First look: Inside the second Delta One Lounge at LAX

Delta Air Lines is doubling up.

The airline just opened a second business-class-only Delta One Lounge in Los Angeles. (Yes, before it broke ground on the first one at its Atlanta headquarters, which is slated for Concourse E in 2029.)

The move was opportunistic, said Tim Genovese, director of Delta Sky Club operations and design. The airline converted the former Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse into the second Delta One Lounge at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in just five months.

The space feels like a boutique, and it’s designed to quickly add lounge capacity at LAX as Delta continues to grow there.

Here’s everything you need to know.

Delta One Lounge LAX location

The new lounge sits on the mezzanine level in Terminal 2.

You’ll find it above Gate 23A, accessible via the backlit staircase or an elevator. Once upstairs, you can’t miss it.

All terminals and concourses at LAX are connected airside, so you can use this Delta One Lounge before any flight from LAX.

Delta plans to move more of its widebody flights to Terminal 2 to give eligible travelers easier access. The airline will also run a golf cart shuttle between its Terminal 2 and Terminal 3 Delta One Lounges for those who prefer not to walk.

Delta One Lounge LAX access

This lounge follows the same access policy as every other Delta One Lounge. There are three ways to get in.

• You must be traveling on a same-day departing, connecting or arriving Delta One flight. This includes any transcontinental and Hawaii flight marketed as Delta One.
• Delta’s invite-only 360 members traveling to any destination on a same-day departing, connecting or arriving first-class ticket
• Traveling on a same-day departing or connecting flight operated by one of Delta’s select partners in their respective first- or business-class cabins: Air France, LATAM, KLM, Korean Air, and Virgin Atlantic.

This outpost is open daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. (The existing Terminal 3 lounge opens earlier, at 4:15 a.m., and closes later, at 11:30 p.m.)

Delta One Lounge LAX layout

The lounge feels cozy and boutique.

It measures just 4,000 square feet, with a large rectangular layout and seating for 75.

As you enter past the reception area, your eyes will probably go straight to the airfield views from every window. That also means the space is flooded with natural light.

You won’t find any couches here — almost every seat is an individual recliner or a two-top table. Most of the seating is up front, just as you enter.

Personally, I’d walk through the space, past the dessert bar, to the nook at the back.

The bench-style seating here is the most private spot in the lounge and will likely be quieter throughout the day.

This layout is just phase one.

Delta plans a more thorough renovation down the line, but the airline wanted to open quickly, so it did whatever it could to make the space look and feel like a Delta One Lounge within a compressed five-month window.

Delta will open an 11,000-square-foot Sky Club across the hall — a renovation of the club it closed in 2024 — in the second half of 2027.

When that opens, this Delta One outpost will close for another renovation and reopen in its final state in 2028.

You’ll find some signature Delta lounge artwork (I love the mural of the iconic Randy’s Donuts near LAX), plus new, more luxurious wallpaper along the bar and around the perimeter.

That said, some structural elements, like the lighting, could still use work during phase two.

Once the Sky Club reopens on the mezzanine level, Delta will build a larger shared reception area for the two lounges and add seating to each.

I’d also love to see Delta add more room partitions, because right now it feels like one big, bright dining room.

Delta One Lounge LAX dining

The highlight of any Delta One Lounge is the dining, and this one knocks it out of the park.

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There’s à la carte dining at every seat, but you won’t find any self-serve bistro or buffet here. You order everything from a server, who enters your picks on a Toast tablet.

Menus are available at every seat, and Delta is offering the exact same menu as the existing Terminal 3 headhouse outpost.

That includes the fan-favorite sushi and bento box options.

I attended a prix-fixe media preview lunch, and aside from a broken fork (how does that happen on day one?), everything I tried was easily restaurant-quality.

Highlights included the hamachi crudo (the fish is flown in daily from Japan) and the branzino entree. I would’ve happily paid for either at a trendy spot in Santa Monica.

Just save room for dessert. Delta is partnering with hit local L.A. cafe Sqirl for pastries and jams, delivered fresh each morning.

You’ll probably be tempted to snag a cookie for the road. (I won’t blame you — I grabbed two.)

On the drinks side, the bartenders are happy to mix your favorite cocktail.

Drink menus are at each seat, and I sampled a few of the featured concoctions. Everything was presented beautifully (just look at that assortment of colors), and, as surprising as it sounds, the non-alcoholic dragon fruit mango refresher was probably my favorite.

There’s a small self-serve drink table next to the bar, though it wasn’t clear whether that’s just for servers or if travelers can fill up here too.

Delta serves Verve Coffee in this lounge.

Delta One Lounge LAX amenities

This lounge doesn’t offer the most extensive amenity list.

The good news is that despite the accelerated build, every seat has a power outlet and/or USB port. There’s also fast, free Wi-Fi throughout.

One of my favorite Delta lounge amenities is the Espresso Displays portable monitors available to borrow. I had no trouble connecting my MacBook Air to the 13-inch display using the provided USB-C cable. It makes catching up on work so much easier.

There are four cabana-style, single-use restrooms in the hallway next to the bar. They feel quite luxurious and are stocked with Delta’s signature Grown Alchemist products.

Delta offers showers here — with a twist.

You sign up for the shower waitlist using the QR codes printed throughout the lounge. When it’s your turn, a receptionist walks you out of the lounge and across the hallway into the back of the future Sky Club.

Delta prepared three shower suites — complete with plush robes and slippers — for business-class flyers. (Odds are you’ll have an easier time snagging a shower here than at the original lounge, which shares two suites with the neighboring Sky Club.)

There are no massage rooms or phone booths in this lounge.

Bottom line

The second Delta One Lounge at LAX is now open.

It marks the first time Delta has ever doubled up on a business-class-only outpost at one of its hubs.

Delta plans to keep growing at LAX, and between the LA28 Olympics (for which Delta is an inaugural founding partner) and its continued capacity increases, the existing facilities are getting busy.

Instead of clamping down on access rules (though that’s certainly possible down the road, Genovese told me), Delta opportunistically added capacity where it could.

I love this move, and I wish Delta and its competitors could expand capacity this quickly across other hubs.

Until then, let’s take what we can get.

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