The Airport Hotels That Will Change Your Mind About Layovers

Airport hotels can get a bad rap, as they’re often considered to be a traveler’s only option for a flight at an inconvenient hour or a layover that isn’t quite long enough to allow for time to reach the city center. But that’s all changed in the past few years, as airport hotels around the globe have stepped it up with innovative design, more comfortable rooms, restaurants where you’d actually want to eat, and colorful art installations.

The next time you’re facing a super late arrival or early departure—or trying to get real sleep on a long layover—book one of these 10 standout airport hotels in the USA, Europe, South America, and Asia, all worthy of our Hotels We Love list.

citizenM Paris Charles de Gaulle

Courtesy of citizenM Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport

A short stroll down a covered walkway from Terminal 3 lies the stylish, modern citizenM Paris Charles de Gaulle. The brand’s philosophy of affordable luxury is evident in the 230 guest rooms, which showcase high-tech amenities (the temperature, lighting, and blinds are controlled by in-room tablet or the citizenM app) and king-size beds where you can look out onto the runway. The hotel does not offer day rooms, but it does have an airy, colorful lobby with a business corner (four Mac desktops available for use) and assorted sofas and chairs where you can sit and read.

Related: 4 Days in Paris: Take 3-Hour Lunches, Stroll in a Movie Setting, and Skip the Louvre

Crowne Plaza Changi Airport

Courtesy of the Crowne Plaza Changi Airport

It’s no surprise that the world’s best airport also has the world’s number one airport hotel, according to Skytrax. Located at Singapore Changi Airport’s Terminal 3, the 563-room-and-suite Crowne Plaza Changi Airport offers a stylish home base in a convenient location. The link bridge from the terminal is a timber screen with a pattern inspired by Indonesian ikat fabrics, and the resort-style facilities include a palm tree–lined outdoor pool and a 24-hour fitness center. Allora, the hotel’s restaurant, features contemporary Italian cuisine, including wood-fired pizzas and pastas such as crab ravioli and rigatoni with lamb ragout.

Singapore’s airport is well-connected to the city center—you can be at the National Museum in 30 minutes by cab and under an hour by bus—but those who want to stay near the airport during a long layover can avail themselves of day rooms. Available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., they cost about US$200 for six hours and US$220 for eight.

Related: My Perfect Singapore: An Afar Editor Shares Her Favorite Hometown Haunts

Fairmont Vancouver Airport

Courtesy of Fairmont Vancouver Airport

Inside Vancouver International Airport’s Main Terminal, Fairmont Vancouver Airport is a reprieve for travelers who want to stay steps from the departure gates but don’t want to sacrifice on comfort or style. Each of the property’s 386 guest rooms and suites features pillow-top beds, soaking tubs, and soundproofed picture windows with unobstructed views of the runways. The restaurant, Globe@YVR, celebrates Pacific Northwest flavors in dishes such as Skuna Bay salmon with golden beets, highlighting sustainable and locally sourced ingredients.

You’ll find amenities as thoughtful here as at city center hotels. There are bikes available to rent, guided bird-watching tours, and even a fish valet service to ensure that your catch is properly stored until it’s time to fly. Day rooms can be booked for four, six, or eight hours between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. (call for pricing or book through a site like ResortPass, DayUse, or Hotels by Day). And if you don’t need quite that long, you can opt for the three-hour, $30 fitness center pass, which includes indoor pool access.

Related: 4 Days in Vancouver: A Forested Brewery, a Bikeable Seawall, and Indigenous-Led Talks with Trees

Grand Hyatt at SFO

A brief AirTrain ride from any of San Francisco International Airport’s four terminals brings you to the lobby of Grand Hyatt at SFO, which has its own station. The 351 guest rooms and suites have floor-to-ceiling soundproofed windows that overlook San Francisco Bay and the airport, and the property includes plane-spotting guides and binoculars for aviation enthusiasts. Sit down to a meal at Quail + Crane for a seafood-forward menu featuring miso Chilean sea bass, smoked ahi poke, and Dungeness crab cakes. The art installations at the hotel’s AirTrain station and its restaurant and lobby were curated by the San Francisco Arts Commission. You can book day-use rooms on DayUse or Hotels by Day, or by calling the hotel directly.

Hotel Arctic

Courtesy of Hotel Arctic

Greenland’s town of Ilulissat is better known for its icebergs than its airport, but it has one of those too, and a hotel close enough to be convenient, while being remote enough to feel like the edge of the world. A five-minute shuttle from Ilulissat Airport sits Hotel Arctic, a low-slung complex set above the UNESCO-listed Icefjord, where icebergs drift past the dining room windows. Built to accommodate early air traffic into Greenland (and still owned by Air Greenland), it still functions as the de facto airport hotel, just one where your runway view is a frozen bay.

Rooms are clean-lined and Nordic, but the outdoor activities are the real draw: dog sledding in winter, midnight sun in summer, and occasional aurora sightings when the conditions align. From May to October, five aluminum igloo cabins sit at the end of a wooden walkways above the coast for a more immersive stay.

InterContinental Johannesburg O.R. Tambo Airport

The InterContinental Johannesburg O.R. Tambo Airport is immediately outside international arrivals, making it a convenient place to recover from a long flight. The 138 rooms and suites have comfortable king beds, blackout curtains, and soundproofing, as well as decor and fabrics with subtle South African influences. Unwind in the heated indoor pool or with a treatment at Camelot Spa, and enjoy a meal in the hotel’s fine dining restaurant, Quills—open 24 hours with a menu that spans from nasi goreng and prawn curry to mushroom risotto.

Oryx Airport Hotel

Inside the terminal at Hamad International Airport, Oryx Airport Hotel is mere steps from the gates, and reachable without even having to clear customs. The 100 guest rooms have wood floors, enormous beds, and insulated walls to keep noise at a minimum. If there’s time between flights, check out the Vitality Wellbeing and Fitness Centre for a dip in the 82-foot-long pool, get a workout in at the gym, or get your heart rate up at the squash courts.

Pullman Brisbane Airport Hotel

A quick walk from Brisbane Airport’s domestic terminal, the Pullman Brisbane Airport has 132 guest rooms designed in relaxing earth tones, some with views of Moreton Bay and the city’s Central Business District. Day rooms are available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (from US$140). Pass an hour plane spotting in the executive lounge while enjoying beverages and snacks, or unwind by the outdoor pool while waiting for your next flight. For a culinary treat, the on-site Apron Restaurant serves a menu that highlights produce, meat, and fish from local farms and purveyors in dishes such as herb-crusted lamb rump and pea and asparagus risotto. The wine list takes guests on a tour of Australia’s major growing regions.

TWA Hotel

Photo by David Mitchell

Transport yourself back to the glory days of 1960s air travel at the TWA Hotel, restored from the Eero Saarinen–designed 1962 TWA Flight Center at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. This is the only hotel at JFK, and it’s accessible via Terminal 5 and the AirTrain. The 512 guest rooms and suites feature walnut martini bars and tambour walls straight from Amish country. The panoramic rooftop pool overlooks JFK’s bustling Runway 4 and is open year-round—it’s heated to 95 degrees in the winter. Day-use rooms can be booked for between 4 and 12 hours, from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. (from $179).

Peruse the exhibition of vintage TWA uniforms and memorabilia, curated by the New York Historical museum; eat in picture-perfect midcentury surrounds at the Paris Café by Jean-Georges Vongerichten, or sip a cocktail in a 1958 former Alaskan bush plane.

Wyndham Quito Airport

Courtesy of Wyndham Quito Airport

With Mariscal Sucre Quito International Airport over an hour from the Ecuadorian capital’s immaculately preserved Old Town, staying at this airport hotel really makes sense if you’ll be arriving late or departing early. The smooth, dark exteriors of the Wyndham Quito Airport took their design inspiration from the iconic Andean condor. The hotel’s 163 rooms are spread across four floors and feature soundproofed windows, warm colors, and decorative elements that highlight the country’s rich flora and fauna. Committed to environmental sustainability, the property is free of single-use plastic bottles, and photovoltaic panels provide 40 percent of the hotel’s electricity, among other green initiatives. Decompress in the heated indoor pool or in the fitness center’s small sauna.

Related: This 200-Mile Trek Passes 7 Volcanoes, Hot Springs, and a Legendary Lost Treasure

This article was originally published in 2023 and most recently updated on April 17, 2026, with current information and additional reporting by Jennifer Flowers.