A recent trip to Houston with a long layover and a fairly packed Centurion Lounge led me to the KLM Crown Lounge where I gained access using my Priority Pass card. Priority Pass is a benefit of multiple premium credit cards, which include the AMEX Platinum Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve Card, and Citi Prestige Card (among others).
The lounge is open daily from 6AM-9PM. The only caveat with using the lounge is that there is a 3 hour limit after which they are supposed to kick you out of the lounge. This actually never happened while I was there, but I didn’t stretch it too far beyond the 3 hour mark. Also do note that the KLM departure to Amsterdam is during the afternoon (~4pm) so the lounge may decide to not let you in if it is already full. It shouldn’t happen given how big it is and how not so popular the place is, but I just wanted to mention this.
Anyway I was there during the morning time and it was actually fairly quiet and empty (a nice reprieve from the Centurion Lounge down the hallway). There was plenty of seating and Wi-Fi was fast enough to get some work done while I waited for my flight. Drinks selection and food selection was definitely about average for an outstation airline lounge. It mainly consisted of some packaged snacks (chips, granola bars etc) and some cold sandwiches plus soup.
The overall design of the lounge is very similar to what you find in the main lounge at Amsterdam Schiphol (review coming up here very soon). There is a circular food area and hardwood floors which are characteristic of many European lounges.
Bottom Line:
Anyway this is about as comprehensive review as you can do of this lounge. It’s a nice quiet space to get some work done while you await your flight out of Houston. While the food options are not so great, at least you won’t be troubled by the crowds which flock to the Centurion Lounges. If you need a shower, you are pretty much out of luck because there are no Priority Pass lounges in Houston, which offer that amenity.
Have you been to this lounge? What do you think?
