To the world’s aviation geeks, there is no need for plunge pools or sheets with a thread count in the thousands — the true dream is being able to sleep in a plane even when not going anywhere.
Some of the world’s best-known aviation-themed hotels include the TWA Hotel at New York’s JFK, which was constructed on the site of the former Trans World Airlines terminal and now gives guests both runway views and a vibe of early Jet Age era glamour, and the Hotel Costa Verde in Costa Rica’s Manuel Antonio National Park.
In the latter’s case, the fuselage of a decommissioned Boeing 727 plane from 1965 is both the centerpiece and most luxurious suite of a resort otherwise built in a jungle oasis overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
The small list of hotels in which guests can literally sleep in an old plane just got bigger with the addition of the 1975 Avenue & Hotel in Johor Bahru, the third-largest city in Malaysia just outside the border with Singapore.
1975 Avenue & Hotel is the world’s latest aviation hotel
Located approximately 20 minutes away from the city’s Senai International AIirport (JHB), two retired Boeing 747 planes once used by Pan Am and Japan Airlines in the 1970s and 1980s have been sitting on an empty lot for many years as part of a display.
A local Malaysian logistics and warehousing group undertook an ambitious project to turn them into the wing of a new 38-room hotel and, this month, the 1975 Avenue & Hotel started welcoming guests as part of a soft opening.
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The two planes contain 18 suites with themes designed around countries including Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, China and England among others; the rest of the property is a wing featuring regular hotel-style rooms and amenities that include a rooftop swimming pool, sunken jacuzzi, man-made beach pool and kids’ water park over which the two Boeings loom.
1975 Avenue & Hotel
A little history of the planes that are now luxury hotel suites
The suites can already be booked at a price starting at 1,706 Malaysian Ringgit ($362 USD) per night and are designed to lean into the architecture of the planes; a cockpit lounge area with the original flight instruments recreated and two floors on which one can find a king’s size bed, a bathroom and separate area with a kitchen.
“Inspired by the original structure of the aircraft, each suite reflects the spirit of a destination: from elegant European flair to the warmth of Southeast Asia,” the property writes in describing the suites inside the former aircraft.
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The planes, meanwhile, are nicknamed Bove and Bey. Bove is a 747SR-146B built for Japan Airlines by 1980 and after aging out of service stored at JHB Airport until 2019. Bey, meanwhile, is a 747-121 that was built in 1970 for Pan Am and flew briefly for American Airlines before being converted into a freighter operated for Tower Air and Logistic Air in 1992.
While avgeeks will be the ones to specifically seek out the property, 1975 Avenue & Hotel is also strategically positioned for those transiting through Johor Bahru overnight as well as those coming in to Johor Premium Outlets or Legoland Malaysia.
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