JFK Airport

Airport restrooms in the running for top toilet prize

As travelers, we are all too familiar with the search for a clean public restroom. We also know the delight of entering a public bathroom that is not just clean but blessed with quirk and charm.

Now, with the COVID-19 pandemic in full swing, clean and super-sanitized public restrooms are even more important.

So, we are delighted to see restrooms at both Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and the Jamacia Station on JFK International Airport’s AirTrain people mover line are finalists in the 2020 America’s Best Restroom contest. 

Anyone can vote for the winning throne through October 19. The top toilets get a seat in America’s Best Restroom Hall of Fame and restroom cleaning services worth more than $2500 from contest sponsor Cintas.

Here are the finalists:

Dallas Fort Worth International Airport

All gate-side restrooms at DFW Airport are now super ‘smart’.

The bathrooms have touch-free technology and the Tooshlights feature we’ve been raving about that uses red and green lights to indicate which stalls are open.

Digital signage outside each restroom lets passengers know how many stalls are open.

JFK’s AirTrain Jamaica Station – New York, NY

The new restrooms for the Jamaica Station stop on the AirTrain people mover at John F. Kennedy International Airport are nearly three times as large as the previous restrooms. As a nice bonus, the stalls are wide enough to accommodate luggage.

Bancroft Park – Colorado Springs, Colorado

The Bancroft Park restrooms have green, red and yellow lights to show availability. Soap, water, toilet paper, and a dryer are all touchless. Better yet, the restrooms self-clean after every 30 uses and an app lets the maintenance crew know when toilet paper or other supplies are running low.

Gaslight Bar & Grill – Cincinnati, OH

The Gaslight Bar & Grill in Cincinnati, OH is in a building that once served as a branch library. The restrooms have marble tile walls and gold wallpaper as well as touchless faucets and trash cans.

Greeley Square Park – New York, New York

The kiosk-like restroom at Greeley Square Park in NY is decorated with historic photographs and has classical music, rotating seat covers, a full-time attendant, Italian tile, fresh flowers, and an HVAC system for seasonal climate control.

Kimpton Muse Hotel – New York, New York

The Kimpton Muse Hotel restrooms invite guests and diners at the adjacent Muse Bar to pick a stall according to their personality or mood. There are six “sin-inspired” unisex stalls, each with a different theme and design: Glam, Vain, Rebel, Passion, Macho, and Envy.

Portland Japanese Garden – Portland, Oregon

All materials in the restroom at the Portland Japanese Garden – from the texture of the tiles to the design of the fixtures – are chosen for their standalone beauty, as well as functional works of art.

Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts – Scottsdale, Arizona

Standing ovation? These sleek and modern lavs have terrazzo flooring, glass-tiled walls, and plenty of spacious, stainless-steel stalls.

The lighting system can also be programmed for holidays, special events and specific audiences.

Swift’s Attic – Austin, Texas

Swift’s Attic restaurant in Austin has Gothic-style restrooms with floral-patterned sinks, antique light fixtures, and gold and black striped wallpaper.

The Guild Hotel – San Diego, CA

The Guild Hotel opened in 2019 in a century-old building built as a YMCA. Today the restrooms off the lobby have beautiful marble sinks with striking lighting, tiling and mirrors.

Travel Tidbits: Cool ANZ safety video, free museums, fun stuff

 

Happy Friday. Here’s hoping you have a great weekend of adventures planned.

Here are some travel tidbits that might be useful as you head out on the road.

Air New Zealand has a new in-fligh safety video it is calling “The World’s Coolest” – becuase it was filmed in Antarctica.

https://youtu.be/TEsHqdA9dV0

Pittsburgh International Airport gets arty

In addition to hosting a new paint-it-yourself art studio called Paint Monkey, Pittsburgh International Airport has appointed its first artist-in-residence. Blaine Siegel will have studio space at the airport for a year and during his residency he’ll interact with travelers and airport workers to better understand the airport environment. He’ll then produce an artwork that will be exhibited at the airport.

Visit museums free this weekend 

Thanks to the Museums on Us program, anyone with a Bank of America, Merrill Lynch or U.S. Trust credit or debit card can gain free entry to any of more than 200 museums, science centers and cultural attractions around the country this weekend – and on the first full weekend of every month. The full roster of participating venues can be found here.

Norwegian debuts female-driven in flight comedy channel

Norwegian has put together a female-driven in-flight comedy channel called PYPO (Put Your Pretty On), with Emmy-winner Stephanie Laing, that will be available on the airlines’ Dreamliner long-haul flights.  The channel will start with seven comedy sketches, totaling about 20 minutes, with more to come later this year.

Check out some samples here and here.

JFK Terminal has its own website

As a reminder that every terminal at New York’s JFK airport is pretty much its own world, JFK Terminal 4 now has its own website featuring an interactive terminal map, current information about security and taxi wait times, a FAQ section and tourist information. (T4 also has its own Instagram, Twitter and Facebook accounts).

 

JFK Airport gets a pop-up FAO Schwarz toy store

Your next seatmate may be a … giant plush toy from an iconic toy shop.

Just in time for holiday shopping, a 300-square-foot FAO Schwarz pop-up shop has opened in Terminal 4 at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

The shop is FAO Schwarz’s first-ever travel retail store and it will only be at the airport through December 31, 2017.

The pop-up shop will sell a holiday collection that includes classic items, ranging from oversized plush animals to vintage toys and the infamous floor piano.

 

Napping pods for JetBlue’s T5 at JFK

Complimentary napping pods coming to JetBlue's T5 at JFK Airport

Airport amenity of the week?

NYC-based JetBlue Airways has teamed up with MetroNaps to bring free napping pods to JetBlue’s Terminal 5 at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Four MetroNaps Energy Pods were unveiled Tuesday and offer travelers complimentary 20-minute “JetNaps” on a first-come, first served basis.

MetroNaps says their pods offer “an ergonomically perfect, gravity-neutral position that optimizes circulation and encourages a reinvigorating, restful siesta” with visors for “serene seclusion” and soothing sounds piped in to block out noise.

There are even storage bins for tucking away carry-on bags and coats.

These are napping pods – not sleeping pods – so after the 20 complimentary minutes the pod will wake you up.

Not by shaking you and yelling “Hey, you – get outta’ here!” but by raising up out of a recline position and gently waking you with a combination of lights, music and vibration.

Just don’t let the bed bugs bite..

New: JetBlue’s outdoor lounge at JFK T5 – with dog walk

A good week for fans of airport lounges.

Seatac_Lounge

Courtesy American Express

On Tuesday, June 30, American Express opened The Centurion Studio at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the sixth lounge the company has opened in airports across the country. (The others are in Miami, Las Vegas, San Francisco, New York’s Laguardia and Dallas/Fort Worth International).

You must have certain credit cards to gain entry to SEA’s Centurion Studio and the other lounges in the American Express system, but all screened passengers will be welcome at the outdoor lounge JetBue is opening today up on the roof of Terminal 5 at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Called, appropriately enough, T5 Rooftop, the space is designed by Gensler and is open to all passengers who have cleared security. Promised: views of Manhattan and the adjacent TWA Terminal – and the first airside, post-security, rooftop dog walk.

I’ll be venturing out there as soon as it opens today – but in the meantime, here are some snaps shared in advance by JetBlue.

1_JetBlue © Paul Rivera

© Paul Rivera,

3_JetBlue © Paul Rivera

© Paul Rivera