id=”article-body” class=”row” section=”article-body”> Geoffrey Morrison/CNET It’s the early 1960s. The Jet Age has begun. The de Havilland Comet and Boeing 707 are revolutionizing travel, making the world a smaller place and opening up air transport to more people than ever. TWA, short for Trans World Airlines, is one of the largest airlines in the world. The company chooses New York International Airport, commonly known as Idlewild and now known as JFK, as its new transatlantic hub.
But TWA needed a building, and not just any building. Something grand and sweeping to evoke the excitement of flight itself. It turns to Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen, villa di malang already a pioneer in the style that would become known as midcentury modern. His bird-like design for the new Flight Center would become an icon.
Fast-foward to the 1990s. TWA is failing and, like so many buildings of the era, the Flight Center is outdated and nearly impossible to renovate. Its entry into the National Register of Historic Places saved it from the ignoble fate of its PanAm contemporary. Finally in May of 2019, after an extensive renovation and plans that came to nothing, the TWA Flight Center was reborn as the TWA Hotel.
Yep, you can spend the night there. And I did. Here’s what it’s like.