Star Alliance Lounge Los Angeles (LAX) Review
Last year I had the chance to visit the Qantas oneworld First Class lounge in Los Angeles and the oneworld Business Class lounge in Los Angeles at LAX (Review) and give my Turkish Airlines Star Alliance Gold Status I also had a chance to visit the Star Alliance lounge at the Los Angeles (LAX) International Terminal.
The Los Angeles International Terminal has quickly gone from worst in the US to one of the best in the world. The terminal itself is stunning and now all major alliances have finished construction of lounges. The Star Alliance lounge sits on top of all - at the 6th floor. While our Copa Airlines (Review) flight would leave out of Terminal 6 we would still be eligible to use the lounge because of my Turkish Airlines Star Alliance Gold status. In fact you should be able to use the lounge even on a purely domestic itinerary. The security staff triple checked boarding passes and so did the lounge staff but in the end they let us go inside.
The lounge is held in dark colors and gives off a feeling of elegance right away. It's smaller than the Oneworld lounge and had less seats and given the fact, that there were a number of delayed Star Alliance flights that day, it was full - almost crowded.
There is one main buffet area which had a number of appetizers and hot and cold food options. I loved the tomato soup, the hummus and the pasta salads a lot. I'm a picky eater but I loved the food here and had trouble to stop eating! The wine and champagne selection was excellent with my favorite - a rose wine on offer besides all the red and whites.
The lounge features a patio inside the terminal (but it feels like 'outside') and a fully outdoor area with heater and fire places. You can't see much from the outdoors but you can hear planes taking off. The outdoors features several craft beers and pretzels during the night we were there. It's easily the best outdoor space of any airport lounge I have been to.
The Internet was easy to connect to and very fast the whole time despite the crowds. Electric outlets are spread around the whole area and easily available.
The Star Alliance lounge in Los Angeles (LAX) also features showers (you need to make an appointment or wait with a little 'buzzer') and a media room for watching movies (though it's juts one screen). There is a full service bar as well that likely makes cocktails (I did not try).
I can't really think of making a lounge much better. It easily beats the Turkish Airlines lounge in Istanbul which has gotten incredibly crowded and even the Singapore Airlines Business Class lounge at Singapore Airport. It's a comfortable, quiet space that has all amenities you will need. I can see myself booking an extra long layover before a domestic United flight just to use the lounge.