FLYING HIGHS
Start your vacation in style at these stunning airport hotels
ACANCELED flight could be a blessing in disguise if it means spending the night in one of these five superchic on-site airport hotels.
TWA Hotel; JFK Airport,
NYC
The golden age of flying may be behind us, but the era’s finest relic is open to modern nomads.
Eero Saarinen’s relatively small, winged Trans World Airlines Flight Center, originally built in 1962 to welcome travelers to New York, grew obsolete with the rise of the massive Boeing
747 and its millions of passengers.
Named a historic landmark and taken over by JetBlue, the structure sat idle before opening in 2019 as the retro-fabulous TWA Hotel next to Terminal 5.
Take a swim in the rooftop pool as planes touch down on Runway 4. Grab a Knoll stool in the chile pepper red Sunken Lounge or the Paris Café by Jean-Georges Vongerichten.
Have a cocktail inside Connie, a bar in a restored 1958 Lockheed Constellation plane. Then retreat to one of the 512 glam rooms in two new purpose-built towers, which can be booked for the night or for four to 12 hours by travelers looking
to freshen up (and party down) between flights.
Day rooms from $139, overnight stays from $199; TWAHotel.com
CitizenM; Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris
Set just a two-minute walk from Terminal 3, the no-fuss CitizenM’s CdG
edition has all the trappings a road warrior could desire: superfast Wi-Fi, extra-strong showers, blackout blinds, Vitra furnishings and 24/7 food.
The 230-room hotel caters to wellness-driven business travelers, which means that, while you won’t find a gym here, you will find workout videos streaming on the guest room televisions and area maps with running routes.
Take your meetings in the hotel lobby, filled with colorful books, classic chairs and “ambassadors” (a k a staff), who are trained in all positions, so you never have to ask to speak to a manager should you require a fresh croissant or a bike rental.
Rooms from $93; CitizenM.com
Jumbo Stay; Arlanda International Airport, Stockholm
Next time you fly on a 747, look around and see if you could turn it into a 33room hotel. That’s what businessman Oscar Diös did after he purchased the 1976-built Boeing aircraft that once flew for Singapore Airlines and Pan Am (remember them?).
Now guests of the Arlanda Jumbo Stay at the Swedish airport can sleep in the upstairs cockpit and store their belongings in
From
the reconverted overhead bin, get some shut-eye in a group “hostel room” with up to four beds or take over an engine room, occupying — you guessed it — those oversize turbines.
When it’s warm out, travelers are allowed to enjoy their aperitifs on the wings as planes take flight all around.
But even non-guests can pop by the second-story cafe, where staff dressed in vintage air-steward uniforms serve coffee, cocktails and snacks to aviation junkies or anyone looking for some fun before boarding.
Beds from $50 per night, standard rooms from $78, suites from $161; JumboStay.com
Hilton; Munich Airport
The Hilton Munich Airport hotel, set between Terminals 1 and 2, delivers the opposite of what travelers expect on a layover. Rather than sleeping pods or cookie-cutter communal spaces where design is an afterthought, here, a lightfilled atrium is dotted with 60-foot-tall palm trees that provide much-needed O2 in the Nightflight Bar.
Unlike the chafing dishes in typical business lounges or the boxes of Frosted Flakes proffered at lowbudget airport hotels, this 551-room glassy beauty offers fine dining at the Michelin-reviewed Mountain Hub Gourmet restaurant. (Order the Balfegó bluefin tuna with wasabi and caviar.) Then indulge in the fine therapies offered at the Mountain Hub Spa.
Even day users can access the 24-hour fitness center and 55-foot-long indoor swimming pool. How’s that for a restful transit?
Rooms from $135; Hilton.com
Crowne Plaza; Changi Airport, Singapore
A rainforest strewn with exotic orchids is not what
one expects from a hotel situated in one of the world’s busiest transit hubs. But the Crowne Plaza Changi Airport is not your typical airport hotel.
Calling itself an “urban resort,” this 563-room retreat in Terminal 3 was inspired by the textiles of Southeast Asia and exudes all the tropical sumptuousness for which the region is beloved.
Million-milers who frequent Singapore leave extra time just to hang out in this lattice-wrapped, blooming fantasyland, where a rooftop garden replenishes and rehydrates
while a massive outdoor pool washes away yesterday’s long-haul travels. (Book a Pool Terrace Room for private entry.)
Along with a ’70s-inspired bar and 24-hour dining, the hotel grants direct access to arguably the most entertaining airport on the planet, complete with a netted suspension bridge, a butterfly sanctuary, a mirror maze and a laser show featuring a waterfall that flows through the roof. Clearly, America has some work to do upgrading our airports.
Rooms from $180; ChangiAirport.CrownePlaza.com