Before beginning my journey to SFO for Family Day, I had some time to kill at the Atlanta airport, and it was during the 3 hour window that the Senator lounge is open. And to make things even more convenient, it was only one concourse down from where my flight was scheduled to depart. Thus it was only a short walk/train ride from where I needed to be. I would be a bad upgrd writer if I passed up on this opportunity.
Facilities
The lounge is located along the pathway from the escillators on the E concourse, just before getting to the main hallway of the concourse.
Now, the lounge itself is quite small, in fact I was standing in one spot taking these pictures of the whole seating area for the lounge.
And it has a decent view of the tarmac
Although there is not a formal meeting room, there is a really nice table where a group could get together and talk business.
This lounge also has a wonderful area for people who need to take phone calls, without disturbing the rest of the guests in the lounge
Food and Drink
If you are used to the spread at the IAD lounge, then you will be sorely disappointed. However, the lounge really only has one person actively working, and so expecting a full hot spread is a bit much, especially since this is not a heavily trafficked lounge. The pictures above were taken about an hour before the LH departure on Saturday. The ATL-FRA flight rarely has first class, so most of the business the lounge receives is from Senators and HON members, as most Star Golds in the US are not aware of the lounge admittance quirk.
It was a decent spread, and even being underwhelming, the food still proved to be superior to the US lounge offerings, since finger sandwiches were included in addition to the cookies, chips, and fruit. The alcohol selection is real nice, though it is lacking in the wine department, though the wine did grow on me as the time passed.
Overall
A nice lounge, worth visiting if you have the time and are departing out of ATL between 3pm and 6pm. While there are better lounges out there, it is hard to beat for Star Alliance lounges in ATL.
Comments
Thanks for the report--not quite like IAD...
I want to check out the BOS lounge--it just re-opened last week and is supposed to be much nicer now.
Wow, this is the single most useful post I have read in months! I fly UA out of ATL about once a month, and I had no idea that this lounge existed!
@Gene: I understand the feeling, the catch has always been flying during its extremely limited hours, plus being so far from the legacy UA gates. 3-6pm is not a normal flying time for many of the good deals.
@Nick -- I usually depart between 4 PM and 7 PM, so the times are perfect for me.
@Gene, you are lucky. With my current work schedule, I have to get my boss to approve a schedule shift to be able to fly out at a reasonable time. Without the schedule shift I have to travel on the Early flights on Sunday just to get any travel in
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