I give the American Express Centurion Lounge next to Gate E11 in Concourse E at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) a solid four stars. My wife and I had a good first impression of this place. That said, at ATL, our preferred lounge is still currently the Delta Sky Club in Concourse F because it's less crowded and hectic, everything is better stocked, and there are grab-and-go snacks. We've yet to see any grab-and-go snacks at any Centurion Lounge location and I bet it's because they'd constantly go out of stock.
The Centurion Lounge at Hartsfield opened on February 14, 2024. We visited it for the first time this past Saturday morning. It's conveniently located near the center of Concourse E, just a short walk after you take the escalators up from the Plane Train station / tunnel. When we arrived at 9:37am, there was no line to enter and the lounge itself wasn't too crowded, which was nice. This was in stark contrast to our experience just a couple months ago (March 2025) at the Centurion Lounge at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) where it was uncomfortably crowded.
What sets the Centurion Lounges apart from other airport lounges to me are their distinct style. Overall, they're among the most stylish lounges in terms of interior design and decor. I appreciate that Amex wants to give their customers an upscale, luxe look and feel. Atlanta's Centurion Lounge features real trees and lots of plants, inside and out (there's a neat plant-filled outdoor terrace). There's also a sophisticated-looking whiskey bar called "The Reserve by American Express." At the time of writing this review, this is the largest Centurion Lounge at almost 26,000 square feet. Thanks to a bigger and better layout, people flow through this lounge much better than the one at LAX.
The food and drink were good and service was fine. Our breakfast and brunch items from the buffet included avocado toast, sausage links, verde salsa scrambled eggs with black pepper, bacon, sweet potato hash, honeydew, and French toast casserole with cappuccinos and a Bloody Mary. Yum. There are two double-sided, self-serve buffets. During our visits to the buffet, they were low on eggs and ran out of bacon. They also ran out of coffee mugs, so my wife had to hunt down a mug. The silverware didn't look clean to me, but that's just me being nitpicky -- I've seen similar at other restaurants and lounges that machine-wash their dinnerware.
Most of the staff were constantly busy trying to restock, maintain, and clean everything. The bartender lady at The Reserve, who made our Bloody Mary, was very nice. In comparison, the Delta Sky Club lounges at LAX (Terminal 3, March 2025) and LaGuardia Airport (Terminal C, this past Monday) are better-run operations with more staff and therefore, better service. Centurion Lounge staff generally seem more overwhelmed.
Something odd I noticed was several panes of glass looked broken and taped up with black tape. This was at the outdoor patio that faced the airport apron. What up with that? read more