We stayed at the TWA hotel 5 days after they opened (on my bday!) - I booked the day reservations became available. I had been eyeing the project since it started and was so excited to check it out. While there were a few kinks that needed ironing out, we had a BLAST. Booked a room with a view of the runway, sipped amazing cocktails @ the sunken lounge, the Lisbon Lounge & aboard the Connie. Most comfortable bed I've ever slept in. We are actually spending the night @ TWA again the night before our flight to SXM in July and can't wait to check out the rooftop pool! And you can't beat the convenience of walking to the airtrain and getting to your terminal in a matter of minutes. Plus - all other JFK hotels are off site and equally as expensive and not nearly as cool/fun!

Side note: We live in Charlotte, but always check flights out of NYC to Europe, Caribbean etc. It's always cheap to get to NYC from CLT (and NYC is ALWAYS a good idea IMO), then fly from NYC to our desired destination. In this case, we bought 2 one-way tix from CLT to EWR ($90 total!), then 2 one way tix from JFK to SXM direct ($354 total) and 2 one way tickets from SXM back to CLT - saved $802! Now I am fully aware that hotels, drinks and food in NY will eat that up in a heartbeat... but hey, I'd rather spend that $$ having fun instead of JUST on airfare. Win - win as far as I am concerned!