by Jeremy and I own so much TWA Hotel merchandise that we checked out before meeting. Are you wearing your tracksuit or can I wear mine?
Between us, my boyfriend and I have two retro tracksuits, a pair of sneakers, a cap, an umbrella, a robe, five notebooks, a tote bag and a shopping bag, all in glorious scarlet and white, embellished with JFK airport. hotel logo. I even have a framed copy of the terminal building-turned-lobby designed by Eero Saarinen in my kitchen. Yes, it’s safe to say, we love this hotel so much that we’ve become walking billboards, and our friends think it’s hilarious.
Other popular hotels sell souvenirs to their devotees, of course. You can wrap yourself in a towel from Soho House or purchase checkered tablecloths from Summerill & Bishop, inspired by the art-deco vibe of Claridge’s. You may have also heard of “Aman addicts.” These passionate repeat visitors to Aman’s super-luxury resorts make up 50 percent of the brand’s business and delight their friends with stories of high-end service and minimalist design aesthetics. Aman hotels never advertise; The fans display their loyalty discreetly.
The appeal of an Aman isn’t hard to understand, but why exactly am I so obsessed with an airport hotel? Good. Jeremy and I first visited the hotel, which is based in the former TWA Flight Center at JFK Terminal 5, as post-pandemic pioneers in late 2021. We haven’t stopped talking about the place since. Euphemism isn’t really a word you’d use around TWA: she’s bold, bold and direct, and we adore her.
“Welcome to 1962!” ” declares a banner on the wall, upon entering a Catch Me If You Can film set, where pairs of uniformed pilots push their suitcases down scarlet-carpeted hallways amid jet-lagged civilians.
The immersive mid-century experience begins before you ascend the stairs into the cavernous white lobby. As you cross the parking lot, you are accompanied by the music of Burt Bacharach in the open air. Guests check-in at the airline’s original counters to the sounds of The Beatles and Buddy Holly.
Then the fun really begins. Residents and casual visitors alike can enjoy drinks at the 60-seat Connie’s Cocktail Bar, actually inside a 1958 Lockheed Constellation TWA jet. There’s a sunken red seating area in the main lobby, where you can sip your drinks to the accompaniment of an old flight departure board flashing in the background (and watching shy haredi Jews from Queens meet on blind dates). The lobby features a life-size Twister set and a retro hair salon; Upstairs on the roof there is a heated pool overlooking the track, also with a bar.
But the TWA isn’t just about gimmicks: there’s also peace of mind and luxury. The beds are large and comfortable, behind very thick glass (you can see the planes taking off, but you don’t hear them). Each room is outfitted with retro touches: rotary phones, triangular cocktail glasses, and toiletries in original 1960s packaging.
For us as a couple, the pandemic probably boosted our connection to the place – Jeremy is an American who lived mainly in New York and Covid meant we couldn’t see each other for months. When I arrived on one of the first permitted flights back to the US, Jeremy took me to TWA. That night, the hotel was almost empty and we ran up and down its curved stairs in delight. For us, the hotel embodies the resilience and triumph of our transatlantic relationship. (The Jet Fuel cocktails didn’t hurt either.) It’s no wonder then that we wanted to bring a little TWA home with our casual clothing and home furnishings.
Two years later, our relationship is more permanent, but TWA remains special to us, always our first port of call when we arrive in New York. And we intend to continue praising the place to anyone who will listen. To the heavens!
Jeremy and I certainly aren’t the only ones who have a hotel we’re obsessed with. So what keeps a guest coming back to the same place year after year? Let’s find out.
Reserve: TWA Hotel offers double rooms from $288 (£229). Read our expert review here.
‘We have spent over three years at Sandals resorts’
Heather Bailey, 61, is an optometrist in Stafford. She is married to Jim, 55, who works in the family practice.
In July of this year, we marked our 1,000th anniversary of nights at the giant Sandals all-inclusive resort, although we’ve since racked up another 114 paid nights, as well as 13 free “reward” weeks. We were in Barbados when we passed our milestone, a place we’ve stayed 15 times, probably tied with the Halcyon in St. Lucia as our favorite resort (30 visits), as well as two trips to the Bahamas and two to Jamaica . Our longest trip was 29 nights. Every year, we leave on the last flight at full price before Christmas and return on the first one at full price. Yes, we can safely say that we love sandals.
It was the warm water that first brought us to the Caribbean. Jim and I are keen divers, and when our dive guide Claudy moved to Sandals in the Bahamas from another resort in 2006, we followed him. Then we stayed at the company. We love the fact that diving is free at all Sandals resorts; If you have to pay elsewhere it can cost £200 per day. Each resort offers a different variety of diving: minnows in Barbados and St. Lucia; sharks in the Bahamas.
Sandals’ famous child-free policy was also a big plus for us, but there were plenty of other reasons to keep coming back. Many of the Caribbean resorts we had previously visited offered canteen or buffet food: when we returned to our seat with the soup, someone had stolen the table. Sandals, on the other hand, has reserved seating for dinner. The food is excellent, with different themed restaurants, all adapted to my gluten intolerance.
In March 2020, we were in Barbados when the pandemic hit. Virgin canceled all flights – we had no idea how we were going to get home. But the staff reassured us 30 remaining guests, allowing us to stay and eat whatever we wanted, at whatever restaurant we wanted. When we were scheduled to fly home, UK supermarkets were empty, thanks to panic buying. Then the Sandals staff sent us home with boxes of chips and toilet paper.
Reserve: Sandals Barbados offers a seven-night stay for two people from £1,926 per person, all-inclusive, with return flights and transfers. Read our expert review here.
‘JK Place has something special: it’s my home away from home’
Benoit Charot, 61, is a lawyer from Paris.
My Roman home is suite 31 of JK Place Roma, on Via di Monte d’Oro. I start my day with the eastern light breaking on my beautiful balcony, where I like to work and have breakfast. The suite itself is wonderful, it has two rooms with eclectic furniture that totally embody the spirit of Rome.
I am a Parisian partner in an international law firm, I travel a lot for work and I love boutique hotels. There’s something special about JK Place: it’s my home away from home. I come to Rome for work and also to buy art. I spend a lot of time in the city; every two months I come to JK Place for 10 days or two weeks.
It took me a while to find JK Place and since I discovered it in 2018, all the other hotels look like factories. I’ve been back more than 15 times now – the gap during the pandemic when I couldn’t visit was tough. When I first arrived at the hotel, I was delighted with the welcome from the staff. I had a drink in the library; I felt like I was in a private palace: very charming, very private. All rooms are very different and not “blingy”. There is a great restaurant here but I prefer to eat out and the staff always recommend great places.
The staff here wear all the hats, not just staying at reception for example, so you get to know them very well and they take wonderful care of their customers. The director, Maria, is especially wonderful. When the janitor got sick, I told my gardener to send him 12 jars of honey from my garden in the southwest of France.
Reserve: JK Place Roma (00 39 06 982634; jkroma.com) offers double rooms from €700 (£611), including breakfast. Read our expert review here.
‘Sugar Beach was the only place we would consider getting married’
Bob Keating, 83, is a retired IT executive from Buckinghamshire.
Between us, Anne and I have been to Sugar Beach Mauricio 37 times. So when we decided to get married in 2012, we didn’t consider having our wedding anywhere else. I was 70: Anne was 73. We had a ceremony on the beach grass, with the scent of bougainvillea and the sound of John Denver’s Annie’s Song. Nine members of our family flew in from the UK, but we were also surrounded by our Sugar Beach family – the manager and assistant manager were our witnesses. The staff are wonderful here – one year I had a fall and Scyam, the front desk manager, came to visit me in the hospital.
I first visited Sugar Beach in 2001, with my late wife Babs. We were looking for winter sun in a Kuoni catalog and were not disappointed: the resort is on the beautiful west “sunset” coast of Mauritius, all rooms face the sea, with an idyllic beach.
In 2010, Babs was suffering from severe dementia, but I was determined to take her back to her favorite place one last time. Anne, who was a close friend of the family, offered to come help. Sugar Beach went above and beyond to take care of Babs, making sure she had the best spot in the dining room and always being very attentive. Babs couldn’t remember much, but we knew from her face that she was happy listening to audiobooks by the sea in her favorite place in the world.
After Babs died, I didn’t want to travel to Sugar Beach alone and invited Anne to come with me. At that time we were still just friends, but we soon realized that we really wanted to be together and I proposed to her. Since our wedding, we continue to visit them every year, mainly in October. Anne especially loves water aerobics and the gym. Sugar Beach is our home away from home and we didn’t think about traveling 6,000 miles to be there.
Reserve: Sugar Beach Mauritius offers double rooms from £288, including breakfast. Read our expert review here.
