Review: Amex Centurion Lounge Seattle (overall, underwhelming)

A Traveling for Miles review of the American Express Centurion Lounge in Seattle.

The Amex Centurion Lounge network is one of the bigger reasons a lot of us keep paying the annual fee on the Platinum Card® from American Express, so on a trip to Pacific Northwest, I took the opportunity to stop by the Amex Centurion Lounge in Seattle to see what it is like.

Location & hours

The 14,000 sq ft Seattle Amex Centurion lounge is located in the middle of the Central Terminal and on a mezzanine floor overlooking the terminal’s large food court.

At the time of writing, the lounge is open between 05:00 and 22:00 seven days a week.

Who can access Amex Centurion Lounges?

Access to Amex Centurion Lounges is restricted to the holders of the following cards:

• The Centurion Card® from American Express
• The Platinum Card® from American Express
• The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
• Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card
• Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card

The access policy varies by card and because it can get quite complicated, we have an article devoted entirely to explaining the access rules – How to access Amex Centurion Lounges (and where the lounges are).

The lounge

On this particular visit, the lounge was busy and operating a wait-list system (a fact given away by the number of people I noticed loitering around the entrance as I approached).

I registered my presence via the Amex app and 15 minutes later I received a notification with an eligibility code that got me past the first (very friendly) gatekeeper on the food court level.

The main check-in desk is up on the mezzanine level and looks like every other Centurion lounge check-in desk.

Once you check in, the pathway to the left of the desks leads into the lounge itself and the first area you encounter is just a series of chairs (mostly) on the left side.

Without question, this is the last place in the lounge that I would choose to sit if there were other options. There are very few power outlets here and you have a constant stream of people passing by as they enter or exit the lounge.

Just past here, the lounge opens up into the bar area where you’ll find a variety of seating options. At busy times, most of these options may not be available to you (based on the popularity of the lounge), but it’s good to know that they’re there.

Thanks to its location overlooking the food hall (there’s no ceiling between this area and the terminal ceiling) and a very large window looking out onto the airport apron, when this area is busy, it doesn’t feel as claustrophobic as you may expect. When it’s quiet, it feels very spacious and bright.

You can order at the bar and take your drinks elsewhere (not out of the lounge, obviously) or sit up at the bar if you find space, and the bar staff seem friendly and helpful.

Spirits, wines and beers are all complimentary as are the cocktails.

Past the bar area, the lounge starts to get tighter as you enter a series of rooms.

First up is a barista coffee station …

… and a sorbet/ice cream station that wasn’t operating during my time in the lounge.

Pushing on past here you come to the darkest and second-least inviting part of the lounge – the buffet and dining area.

Most of the seating here is like elsewhere in the lounge (first come, first served), but there are a few tables that are reserved for “groups” and for the less physically able (which is good to see).

Included in the buffet on this occasion were the following:

• Chicken with olives and preserved lemon
• Penne pomodoro pasta
• Charred brussels sprouts with apple and herb relish
• Spicy cauliflower
• Roast sweet potatoes
• Chilled cucumber and snow pea salad
• Butternut squash with babaganoush

There were also a few individual pastries (raspberry and cream “elephant ears”), some salad items, some cookies and some bread rolls.

So, how do I describe this buffet? Underwhelming would be one way. Disappointing would also work, especially if you’re someone who remembers the quality of food on offer when Amex first started opening its Centurion lounges.

Sure, this is better than the slop that you’ll see served up in a lot of domestic US airline lounges, but since when was that a benchmark to use? Most airport dining options are better than what you’ll find inside the majority of domestic US airline lounges, so that’s not a high hurdle to clear.

Anyway, moving on …

Past the rather dark and uninviting buffet area, the lounge opens up again into another seating area with views over the airport apron.

Once again, there are a variety of seating options here (ranging from armchairs to work desks), but while this feels like a nice area to spend some time, don’t count on finding a comfortable seat in which to relax at the busier times of the day as this place gets a lot of traffic.

Also, as is standard for all Centurion lounges, you’ll find that there are a few seats reserved for holders of the Amex Centurion card.

On this visit there were so many people milling around that I didn’t feel comfortable taking more than the three pictures you see above. Overall, however, they should give you a good idea of the decor and seating that you can expect to find here.

Note: The lounge also has a single shower and you can request to use it (via another waitlist) at the check-in desk.

Overall thoughts

The staff were friendly and helpful and that goes a long way to making a lounge a nice place to spend some time, but in most other ways, I have to admit to feeling a bit disappointed by this lounge.

It was incredibly busy, so that didn’t help and there wasn’t much choice in where to sit. The bar staff were overworked, so the service was a little slow. And the food options were limited, uninspiring, and infrequently refreshed.

If you visit when the lounge isn’t too busy, you’ll probably get a better impression of it than I got and yes, this lounge is better than a run-of-the-mill Admirals Club. But if this is what Amex thinks is going to keep flyers from dropping their Platinum Card with its $895 annual fee (rates and fees), it’s probably time for it to have a rethink.