The Club Lounges are a chain of airport lounges located throughout the United States and the United Kingdom. They are all fairly nice and offer a hospitable experience for all passengers regardless of elite status or airline class of ticket. You can usually find them in secondary markets such as Las Vegas, Orlando and San Jose and they are oftentimes contracted by international airlines, who have a small presence in those markets, for their premium cabin passengers. But most importantly for us commoners, The Club Lounges are also contract lounges for lounge membership programs such as Priority Pass, Lounge Club and Lounge Key.
If you have never traveled through Orlando International Airport (MCO) before, stand by because the layout is a little confusing. The airport authority separates the airport into Terminals A & B but honestly, this makes no sense. Just ignore it. The best way to think about this airport is east and west wings. Concourses 1 (gates 1-29) and 3 (gates 30 – 59) are located in the west wing and Concourses 2 (gates 100 – 129) and 4 (gates 70-99) are located in the east wing. Each wing has its own TSA checkpoint so from the main check-in/ticketing area, you don’t really want to cross back and forth between the odd-numbered concourses and the even-numbered concourses. Once you pass through TSA, you really just want to stay in your wing, less you want to go through security twice. Makes sense?
But luckily for us, The Club has a lounge located in both the east and west wings of the airport so you can visit the lounge regardless of which wing you’re departing from. If you’re departing from the west wing (Concourses 1 & 3, gates 1 – 59), you can use The Club Lounge located in Terminal A, Concourse 1, adjacent to the XpresSpa. If you’re departing from the east wing (Concourses 2 & 4, gates 70 – 129), you can use The Club Lounge located in Terminal B, Concourse 4, on the second floor, adjacent to gate 91. Depending on your specific gate, you may have to take the AirTrain twice but you won’t have to clear TSA again if you stick to your side of the airport.
The Club Lounge located in Concourse 1 is now open with limited hours from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM, Thursday – Monday and 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The Club Lounge located in Concourse 4 is now open with limited hours from 5:00 AM to 6:00 PM daily. Priority Pass members are limited to a three-hour stay prior to their scheduled flight departure time but keep in mind, access may be restricted based on capacity.
This review is for The Club Lounge located in Concourse 4 but to be honest, they are both pretty similar so there’s no need to lounge hop back and forth. In addition to accepting Lounge Club, Lounge Key and Priority Pass members, this lounge is also a contract lounge for Aer Lingus, British Airways, Edelweiss, Emirates, LATAM and Lufthansa business class passengers. Day passes are also available for purchase.
The main part of the lounge is located to the left side of the reception desk. Here, you’ll find a very large seating area with a variety of seating options for solo travelers and for couples and families traveling together. Due to Covid, seating has been restricted to allow for social distancing but you are able to ignore the immediately blocked seats if you are seated together with your traveling party.
In the front left of the room, there is a small relaxation area to kick up your feet and rest your eyes for a bit. This isn’t exactly a sleep room but it is probably the quietest part of the lounge. You can also enjoy some views of the runway from here.
Directly behind the reception desk is a dining room and buffet station. Due to Covid, you are no longer allowed to serve yourself but there is a lounge attendant that will happily prepare anything and everything from the menu for you.
For a contract lounge, I actually think they do a pretty good job with their food and beverage selections. However, for breakfast, this wasn’t the case. The only “hot” menu item they had was instant oatmeal (not pictured). I would have loved some additional hot menu items but I’m okay with it, all things considered. Hopefully, when this pandemic is over, they can add in something more substantial than a continental breakfast.
And here’s the bar area with a complimentary selection of premium beers, wines and spirits.
There are two shower suites and a kid’s playroom located in the lounge but they are all closed temporarily due to Covid-19.
If you need to get some work done, you can use one of the communal tables located near the buffet station or one of the private cell phone rooms/offices. Electrical outlets are located at all the workstations and seating areas and password-protected WiFi is provided throughout the entire lounge.
Service-wise, the employees were great. They walked the lounge frequently, took special requests and made sure everyone enjoyed their stay. The lounge was kept clean and orderly and it was nice to visit an airport lounge again. Thank you The Club at MCO for opening back up!
Have you visited The Club at MCO Lounge lately? If so, please share your thoughts with us in the comments section below. Thanks for reading!
The other posts in this series include:
- Flying Delta Basic Economy During Covid-19, Los Angeles to Orlando
- DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel at the Entrance to Universal Orlando
- Tips for Visiting Universal Studios Orlando During Covid-19
- The Club MCO Orlando Airport
