If the new Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT) at LAX itself wasn’t enough to get excited about, the new alliance lounges definitely are! After stopping by the KAL SkyTeam lounge, I headed over to the OneWorld lounge as I was flying Cathay Pacific Business Class. The large lounge is divided into two sections, one for Business Class passengers and OneWorld Sapphire members and the other side for First class passenger and OneWorld Emerald members. As I am only a Sapphire member, I relaxed in the business class side which was more than great and soaked up the ambiance for a good 45 minutes before heading to my gate.
The OneWorld lounge is much darker than the SkyTeam lounge but has a very calming atmosphere as the dim lighting soothes the senses. The lounge is built in a long hallway style and reminds me of a galley kitchen in a apartment from the 1980s. Everyone must walk through the entire lounge and seating is more limited than I would expect. Despite my initial thoughts, it never felt too crowded and I had no issue finding a place to sprawl out and relax.
The lounge has a small business center against one of the far walls and the business center separates the bar area from the food/kitchen. The food offered were quite abundant and better than the SkyTeam Lounge and I will not lie, when I said I tried almost everything and was extremely impressed by the quality of the food—especially the soup which I actually went back and had seconds of!
In the bar area of the lounge, can beer is chilled in the fridge next to the soda, but they also offer Heineken and Blue moon on tap. There was a third beer offered as well, but my memory is failing me. Wine is self-service and there is also a slew of spirits that are available for self-service between the fridges full of soda and mixers. The bartender preforms multiple functions, waiting on customers in and around the bar area, clearing tables, and making hand crafted espresso drinks. Be patient if you do not see someone right away as it’s a busy position that really should be filled by more than one person.
While I was there, I also had a chance to take a quick shower, as I had not showered before leaving my house that morning (I woke up late). The products are top notch and the showers are large with personal toilets and sinks in each shower suite. The agent working the shower room was all smiles and quickly offered me a disposable tooth brush among other toiletries and then reminded me not be shy if I needed anything else. Her willingness and helpfulness matched that personality of most other lounge attendants who all seemed to really enjoy their jobs.
Overall, I really enjoyed this lounge and would highly make time to stop by it again if traveling through TBIT on a OneWorld carrier. The only downside to this lounge is there are no runway views and the only windows in the lounge look out upon an enclosed concrete courtyard, limiting the amount of natural light and eliminating all chances of plane spotting.
