We recently flew back from Hartford to Atlanta and stopped in the only lounge at the airport, the American Express Escape Lounge. Escape lounges are sort of Centurion-lite lounges, with less stringent entrance requirements (guests are still free) and much less interesting food and drink.

There are a few of these lounges dotted around, some at larger hubs like Minneapolis and some at smaller regional airports like the one we visited in Hartford. The location of the Hartford lounge is just past security on the way to gates 1-12. It’s convenient if you are flying Delta or Southwest, but slightly less so if flying American or United.

When we arrived, nobody was at the check-in desk, which is literally in the middle of the lounge. After a few minutes, one of the staff came over from the bar and apologized for the delay. I was able to check in for myself and my wife with just one Amex card, as you can bring two guests in to the lounge.

The lounge itself is tiny and on the day we were there, packed. To be fair, there were a lot of flight delays on that Sunday afternoon due to storms up and down the east coast. We did manage to find two seats in the dining area and the lounge really never got any emptier where we could move to more comfortable seats. We grabbed some soft drinks and nibbled on the available food selections.

There were a few hot dishes including pasta and a chicken dish. There was a soup, some sandwiches and cake and cookies for dessert. There was a coffee machine and self-serve sodas/water. It was really nothing special. Most of the decent alcohol at the bar was only available for an upcharge.

There are two bathrooms, but they are individual bathrooms and not gender specific, so I’m sure that grosses out most women who use the lounge.

This is just a place to grab a quick drink and snack before your flight, but I would certainly not arrive early to use this lounge or expect anything great. It’s nice when a smaller airport at least has an option where you can use your credit card lounge benefits, but this is one of the weaker offerings out there.

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