Ten airport hotels so good you’ll be praying for a layover

From JFK’s retro dream TWA Hotel to sleeping in the cockpit of a vintage plane in Stockholm, here are ten of the best ways to spend the night at an airport.

Hilton Frankfurt Airport

Frankfurt Hilton is cutting-edge futuristic, with a date-night worthy restaurant.

I would stay at the Frankfurt Hilton even if not flying (not sponsored). This architectural glass masterpiece fosters emotional attachments; maybe it’s the airy lobby that appears like a light at the end of the darkness of a delayed flight tunnel, the to-go breakfast boxes when catching ridiculously early budget carriers, or the glass cube lifts whizzing passengers into the atrium Willy Wonka-style. It’s cutting-edge futuristic, has a date-night worthy restaurant, Rise, with forest views, and connects into Frankfurt airport’s belly via an indoor walkway. Hilton.com

Novotel & Mercure Darwin Airport Resort

This brand-new hotel will cause plane no-shows spikes as guest linger in cabanas under palm trees by the 61-metre pool or frolic in private villa pools.Credit: Steve Strike

Deciding whether the dazzling Darwin or fabulous Frankfurt abode should score top billing is the kind of struggle that keeps me awake at night. But what’s clear is this brand-new hotel will cause plane no-shows spikes, as guests linger in cabanas under palm trees by the 61-metre pool or frolic in private villa pools. The marriage of the neighbouring hotels thanks to a dowry of $30 million from parent company Airport Development Group (ADG) has created a supernova one-stop airport resort, bonus points for the deep Indigenous engagement, from design to their Indigenous Training Academy. darwinairporthotels.com.au

Crowne Plaza Changi Airport, an IHG Hotel

Crowne Plaza Changi was named as the world’s best airport hotel by Skytrax in 2024.

Of course Singapore Changi Airport, regularly voted the world’s best airport, houses the hotel named the world’s best airport hotel in the 2024 Skytrax World Airport Awards. The Crowne Plaza, an IHG Hotel, is the cat’s meow, a literal and figurative bastion of moody cool in sultry, steamy Singapore. It’s connected to Terminal 3 landside, but also landside is the airport utopia Jewel, easily accessed by a link bridge just near the Crowne Plaza’s entry. ihg.com

Aerotel Singapore

Remember to pack a swimsuit in your carry-on when transiting through Singapore.

It seems unfair to love bomb Changi with a double mention, but credit where credit’s due. The airside Aerotel Singapore in Terminal 1 (via the escalator by Gate D40) has saved many from transit tetchiness. It’s not the bargain it once was (a minimum six-hour block for a room with meal is around $200) but the mood-realigning outdoor swimming pool and soft-as-a-snuggle beds has inspired many a “take my money” moment. Just remember to pack a swimsuit in carry-on. myaerotel.com

Houston Airport Marriott at George Bush Intercontinental

When a missed connection abandons you in a T-shirt in winter, this is where you want to stay.

This unwieldy moniker suggests PR and marketing failed to agree. But what it lacks in name minimalism, it atones for in location with an underground airport tunnel. When a missed connection abandons you in a T-shirt in winter, this is where you want to stay. Or you could wait in the dystopian wind tunnel where hotel shuttles arrive adhering to no schedule, wishing you too could be sinking into one of the comfy jewel-toned lounges with the warm and lucky. Not scarred at all. marriott.com

The TWA Hotel at NYC’s JFK International Airport

This retro-glamorous airport hotel is a total knock out.Credit: David Mitchell

This retro-glamorous airport hotel is a total knock out in the #avgeek stakes. What’s to love most – the runway infinity pool by JFK’s bustling Runway 4 Left/22 Right, the ’60s Sunken Lounge, or sipping “jet fuel” cocktails in the 1958 Lockheed Constellation “Connie” aeroplane turned cocktail lounge? The museum exhibits from the New York Historical Society featuring TWA vintage furniture and uniforms from the jet-set era will get your propellers whirling. A big thumbs down to the $US25 ($A38) pool summer cover charge. twahotel.com

W Abu Dhabi – Yas Island

W Hotel is our pick for the modern nods to Arabic design.Credit: Getty Images

Bland airport hotels, be gone! Straddling the Yas Marina Circuit, a dream for Netflix’s Drive To Survive Formula 1 fans, this is no cookie-cutter hotel. But the location raises the existential question – if a hotel is 10 minutes’ drive from an airport, is it still an airport hotel? The W bills itself as such, and compared to travelling downtown it’s a mere enthusiastic camel spit from the runway. Glamorous with a celebrity clientele to match, this is our pick for the modern nods to Arabic design. Marriott.com

Nine Hours Narita Airport

Nine Hours offers a quintessential Japanese experience.Credit: Bloomberg

Sleeping in a capsule or ‘pod’ hotel is a bucket list item for many. They’re not entirely comfortable (as expected sleeping in a tube), but they are cheap (a pod in a gender-separated section costs $A65) and a quintessential Japanese experience. Nine Hours also offers a complimentary bag of toiletries with towel, toothbrush, earplugs, disposable slippers and night gown. Be aware that many stay here for early flights, so brace for the 4am alarms. ninehours.co.jp

CitizenM Paris Charles de Gaulle

The dated Charles de Gaulle airport will struggle with the Olympic and Paralympic influx, but this 2020 hotel addition scores a gold medal. A stroll down a covered walkway from Terminal 3 waits the tech-savvy (even the light dimmer is adjustable by app), design-loving (the Jules Verne inspired hot air balloon decorations are wonderfully whimsical) hotel, part of a chain championing affordable luxury. Hence the room is très petite but beds are big, the price is right (for expensive Paris, from €140 ($A230) and the library a jet-lag tonic. citizenm.com

STF Jumbo Stay Stockholm

Sleep in a Boeing 747 in Stockholm.

Lastly, we land smoothly with a spectacular sleep in this Boeing 747. Extending plane time isn’t everyone’s yen, but this vintage 747-212B from 1976 has been transformed with hotel creature comforts within the plane mould. It’s a strictly economy affair more hostel than hotel; snag a dorm bed from 450 SEK ($A62) or upgrade to the cockpit double bed with ensuite for 1850 SEK ($A258). The short, free shuttle to Stockholm Arlanda Airport, where such things can cost gold bars, seals the deal. jumbostay.com