United Airlines has unveiled its expanded Polaris Lounge at Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD).
The refreshed lounge at the airline’s main hub is now 50 percent larger, offering international business class passengers nearly 25,000 square feet of space and more than 350 seats where they can drink, dine, and relax before a flight.
The lounge’s private dining room has been expanded, too. It now has 50 seats, which is nearly triple its original capacity. Menu items in the larger dining area will include prosciutto parmigiano crostini, shrimp, scallop, spring vegetable risotto, and Aperol spritz cake. The lounge’s hot buffet and mezze station will still be available, too.
Crate and Barrel curated the decor for the refreshed lounge, making this the fellow-Chicago-based company’s first-ever collaboration with an airline. Lounge guests will notice dinnerware—like the Marin and Tuscan Marble collections, as well as special Le Creuset colors—from the home goods retailer.
Another new addition is a second bar, designed to evoke a speakeasy-style vibe, that will make United the first and only airline in the United States to offer two full-service bars in a business class lounge. This second bar will offer a drink menu featuring premium wine and Champagne—like Laurent-Perrier La Cuvée Brut—and Chicago-themed cocktails. The original full-service bar now has more than 25 seats, and guests have the option to take their drink away to sit in another area of the lounge.
Elsewhere in the lounge, six more restrooms have been added, as well as additional private spaces for both relaxation and work.
"Customers are going to love our new Chicago lounge because it gives them more of all of the things they want most—more space, more amenities, and more dining options—and we'll carry this new elevated design into future lounge openings and renovations across our United Polaris lounge portfolio,” said Aaron McMillan, United's managing director of hospitality programs.
United now has six Polaris lounges, which are dedicated to passengers flying international business class. The airline is in the midst of updating several of the lounges in its network, including an expanded United Club in Denver's B West Terminal and renovating the dining room in the United Polaris lounge in Newark, both of which will be unveiled later this year.
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