Lounge Review: United Club – Fort Lauderdale (FLL)

…Lounge epitomizes United’s mid-2010s décor.

The United Club at Fort Lauderdale airport epitomizes the airline’s mid-2010s uniform design, which favors beiges, faux white marble, clean lines, and a variety of seating (sit down tables, high top tables, wider chairs). Sadly, this lounge has no windows and there is no indication from the design that you are in Florida. The lounge is to the left of the escalators that passengers descend from when accessing the C concourse gates in Terminal 1. The gates are located to the right. Highlights are the very nice staff and the separate dining area with rather extensive buffet.

After presenting your credentials at the large customer service desk, the bar and the main seating area are to straight ahead. The bar is rather large and there is a coffee station and espresso machine adjacent at the end of the bar. Like all United Clubs in the US, there is a charge for premium drinks. Past the bar there is a very large seating area, with a variety of seating that will be familiar to United flyers. The seating is mainly comfortable and rather wide beige chairs and a series of high-top tables. There is also one enclosed private office. Like many lounges, the bar has several vintage United photos.

Behind the reception desk in a separate room is a rather large dining area. There is a large buffet and tables for dining. I appreciate this set up because it minimizes food in the main part of the lounge. The extensive breakfast buffet included fruit, sliced meats, hard-boiled eggs, yogurt, breads, pastries, hot and cold cereal, mini egg bites, bacon, hash browns.

This lounge might have the friendliest staff of any United Club. The staff at reception, the staff refilling the dining area, the bar staff are all very nice and hard working.

I rate this lounge 6/10. Best features: The buffet and staff. Flaws: There is no hint that this lounge is in Florida. In this instance, the uniformity of lounge design is not a plus: some color could help. The lack of windows – due to location – is unfortunate. However, this is due to space in the terminal.