The World's First Airport Hotel Was Henry Ford's Idea

By 1930, people were beginning to arrive somewhere new and strange — by airplane. Henry Ford, who ran a small airport in Dearborn, noticed a problem: travelers flying in had nowhere nearby to spend the night. The closest hotels were all the way over in Detroit.

So Ford built one. He hired Albert Kahn — the great architect behind so many Detroit landmarks — to design an elegant Georgian-style inn right across from Ford Airport. The Dearborn Inn opened in July 1931, and it’s widely remembered as the world’s first airport hotel. Henry Ford himself was the first to sign the guest book, and a night’s stay cost $3.50. Inside was a ballroom Ford had modeled on a room he admired in Virginia, because he and his wife Clara loved to dance.

There’s a lovely irony: the airport the hotel was built to serve closed in 1933, just two years later, replaced by a Ford test track. But the inn outlived it by nearly a century. Over the years it hosted everyone from aviation pioneer Orville Wright to Walt Disney, and in 1937 it added a little “Colonial Village” of guest cottages built as exact replicas of famous American homes.

Best of all, you can still stay there. After a two-year restoration, the Dearborn Inn reopened in 2025 — the world’s first airport hotel, freshened up and still welcoming travelers.