotel, formerly the TWA terminal at the airport is everything you imagined the 60s might/should be. There are photo ops galore. When you walk in you are whisked back to what an idealized (upper class, white) early 1960s could have looked like.
There are all sorts of cool things to check out. A mockup of Howard Hughes' office (funnily in the Eero Saarinen wing...one wing is named for aviation pioneer Howard Hughes and the other for legendary designed/architect Eero Saarinen).
There are displays of the airline's uniforms. There is the Sweet 'N Glow Salon (you can't actually get your hair done, but you can pretend).
There's a giant Twister area. 
(Go on! Left hand on blue and right foot on red.)
There's even an airplane (no longer functional) that acts as a far. (Sadly, I didn't have a chance to tour "Connie")
It's all fun. And there's even a FREE photobooth where you and your friends can climb in and be silly.
But it's simply a sugarly delight. And if you stay in the hotel for a night or two...well, there's no cake under that frosting.
The rooms (or perhaps I should say the "regular" rooms as I did not stay in our check out any of the executive suites) were quite small. And while I understand that there are constraints (after all this is a historic landmark building), in this century, guests do expect things like closets (not just hooks and some hangers), a minifridge (not an electric cooler that keeps a can or two of coke cool and glows brighter than the lights on the tarmac) a bed that is easily accessible from both sides and a shower that is not a slippery nighmare. (It is a very cool looking shower area, but the bathroom floor and the shower floor are made of the same material and are both very slick. A warning quickly went out among friends...and thankfully so or someone might have ended up on their backside with a nasty bruise or worse.) Our room featured "vintage" furnishings (very cool) including a rotary phone, but no coffee maker or bottled water. While there are ice makers in the hotel, they are not on every floor and I wasn't about to go hunting.
To get from the main "terminal" (to where you check in) to your room is a hike (and requires going up a ramp) and is NOT advisible for anyone with mobility issues. To get from the main floor (4) to the lower level (where convention events would be held) requires multiple sets of staircases OR multiple elevators. (The main elevators do NOT take you to the lower level; you need to go to the 1st floor, walk down a hall and take another elevator that simply takes you from the 1st floor to the lower level. Yes, it is much simplier to just take the stairs, walk and then take another set of stairs, but during my stay I saw several people in wheelchairs who had a difficult time navigating the area.)
The meeting and events rooms are some of the smallest I have seen. (Not that I go to all that many meetings...which is a good thing in my mind.) They are not well insulated. (You can easily hear what is going on in the next room). The room in which I spent most of my time was not very well cared for. (I checked out the closet to find extra tables along with various bits of trash.) This is NOT a location to hold a large meeting or event. And as far as I could see, staff/security seemed more focused on making sure guests were not bringing in outside food (NOT allowed under ANY circumstances) and less on making sure guests were taken care of and safe.
While I had no issues with the staff or management while I was there, I heard plenty of complaints from other attendees. When a small group complains about rudeness, perhaps you can brush it off. When large amount of people raise concerns about guest treatment, you have to wonder if the TWA hotel should be in the hospitality industry? While the customer is always right might not be the credo of the day, ALL customers need to be treated with respect and courtesy.
If you want to experience a homogenized version the early 1960s, visit the TWA Hotel for a couple of hours. You're sure to have some fun. But if you're looking for something more than just frosting, I cannot recommend this hotel. With rooms starting at around $300 a night (that does NOT include on site parking), there are better places to spend your money, no matter what century you live in.
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