Inside United's new club at Newark, a massive upgrade to an aging facility
United Airlines' Newark hub is getting another glowup.
This time, it's the opening of a gut-renovated United Club, which has been under construction for about a year and a half.
The club, next to Gate C74, is the final one at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to receive a makeover. Every single United Club at Newark features the airline's new design motif, modern amenities and much more. As of Oct. 11, this United Club is welcoming passengers once again.
The opening also brings some much-needed additional lounge capacity to one of the airline's busiest hubs in the system. This should help create a more pleasant lounge experience for everyone.
For years, United's Newark clubs suffered from severe overcrowding. When United converted one of the old Newark clubs into the Polaris Lounge, it left the location at Gate C74 as the sole full-service club in the airport.
United built a new "one-of-a-kind" club near Gate C123 that finally opened last year after three years of construction. It was among the first to feature United's new design scheme, which has since become the new standard for the airline's clubs.
Since then, the carrier also opened a brand-new club in the airport's new Terminal A. Now, with the reopening of the C74 club, Newark becomes the first United hub to exclusively feature the new club design.
Want to know what to expect at the C74 club? Well, I happened to be flying through Newark on day two of operations, so here's what it's like inside.
Gorgeous new design
The upgrades begin even before entering the revamped lounge.
Aside from the eye-catching new entrance with a black marble column emblazoned with United Club branding, I love that the airline installed escalators to get to the upper level of the terminal.
Back in the day, the only option to get upstairs was a cramped elevator (that was often out of service) or the stairs. These escalators will make it much easier and quicker to get inside.
Once upstairs, you'll find yourself in the gorgeous reception area, which features a custom ceiling art piece designed by local architect Ron Norsworthy. I love the vibrant blue hues with gold detailing, which is supposedly inspired by Grand Central Station.
The welcome area features a few reception desks, but most travelers should be able to self-scan their boarding passes and use the automated entry gates to get inside — a new standard feature for United Clubs. (These gates also help the airline track live capacity since they measure how many people exit.)
After validating your boarding pass, the gate will open into the gorgeous new lounge. From the moment you step inside, you'll quickly forget how dilapidated this place used to be.
Right by the entrance is a refreshment and snack station, which gives way to the club's main seating areas.
The lounge itself is still arranged in a diamond shape built around a central rotunda. During the renovation, the airline installed colorful frosted glass along the interior of the lounge, which adds an additional pop of color and helps promote a feeling of exclusivity once inside.
Gone are the worn-out couches and recliners. Instead, you'll find brand-new furniture that you might actually enjoy relaxing in. From high-top tables to couches to counter seating to private booths, you'll almost certainly find somewhere to sit.
Plus, at 18,000 square feet with room for more than 400 flyers, you hopefully won't have an issue finding a seat either.
Personally, I'm a big fan of the variety of seating options that United installed. Though there aren't any private workstations or phone booths, I'd still consider this a massive upgrade over the previous design.
One thing that United couldn't really change is the amount of natural light that the lounge gets, which is limited due to the lounge's location in the center of the terminal. However, the airline did add some new fixtures that seem to help boost the light levels.
It largely resembles what you'll find in the other new United Clubs, which are a whole lot better than the design motifs that they replace.
Glitzy bar
Aside from various new seating areas, the lounge also features a stunning new signature bar, accented from above by a handful of chandeliers. Even at 6:30 a.m., the barstools here seemed to be the most popular seats in the house.
While some may come to the bar for a complimentary drink (you can see the full menu below), this aviation enthusiast quickly locked eyes with a piece of aviation history: a model Continental Boeing 747-200 with the "red meatball" livery from the 1980s.
Aside from the bar, there are two (nonalcoholic) refreshment stations — one near the restrooms and the other near the lounge's buffet. Both feature Eversys coffee machines and water fountains, and there's even a dedicated water bottle refill station near the bathrooms.
Meanwhile, the lounge's buffet is near the bar. It features two full-service stations physically connected to the kitchen to make it easier to refill the food. Between these stations is a snack bar with jars of nuts, banana chips and wasabi peas.
United's lounge catering seems to have improved (ever so slightly). The breakfast service included a new signature dish: the so-called New Jersey state sandwich made of Taylor ham, egg and cheese. I wasn't hungry during my visit, but I liked the look of the fruit bar, and the "carb" station even tempted me.
I'll wait to reserve judgment until I actually try some of the food in the lounge, but at least everything looked much more appetizing than it did before the renovation.
Upgraded amenities
United has two types of lounges: business-class-only Polaris Lounges and membership-based United Clubs. The former is where you'll find all the fancy amenities, while the latter is more of a traditional airport lounge.
Most United Clubs, including this C74 outpost, no longer feature showers. That said, if you are looking to shower before your United flight leaving Newark, you'll want to visit the C123 club, which has six shower suites.
Perhaps the biggest upgrade that United brought to this lounge is the new bathrooms. Aside from the fact that there are no more leaks, broken toilets or inoperable sinks, the bathrooms are beautifully designed with wood accents and gold trims.
Other lounge amenities include free high-speed Wi-Fi, as well as AC power outlets, USB-A and USB-C ports at nearly every seat.
There is one wellness room tucked back near the lounge's emergency exit, and there are two agent-staffed customer service desks for those seeking last-minute flight help.
Bottom line
Before the renovation, the United Club near Newark's Gate C74 was a dark, dilapidated space that I tried to avoid at all costs.
Unless I wanted to quickly grab a snack, I almost never went out of my way to stop inside.
Now, after a gut renovation, I'm already looking forward to my next visit. From the splashy entrance to the plethora of seating options to the glitzy bar, Newark is now home to three of my favorite United Clubs in the entire system.
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