Timing of the opening worked out well for me to visit tonight They were having some opening day hiccups -- the elevator was not working at the time, and I overhead them say it had been off and on all day. Maintenance had fixed it by the time I left though.

There was a line of about 15 people waiting to check in. I had gotten an entry QR code in the app before arriving, but they said they were having trouble with the scanners and it would be best if I had my physical card with me (which I did). I saw a number of AA BPs so people were making the hike, at least on opening day Overall it felt busy this evening, but not claustrophobically crowded, even with thunderstorm activity and presumably related flight delays going on.

I assume the blogs have innumerable glamour shots, so I didn't take many photos, but:



View from the check-in area. The lounge is mostly (1) this long narrow space (though it opens up at the far end) and (2) the buffet/dining/bar area which is halfway down and to the right and is reasonably large. While there were a variety of different styles of chairs etc. throughout the lounge, it felt like the majority of it was "designed" for 2x2 people facing each other, so once it gets more than 1/4 or 1/3 full, expect to be sharing a table with someone...



The bar (not pictured here) had a dedicated area with no seats where you could walk up and order drinks, and one of the bartenders was exclusively serving this line; however the other bartender besides serving people seated at the bar, was also handling random people walking up and asking for drinks, sort of cutting the line (but it's not signed or necessarily obvious that there's a dedicated area so I'm not blaming them)





I didn't see a printed beer list, but they have a selection of local brews on tap and an array of cans that I didn't investigate too closely; this was a DC Brau "The Corruption" IPA



Generic AMEX Centurion Lounge chicken thighs; "tofu and kimchi soup" but really tofu vegetable soup with hot sauce, didn't seem like actual kimchi. Tasted good, in any case. The chicken was a bit dry. There was a 2nd soup, a glazed salmon entree, and also a tofu/pineapple dish, plus typical salads/desserts etc.