New York, .- From the New York John F. Kennedy airport depart hundreds of airplanes daily, but from this Wednesday you can embark on a different trip without leaving it: the golden age of aviation survives in a leisure complex with hotel, museum and bars inside a historic building until now in disuse.
This is the TWA Hotel, which takes its name from the extinct Trans World Airlines, patrons of this terminal architectural designed in 1962 by Eero Saarinen and which recovers “the philosophy of the 60s” in all its details so that guests “travel in the time to a fresh and unique era, “his manager, Erik Palmer, told EFE.
This monumental space, which is located next to terminal 5 of the airport and had been closed since 2001, receives visitors with a floor covered with red carpet, the same color as the padded seats that populate several of its rooms, and invites you to wait next to retro panels that inform about flight schedules.
Despite being in the middle of the JFK, there is no noise in this complex of 4,600 square meters to entertain and 512 rooms to rest, but the voices of jazz teachers like Etta James or a staff that dresses sixties uniforms and recreates the expressions colloquial of the time.
At its inauguration, this Wednesday, TWA ex-employees claimed to feel nostalgia, including Meureen Humel, for whom it was “disheartening” the disappearance of that airline and who continued his career in Jetblue, as well as other workers who took there “the class” characteristic of the airline.
“Everything is the same, except at the entrance, where there used to be a ramp to carry suitcases,” he said to EFE, observing access from an interior balcony, while Kathleen Jones Cegno, a companion, said she felt a “déjà vu” spent so many years with his professional “family” in that terminal and the adjacent one.
And it is that in the old “TWA Flight Center” (flight center) has been made a tribute to the splendor of the “Jet Age” recreating the elegant coffee shops that there, the kiosk -with old and current publications- and the room reading, including details like “vintage” posters and bulky wall telephones.
On the first floor, a museum wears the uniforms of the hostesses, colorful, fitted and signed by luxury designers like Balmain, Ralph Lauren and Valentino, next to a room for “Ambassadors” and another for “Papas”, in reference to the room where the pontiffs used to enjoy privacy when traveling with the airline.
Despite the time travel involved in visiting the leisure complex, open to anyone even if they do not stay at the hotel, there are contemporary attractions such as a gym, a terrace with a gazebo and an “infinity” pool, and a “secret” cocktail bar inside. of the “Connie” type aircraft restored and exposed abroad.
Tyler Morse, the CEO of MCR, the developer of the hotel, considered this morning at the inauguration “an honor to restore one of the most iconic infrastructures in the US”, and assured that thousands of people have thanked him for recovering “the Aviation Cathedral “designed by the Finnish Saarinen.
Those responsible for the hotel, the only one established within JFK, see a great business opportunity due to the heavy traffic of the airport: around 170,000 travelers a day, of which 30% cross the nearby terminal 5 and some 8,000 make night routes.
“We are going to try to have an occupation of 200% and offer each room twice a day,” manager Palmer explained.
The opening of the TWA Hotel is part of a revitalization plan of 13,000 million dollars, 12,000 of them of private financing, promoted by Governor of the State, Andrew Cuomo, to make the JFK airport a “21st century” infrastructure and promote tourism .
Present at the traditional ribbon cutting, Cuomo said that the “rebirth” of this complex represents “imagination, sharpness, creativity and daring”: “If you want to know where the future leads, look at the state of New York. arrive and the TWA Hotel is a beautiful example. ” (EFEUSA)
