When it’s the busiest travel day of the year and you have a layover in Minneapolis, it would only make sense that you seek a lounge to find respite from the rest of the airport. There are a few essentials that I look for in an airport lounge experience: wifi, outlets, food and quiet. However, The Escape Lounge in the Delta terminal of MSP only offered wifi and outlets.
The Escape Lounge opened in early 2016 and the facility is brand new and quite spacious, with new features and fixtures that feels very modern and inviting. I have visited The Escape Lounge on 3 occasions, and the first 2 visits surpassed my expectations. However, my most recent visit on Christmas Eve did not.
On the morning of Christmas Eve I entered The Escape Lounge with my Priority Pass (as I have previously), and came to find that there were no plates or napkins at the food bar. I promptly notified a member of the staff who informed me that there were new dishes coming out of the dishwasher shortly and that she would need to run to the storage closet to get napkins but she would do that right away. I thanked her and went back to my seat.
Minutes later a very large family entered the lounge. The children set down their belongings and began running around the lounge and up to the food bar. Despite there not being any plates or napkins, the family proceeded to enjoy the remaining food that was on the food bar. The children also continued to run around and enjoy the fixtures and seating in the lounge, distracting some of the other guests at the lounge who noticeably got up and moved to a location further away from the children.
I watched as other guests approached the same staff member requesting additional plates, napkins, and now more food. She kindly and succinctly gave them the same response she gave me and they each walked away.
Over the course of the next hour some of the food was replenished, but plates and napkins never did make it out of the storage closet or the dishwasher. I found it strange that the lounge wasn’t prepared to take on the influx of travelers on one of the busiest days of the year, at a hub airport nonetheless. Needless to say, I found my experience at The Escape Lounge to be more frustrating that relaxing.
Travelers who visit The Escape Lounge would ordinarily pay $45 per visit to the lounge, a high price to pay for a facility that isn’t properly stocked with food and can’t seem to bring out napkins from the storage closet.
Have you been to The Escape Lounge at MSP before? Feel free to share your thoughts below!
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I agree. On recent visit, service noticeably declined. Bar was out of several of their basic “shelf” drinks (including gin and bourbon and red wine) and did not offer to replace with something else (higher end in stock)–except by charging. Normally of course there should be an upcharge–but when they are out of several different shelf drinks….
Similarly–shortage of plates, no chips…
At the same time, it sure does not help that the main Delta Lounge is now so limited because of being “under construction”.
That lounge has fallen off a cliff. It’s unfortunate, since the DL lounges in MSP are also generally terrible.
If I have time, I stop by there first, and if things aren’t great, I move on to a SkyClub.
Sad. We actually LOVED it in Oct. I even complimented them on it!