To start a recent trip to Japan, I was able to visit the new Chase Sapphire Lounge in New York’s LaGuardia Airport Terminal B earlier this month.
This lounge was well hyped, and I can attest it certainly lives up to the hype! This is one of the best lounges, if not the best lounge, now available in LaGuardia’s Terminal B.
The lower level offers awesome features such as phone booths, working booths, a fireplace living room area, even an arcade room, among the traditional lounge spaces.
The upper level is an excellent space to take Zoom calls and find some peace and silence in the airport.
The lounge offers premium spa services, wellness services, and even (expensive) private suites that can be booked on reservation.
The food and drink options are exceptional! Did I mention everything tasted amazing, not to mention mouthwatering on appearance alone?
All staff were smiling constantly, saying hello to all visitors, and were forward service oriented.
Unfortunately a lot of the features like the arcade room and even the photo booth were out of service during my visit.
I adored the jungle & plants theme in this lounge, which is incredibly classy.
I’ve presented this lounge review as an extended photo-essay, with the intention of inspiring you to visit this lounge if you have the opportunity. The lounge closely reminds me of the LATAM Signature VIP lounge that I visited in Santiago Chile last year.
Access To The Chase Sapphire Lounge
Chase Sapphire Reserve, J.P. Morgan Reserve and The Ritz-CarltonTM Credit Card primary cardmembers and authorized users who have activated their complimentary Priority PassTM membership have free lounge access.
- Sapphire Reserve and J.P. Morgan Reserve cardmembers may bring up to two guests per Priority Pass Membership card, per visit, for free
- Additional guests are $27.
- Ritz-Carlton cardmembers may bring unlimited guests at no charge.
- There’s no additional charge for children under two.
Other Priority Pass members receive one complimentary visit to a Sapphire Lounge by The Club per calendar year. Note this applies across all Chase Sapphire locations (Hong Kong is excluded, however)
- Additional access beyond one annual visit can be purchased for $75 USD per visit.
If you don’t have any of these cards or memberships, you can still visit the lounge for $100 USD per visit.
Getting To The Chase Sapphire Lounge New York LaGuardia
The Chase Sapphire reserve lounge at LaGuardia is located in terminal B. The lounge entry is located just before you cross over the overhead bridge into the Gates 40-59 concourse. Note that the lounge is a bit far from the other wing in Terminal B for Gates 11-31, you’ll want to budget ten minutes walking time for those gates.
The Chase Sapphire lounge entry is located next to the American Express Centurion Lounge.
I noticed on my visit that there were numerous chase agents scattered throughout the airport even by the water fountain area to help visitors get to the lounge and to direct them to the entry.
Once you get here, there is an elegant angular silvery blue entrance in the Chase theme with a large sign that you can’t miss.
You walk down a narrow hallway lined with wood paneling. This brings you to the elevator that will bring you to the second floor entrance into the lounge. There are two elevators available.
After getting out of the elevator you come into this brightly lit wood paneled lobby with additional signage guiding you towards the lounge.
You walk down a cool white paneled hallway to the main entry door which is screened by translucent glass.
This part feels a bit like a spaceship – quite classy, and the gold bronze reveals are beautiful touches leading into the entry door.
Entry To The Lounge
Once I crossed into the lounge past the entry door, it was like being transported into a whole different world. Entry took only two minutes, very efficient.
I don’t hold a Chase Sapphire Reserve Card (instead, I hold a Chase Ink Business Preferred card), but this lounge is also accessible with Priority Pass.
I was advised at entry that I would get one priority pass visit per calendar year and if I wanted to use it. Of course I accepted. I also confirmed that if I used it this time the future visits would be $75 USD each.
Once I crossed into the lounge past the entry door, it was like being transported into a whole different world.
Chase Sapphire Lounge Layout
Oh boy, I was so surprised when I walked inside – it’s an incredible lounge!
The lounge experience begins right at the front when you find a large sofa and single chairs that are adjacent to the departure boards in the lounge. This provides the latest up-to-date flight information for lounge visitors although no announcements are made for any flights. Several screens are scattered thru the lounge.
Lounge Lower Level
I felt transported into a beautiful space that sound like a cross between the lounge traditional airport lounge and a stylish plant and jungle themed event space.
Sofa and lounge seating dominates most of the lounge – you can find all sorts of sizes and seats available including curved sofas, traditional sofas, single seats, stools and more.
There’s a massive variety of seats available to choose from.
On top of each table there’s also power outlets and USB ports literally wired in, which is really convenient for charging needs.
You can order food by scanning the QR codes on each table.
There are additional departure boards located in the main lounge space. Basically the lounge layout is a giant square box, and then additional rooms specialty rooms will be accessible from various entry points in this box.
The lounge also features bench seating with tables, high tops, and also very attractive and colorful artwork scattered throughout the lounge.
On the right side of the lounge, A grand staircase takes you up to the second level – with more seats below. Yes there’s also a second level, but we will get to that in just a moment!
There’s a whole office and conference table that feels more like a living room with a fireplace.
Here there are backlit bookshelves with all kinds of interesting coffee table books and also a place to lounge out.
I saw tons of people enjoying this room.
There’s also some booths to work in…
…and two phone rooms with closable doors, to make calls…
…and have meetings in privacy.
All lounge spaces are separated by black portals that provide key transitions between different parts of the space.
Another popular area was this room in the back which had blue and orange sofa seats and this large art bust behind it. I found this space was always occupied.
Elegant circular lights adorn the wood paneling of this lounge, along with plants and greenery scattered throughout.
Another room off the central “box” took the lounge to a whole other level – with paneled ceilings, a large tree, and elegant wood paneling along more bench seating with movable tables. The Arcade Room and Photo Booth are located off this space – we’ll also get to those in a moment!
There’s also a children’s play area available for use; although this was in use and I only took this picture.
The sheer amount of spaces available for use is stunning for such a concentrated lounge.
Next door there’s a whole other coffee bar for self-service. I found a beverage area stocked very often by staff.
An eclectic variety of canned sodas are available for pick up at will. I appreciate the alternative selection that chaise lounge offers here, including Spindrift sparkling water and Lollipop probiotic drinks
Cold Brews, Seasonal Drink options and Spa Water is available on tap, self service.
Needless to say, even the drinks were mouth-watering based on their descriptions!
I loved the traditional-style coffee pots, also self service and serving absolutely delicious coffee! I had one of these on my way out of the lounge to catch my flight.
Lounge Bar
The large circular bar dominates the central part of the lounge. It features stylish and plush purple velvet seats, and gold trims with extensive backlighting.
This reminds me so much of the LATAM VIP Signature Lounge in Santiago that I also loved visiting last year.
Four different beer choices are available on tap.
I didn’t ask for the names of the beers available.
Lounge Upper Level
As if there weren’t enough things in this lounge… there’s more! There’s a whole second upper level, that feels very disconnected from the rest of the space – a very good thing.
There’s also an office in the middle and finally at the very top of the lounge at the upper level
The upper level continues on the “jungle” theme of the lounge.
There’s a whole different type of curved bar seating along a counter overlooking the lower level, and features power outlets.
I’ve never seen this cool staggered design of power outlets before, and also very comfortable seats to work against.
What I really like about the upstairs space is that it’s quiet! In my visit there’s nobody here (one person came up later), but you’re also far enough away from all the action of the lounge are you can actually take calls really quietly up in the space.
In other words, if I had to take a Zoom meeting before a flight – this is probably the single best place in the entire airport to do it!
The fake plantings and everything in this lounge are absolutely beautiful and it really offers tropical feel that’s so attractive and elegant!
I found the upper level to be importantly very quiet and secluded, away from people chatting and plates/forks clanking.
The upper level has it’s own coffee and tea bar area – which includes the same features as downstairs. Cold brews and more are on tap!
There’s also another self-service coffee and tea bar upstairs in the space. I liked this bar for it’s lack of traffic!
Here’s a quick look at the elevator access to the upper level, next to the Reserve Suites.
The upper level also gives you a really nice birds-eye view to the rest of the lounge below.
Real plants (I’m pretty sure these were real plants!) drape down into the levels below, and will look cooler as they grow longer.
I thought the architectural team did an excellent job with this space.
With the green-trees theme in the lounge, it feels like you’re sitting atop a large tree house looking over the rest of the lounge.
Lounge Restrooms
The bathrooms are just absolutely exquisite in design as well.
It had large mirrors at each sink with attractive back lighting – extremely elegant and classy.
There were four sinks each with automatic soap dispensers and water units and hand dryer integrated into it.
They were also for urinals in the men’s patrol separated by actual hard tile and wall partitions.
All the toilet stalls came with full sized closed doors, which is very useful for privacy.
I thought the design at the restrooms were extremely tasteful and well done, although maybe a shower in the lounge would have been nice. Perhaps this is available in the spa.
Chase Sapphire Lounge Food & Dining
Food was offered buffet style in the far corner of the lounge…
…but you can also order specific things using the QR codes at the tables in this area. I didn’t need to order anything using this – I found very very interesting dishes displayed for the taking at the buffet!
My favorite part is to see the presentation of all the food, which was also just exquisite. I mean, these were gorgeous food pieces, like food art. One of my favorites was the roasted tomatoes, but everything looked mouth watering and delicious.
There’s also a coffee and drinks bar located in this area, to the left of the buffet serving area.
I only had five minutes to try some food – and chose to immerse myself in the french toast and pancakes this morning.
I should also mention, both of these dishes tasted awesome – and I had similar mouth watering expectations for the other dishes!
Chase Sapphire Lounge Features
Now let’s cover the various features in the lounge, which include the Arcade Room, the Photo Booth, the Spa & Wellness Center, and the exclusive Chase Sapphire Reserve Suites.
Chase Sapphire Lounge WiFi
There’s password provided WiFi available in the lounge.
As can be expected, the connection speed and WiFi service was profoundly fast and stable.
Lounge Wellness & Spa Services
The Fly By Face Haus Spa is available for skin care treatment after 9am until. Unfortunately this was closed during my brief stay as I was too early in this lounge.
I did get a brief chance to view inside the spa area.
There’s also a nursing room available although I didn’t get a chance to take a look at this.
There’s also a baby changing room available for anyone to use.
Lounge Arcade Room
Perhaps the coolest feature in the lounge is the retro arcade room!
This was so exciting to see and experience, I was floored when I walked in here.
I only wish I had time (and company) to play in here.
It has Beatles records all along the sides of the room, and the same circular lighting as in other parts of the lounge.
There’s even a classic Marshall juke box available for your listening pleasure.
It is styled in the retros 70s edition but has music, art and culture stylized all over the place – which is what makes it so remarkable.
I can only imagine that this is also a great place to read a book addition to just lounging out and playing some games.
Lounge Photo Booth
The entrance into the arcade room is through a photo booth!
The vestibule is lines on both sides with polaroid photographs posted around the curved walls.
There’s a small booth with curtains on either side, to take polaroid selfies!
Unfortunately like a couple of other features in this space, it was out of service.
Chase Sapphire Lounge New York LaGuardia Reserve Suites
On the upper level you’ll also find a portal for the special Reserve Suites.
The lounge has three private rooms that can fit four or eight people, and each room can be reserved for $2,200-3,000 for a period of three hours.
The service comes with:
- a dedicated suite attendant
- a special Jeffrey’s Grocery menu a bathroom with a shower
- a signature on-arrival caviar service
- a special wine list curated by Parcelle
- a fully-stocked snack and refreshments center
- a gift prior to departing
Final Thoughts
What a beautiful lounge! This one is a well deserved add to LaGaurdia, and might even be the best lounge in the entire airport.
This lounge was well hyped, and I can attest it certainly lives up to the hype!
This is one of the best lounges, if not the best lounge, now available in LaGuardia’s Terminal B.
I hope I get to try it more again soon. For all the food and service opportunities I might even pay $75USD for this access next time.
Pros
- I adored the jungle & plants theme in this lounge, which is incredibly classy.
- All staff were smiling constantly, saying hello to all visitors, and were forward service oriented.
- The lower level offers awesome features such as phone booths, working booths, a fireplace living room area, even an arcade room, among the traditional lounge spaces.
- The upper level is an excellent space to take Zoom calls and find some peace and silence in the airport.
- The lounge offers premium spa services, wellness services, and even expensive suites that can be booked on reservation.
- The food and drink options are exceptional! Did I mention everything tasted amazing, not to mention mouthwatering on appearance alone?
Cons
- Priority Pass members only get one annual visit, and then it’s $75 USD per visit. That’s still pretty steep – although the value is great, honestly!
- Several features (such as the photo booth) were out of service during my visit.
- I didn’t find a shower in the lounge.
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