play_arrow
Anthony’s Philippines: “It was an Adventure” Jake Redman
play_arrow
Anthony’s Amazing Singapore: “Toe Dipping” Point of SE Asia Jake Redman
play_arrow
Anthony’s Ireland: Hellman’s Makes Ketchup Too Jake Redman
play_arrow
Dallas, Disney and Deals. Our 100th Episode. Jake Redman
play_arrow
AirBnB Cancels Some Cancelling & Jake Thinks Charlotte is a Beach Town Jake Redman
Seating: Seating here at Art + Lounge inside Newark Airport terminal B is mostly dense clusters of seemingly Swedish-inspired euro chairs. Move to the back wall of the lounge though and you’ll find deep home-library style leather loungers in front of stacks of fake books.
For old-fashioned family dining there’s a small collection of kitchen tables in a tight corner next to the food buffet. Express bar-style seating is good for just grabbing a quick bite and maybe some light work on the tablet or laptop.
Food/Drink: Even if you’re about to fly off on a long international Modhop, Art + Lounge Newark Airport holds it’s own with a nice selection of small bites. At brunch time we found enough here to make ourselves a small lunch plate.
Food quality is good too. Pastries, waffles and other baked goods thankfully lacked the rubbery quality found in the bagels of many US domestic lounges. Hot items had good flavor and our timing thankfully had us to the buffet before anything had been sitting out too long.
Also, we’re told that everything is kosher. As the designated lounge for Isreali airline El Al, that’s a good thing. There’s also a menu of additional kosher meal items avaialable on request.
Wi-fi/Connectivity: Wi-fi isn’t fiber-fast but didn’t seem to falter during our fairly low-traffic visit. It might depend on the number of people using it inside the lounge but otherwise seems to work just fine.
Service: We’ve been harsh critics of the customer service in most corners of Newark Airport (with a significant side-eye to United Airlines) but we seem to have found an exception to the otherwise expectation-lowering experience here. Front desk staff greeted with smiles, checked us in efficiently and gave us a complete breifing on what’s inside. Food/Drink and other in-lounge staff were very friendly, helpful and could be found keeping the buffet stocked and seating areas cleaned-up.
Showers: Sadly, there are no showers inside this lounge.
Summary: On arrival the lounge was anything but crowded but filled up quickly while we were there. That’s because Art + Lounge Newark Airport is the contracted lounge for El Al Airlines (and La Compagnie) and we were here just in front of one of the airine’s daily flights from Newark. Timing might dictate your experience here so it might pay to ask the front desk if an El Al or La Compagnie flight isn’t far off. Outside busier times, this is a good escape with plenty to snack on, cozy seating and friendly service.
Before a domestic flight we’d give this an extra ‘hop’ (4 of 5) but because the lounge lacks showers and extra space we subtract one if you’re about to hop to Paris or Tel Aviv.
Rating: 3 of 5
How to get in: Priority Pass, Airport Angel, Lounge Club. Most popular multi-lounge memberships will get you access but what’s special about Art + Lounge Newark Airport is that you can buy your way in for relatively cheap considering what you get. As of this review, You can escape the crowd and get a light meal here for $35 WITHOUT a membership or premium ticket.
Modhop Host & Founder Jake Redman brings years of global exploration and travel tips to the podcast and our videos at Modhop. Jake is also a Producer and Host for SiriusXM.
United Airlines recently announced upcoming changes to it’s domestic narrowbody first class cabins. Here’s their offical video and pics showing what’s inside. Is this a significant change to United Airlines […]
Post comments
This post currently has no comments.