Review: Delta One Lounge Los Angeles Airport (LAX)

For the final hurrah of my Aria Suite Adventure to Hong Kong, I had the chance to check out the Delta One Lounge Los Angeles (LAX), as Delta allows access to this lounge on arrival. I had visited the incredible Delta One Lounge New York (JFK) earlier in the day, before flying Delta One 767 business class between the two airports.

I was expecting that the Delta One Lounge LAX would disappoint after visiting the Delta One Lounge JFK, since it’s only a fraction of the size, and doesn’t have as many amenities. But my gosh, this lounge packs a mighty punch, with friendly staff who go above and beyond, delicious food and drinks, and an awesome service concept. I’d actually struggle to say which of the two lounges I prefer, as they’re both so great — what an awesome day of lounging!

Delta One Lounge LAX location

Much like at JFK, there’s a dedicated Delta One check-in facility at LAX, which offers access directly from the curb to the lounge, via a dedicated security checkpoint. It’s impressive how Delta has managed to set up such a facility at both airports, as it makes the experience seamless.

However, since I was arriving on a flight, I couldn’t use that facility, and instead accessed the lounge from inside the terminal. Inside the terminal, the entrance to the Delta One Lounge is located across from the food court, near the central hallway that connects Terminal 3 with Terminal 2.

Think of this as basically being like the side entrance to the Delta One Lounge. Once you’re admitted through this entrance, you’ll be sent up in an elevator, as the lounge is one level above the concourse, adjacent to the Delta Sky Club®.

Delta One Lounge LAX hours

The Delta One Lounge LAX is currently open daily from 4:15AM until 11PM, covering virtually all departures from the airport. So if you’re flying Delta on an eligible flight, you shouldn’t have any issues with the lounge being open.

The Delta One Lounge LAX is quite small, but despite that, the lounge doesn’t seem to get uncomfortably crowded. That partly reflects Delta’s limited long haul network out of LAX. For example, I was probably there during the peak period (late at night, prior to South Pacific departures, plus prior to two redeyes to JFK). At worst I’d describe the lounge as being busy, but not uncomfortably so.

Delta One Lounge LAX entry requirements

Who can access Delta One Lounges? The Delta One Lounge LAX is accessible to the following passengers:

• Same day departing or arriving Delta One ticketed passengers; it doesn’t matter if you paid cash, redeemed miles, or upgraded
• Delta 360 members departing or arriving on a same day Delta first class ticket
• Same day departing or connecting passengers on flights operated by select Delta partners in first or business class; this includes passengers on Air France, KLM, Korean Air, LATAM, and Virgin Atlantic

The Delta One Lounge JFK doesn’t allow travelers to bring guests, except Delta 360 members can do so for either $100 or 10,000 SkyMiles per person (either for immediate family members or up to two guests).

Note that all terminals at LAX are connected airside, with flights on Air France, KLM, Korean Air, and LATAM, all departing from Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT). This is maybe a 10-minute walk away, so it could be worth going out of your way to visit this lounge.

Let me also emphasize that if flying Delta One, this can be used as an arrivals lounge, assuming you can access the airside (which wouldn’t work if arriving internationally, since you’d need to be able to clear security). I used this lounge exclusively based on my arriving Delta One boarding pass.

Delta One Lounge LAX seating & layout

The Delta One Lounge LAX is roughly 10,000 square feet, with seating for 191 guests. Just for context, the Delta One Lounge JFK is around 40,000 square feet, with seating for around 515 guests. It’s nice how Delta tailors the guest experience to each lounge.

So while the JFK location has a market and brasserie dining concept, the LAX location takes a totally different approach — every single seat in the lounge offers full a la carte dining and table service. While there’s a “formal” dining area, you can have a full meal and drinks anywhere there’s a seat, from the bar, to the terrace. I really like that concept.

I can’t think of any other business class lounge in the world with such an attentive level of service, where you’re greeted by a friendly employee the second you sit down, and are offered your choice of food, drinks, etc.

The lounge is broken up into several distinct areas, so you have your choice as to what kind of a vibe you want. The center of the lounge is the bar area, and that connects all the other areas of the lounge. In addition to a bar with roughly 10 high-top seats, the bar area also has some communal tables and some banquettes with dining tables, and chairs across from them.

Off the bar area is the more formal dining room, which is gorgeously designed. In particular, I love the lighting fixtures. Most of the tables are set up to accommodate two people, but tables can also be moved together to accommodate larger groups.

On the opposite end of the bar of the dining area is a space that you’d traditionally think of as being for relaxing, though you can also dine here. This consists mostly of single swiveling leather chairs, each with their own table, plus semi-private cocoons, and some couches.

Along the windows of the lounge, you’ll find some more seating, with everything from high-top tables to banquettes.

Last but certainly not least, the lounge has an outdoor terrace, with a little over two dozen seats. There are both clusters of seating along the interior of the terrace, plus individual seats and tables looking outwards, toward the apron.

If you’re an aviation geek, you’ll absolutely love the views of the Terminal 3 apron from here.

What can really be said? What an elegant and well-thought out lounge space. Table service and full a-la-carte dining at every single seat in a business class lounge is something I don’t think I’ve ever seen before.

Delta One Lounge LAX food & drinks

The Delta One Lounge LAX offers the same food and drink selection throughout the day. I visited in the evening, so the all-day dining menu was available. You can find the Delta One Lounge LAX dining menu below.

You can find the dessert menu and beverage list below, including cocktails, beer, wine, and more.

As you can see, basic drinks are available on a complimentary basis, but the airline also offers some premium wine and spirits for purchase. Some people find it cheap that Delta sells premium drinks in its long haul business class lounges, and I’m of two minds on that:

• On the one hand, it doesn’t bother me that the airline sells some truly premium drinks (like Opus One), since no one can reasonably expect those would be included for free, and some people are willing to pay
• On the other hand, some argue that Delta’s base level of complimentary alcohol is a little cheap, and could be improved; I don’t disagree, but I also really can’t complain about how much Delta invests in these lounges, as it’s a very nice experience

There are a couple of unique aspects to the dining that I’d like to point out. First of all, the lounge has a sushi counter, so the lounge offers among the best quality sushi you’ll find in any lounge outside of Japan. The lounge also has a rotating bento box selection — this isn’t always Japanese, but rather rotates every two weeks, and highlights a Delta One destination from LAX.

While almost all the dining in the lounge is a la carte, the one exception is a counter with all kinds of sweets you can help yourself to.

During my time in the lounge, I decided to have dinner in the proper dining room area. At the server’s recommendation, I ordered a mezcal negroni, which was phenomenal, on par with the quality you’d expect in a nice bar, down to the big cube and orange shaving.

I decided to focus on the sushi selection, since I was curious to see what the quality would be like. At the server’s suggestion, I ordered the tekka maki (with tuna, avocado, and sesame), the yellowfin tuna (with ponzu and onion crunch), and the unagi hand roll (with unagi, avocado, and eel sauce).

I’ve gotta say, I was impressed by the quality. No, it wasn’t quite to the level of what you’d get in Japan, but it greatly exceeded my expectations, and was better than sushi I’ve had at just about any other airport.

For dessert, I ordered the signature ice cream sundae, with buttered popcorn ice cream, sea salt caramel, caramel corn, and graham cracker crumble. I had some port to go along with it. Yum.

While I didn’t have any coffee, the lounge has an espresso machine station you can help yourself to, or alternatively, any of the staff are happy to bring you a coffee of your choice. There are also some bar carts, just as at JFK.

Delta One Lounge LAX wellness area

The Delta One Lounge LAX has a wellness area, though it’s a bit scaled back compared to the JFK location. The wellness area is near the entrance, in an area that’s supposed to be a bit soundproofed. There are no spa treatments, but instead, there are a total of eight relaxation pods, each behind a curtain.

There are four massage chairs, which I must say, are among the most intense massage chairs I’ve ever used. I quite liked them!

There are also four “zero gravity” chairs for relaxing, should you want to get some rest. They even come with the typical Delta One bedding pack.

I used one of the massage chairs, and enjoyed it a lot. In addition to the massage as such, you can customize the lighting and sound, to create whatever ambiance you’d like.

Delta One Lounge LAX bathrooms & showers

The Delta One Lounge LAX has eight individual restrooms, which are all gender-neutral. I appreciate lounges that have individual bathrooms, so huge kudos to Delta on that.

The bathrooms are spacious and luxurious, though the toilets as such do feel a bit industrial (not that this is surprising for an airport).

The Delta One Lounge LAX shower situation is interesting. The lounge doesn’t directly have showers, though the adjacent Delta Sky Club® does have showers, and some are reserved specifically for Delta One passengers. So you can reserve a shower, and once it’s your turn, you’ll be escorted there.

The Delta One Lounge and Delta Sky Club® are connected by an interior hallway, so it’s a short walk.

Once in the Delta Sky Club®, the shower suites are inside the entrance and to the right.

The shower suites here are luxurious, each with a sink, walk-in shower, and toilet.

Toiletries are from Grown Alchemist, and are in reusable containers.

There are additional amenities, like bathrobes and slippers, plus there’s a sign indicating that you can request everything from a shaving kit, to deodorant.

When you’re done with your shower, you’re told to just proceed back to the lounge, passing the “Employees Only” sign, which feels mighty scandalous. Don’t get any ideas, though, because once you pass this sign, there’s still someone at the entrance to the Delta One Lounge who checks your access credentials. 😉

Delta One Lounge LAX service

Half of what makes the Delta One Lounge LAX so amazing is the service. Every single person I interacted with was so incredibly professional, and seemed obsessed with making sure that guests had an amazing time. I don’t know how Delta does it, because I had the same experience at the Delta One Lounge JFK, and I’ve never seen such motivated lounge staff.

Where do we even begin? For one, it’s so nice that no matter where you sit in the lounge, you have someone looking after you, offering you drinks, food, etc. As soon as I sat down on the terrace, I was approached by one of the friendly staff, who asked how much time I had, saying “I want to make sure you can experience everything we have, so let’s make a plan” (to be clear, she was doing this with everyone — I’m no one special).

When I had dinner, I was being served by Trey, and he was an absolute rockstar, who was beyond professional.

It’s not just me who noticed this, as I overheard several guests telling the staff how amazing the service was. In response, one of the staff members said “when we started working here, Delta explained to us that the number one reason people choose the airline is because of the service, and we want to be part of that, and make sure we go above and beyond so that you have a great time and leave happy.”

That really sums up the experience. I really hope that Delta can keep this momentum going, because this level of service is simply unrivaled at any business class lounge I’ve otherwise visited (in the US or abroad).

Bottom line

The Delta One Lounge LAX experience is exceptional. It’s amazing how the Delta One Lounges in JFK and LAX both offer such memorable experiences, but in very different ways.

The Delta One Lounge LAX has more of a boutique feel, but that works to its advantage. There’s table service at every seat in the lounge, and you have the choice of whether you want to relax at the bar, in the dining room, on the terrace, or elsewhere. When you add in the great amenities, from a wellness area to shower suites, and also factor in the exceptional service, this is a great place to pass some time.

Huge credit to Delta for the premium lounge experience it created, because it’s clear that the team behind this was painstakingly detail oriented, and the result is kind of magical.

What’s your take on the Delta One Lounge LAX?