Last night I flew United in Polaris Business Class from Los Angeles to London and finally had the chance to check out the recently-opened Polaris lounge at LAX. In fact, I made a day out of it…
The new premium lounge occupies the real estate of the former International First Class Lounge (which later became a standard United Club) about midway into Terminal 7 above the passenger concourse. The new lounge has taken the existing space plus additional space to make a lounge of 12,000 Square Feet.
So how was it? Excellent…just like the four other Polaris Lounge already open.
What stood out to me most was how empty the lounge was. It was most crowded when I arrived around 9:00AM before the Tokyo and Shanghai flights had departed (plus connecting Polaris passengers from the inbound Sydney and Melbourne flights). But it never got full. Not even close.
When I arrived I found a juice bar…love it, love it, love it. There’s nothing like fresh-squeezed orange orange juice and a glass of Naked Green Machine in the morning. Unfortunately, I agree with Sriram from Travel Codex that the cappuccino left much to be desired. Stick with espresso.
I had breakfast and lunch in the lounge. Why not try everything? For breakfast I ordered a Nutella-filled croissant, a “power green smoothie bowl” with granola, and chilaquiles for my main course. All three courses were tasty.
For lunch, I started with an “avocado and burrata tower” followed by a pasta course of butternut squash risotto, and finally the street taco trio.
I’ve had much better risotto, but the tacos were so good I almost had three more. Instead, I ordered red wine-poached pears for dessert.
The dining room is very small, though there was never a wait for a table.
There’s also a full buffet, sleeping area, showers, and restrooms. I’ll post a full report tomorrow with many more pictures.
CONCLUSION
United has done excellent work with its LAX lounge. If the crowding situation remains under control, this lounge will easily surpass the Star Alliance First Class lounge over the Tom Bradley Terminal as the best Star Alliance lounge at the airport.
Now that’s the way to do it – spend the full day there to get the picture.
How did wine selections compare to the other lounges
I liked the selection, including rose. But I stick to coffee and cocktails in Polaris lounges.
The food looks great! Good to hear that crowding isn’t happening much, we’ll see if it maintains. And can’t wait to see the full review. But what are your thoughts on tipping the service staff at the Polaris lounges? I’ve only been to SFO Polaris lounge and after eating in the dining room, I certainly felt like tipping but had no US dollars on hand to leave behind.
FWIW, I left my dining room server $5, and the bartender $1 for my drink. I think the official line is that “tips are neither required nor expected”, but there doesn’t seem to be an actual prohibition like in Alaska Lounges. Both seemed appreciative anyway. My dining room server was so terrific I probably would have insisted that she keep the money even if she pushed back.
I tend to tip in the same way, including here, but I feel guilty doing it. I hate the culture of tipping in the USA. But I also suspect that these workers are poorly paid.
Dagnabbit it. I should have tried the orange juice. I didn’t realize it was fresh squeezed!
That’s interesting to hear how empty the lounge was. Overcrowding, especially in the dining room, was my main concern. If that’s not an issue, I might even go as far as saying the Polaris Lounge beats the QF F lounge.
I think rather than being freshly squeezed on the premises it was the bottle of fresh pressed juice (unpasteurized, not from concentrate).
Looks nice, but not as nice as others. I think the terminal design limits how “grandiose” the lounge can be — ceilings that low make it feel smaller and less open. Still, it’s a great addition to LAX and a large improvement over the international first lounge of old.
You sure like to pig out in there — I think you order triple what a normal person would order for BOTH your breakfast and your lunch. Keep it up and you will become overweight like that man on EVA!
In fairness to Matthew I’ve heard that the portions are all pretty small, so I think this is what they want you to do.
I’ll second that. I had brunch at the EWR Polaris lounge and was peckish again well before my 6pm departure to MUC. I didn’t return to the dining room, but easily could have without feeling too gluttonous.
Of course, I’d had an utterly disgusting “protein bowl” on my DEN-EWR flight, so I was trying to help UA atone for that sin.
Andy K, the portions are truly small. I was encouraged to keep ordering and wasn’t the only one in the dining room who had multiple courses. Consider it tapas-sized portions.
Looks fantastic. I’m all about the food and beverage so I’m happy to see Matthew indulging. And like TCD commented (and as you can see from the photos) those are teeny tiny portions.
Can’t wait for the full report.
Nice pictures. But, you may want to turn your knife the other way (and thus facing left) to have a more correct presentation.
Noted. You are correct.
I used both the IAH and LAX Polaris lounges today. Portions pretty small in both. Food that was supposed to be hot was usually on the cold side in both lounges. Dining service in IAH was much more polished. I was moved from one table to another, and didn’t get condiments until well into the meal. And IAH serves a much better cappuccino. LAX’s version was not good and barely describable as cappuccino. I may be lowbrow, but in some ways the LAX United Club’s buffet offerings are more palatable. The LAX Churros were very good. The LAX eggs benedict were ok but the fritters were kind of rubbery.
It would be nice if they cracked down a bit on people making Important Business Calls in the otherwise very quiet dining rooms.
I think both LAX and IAH (and ORD) serve poor cappuccino. Best is at EWR or SFO.
Must be nice to get in Polaris Lounge!! I’m lucky to get Economy Plus!!!!