The Club SFO — Attraction in Millbrae

It was a lounge in Terminal 1, and it had white lights that hung like frozen fireworks from the ceiling. Good light matters in airports. The bartender in blue was tired. You could see it in her eyes. She moved like someone who had been pouring gin since dawn, though it was only two in the afternoon.

A man at the bar watched baseball. Number 22 was at bat. The Yankees were losing. The man's drink was empty but the bartender was busy. That's how it goes in these Priority Pass places. They build them beautiful but staff them thin.

In the dining room, two women ate orange chicken with broccoli. It was not bad chicken. It was not great chicken. It was airport chicken trying to be something more, and that was honest enough. Their chopsticks moved slowly. They had time to kill before their flight, like all of us.

The books on the shelves were real books. Nobody read them. They were there to make businessmen feel cultured while they drank their whiskey and typed emails. That was fine. We all pretend in airport lounges.

At the entrance, a line was forming. There is always a line now. The woman checking Priority Pass cards wore a look that said she had seen too many expired memberships and too many travelers who thought their Chase Sapphire card made them somebody.

The bar itself was good. Dark wood and brass. They had Bombay Sapphire and Botanist gin. The glasses were clean. But the ice was running low and the limes were cut too thick. Small things, but they matter when you're charging nothing and promising everything.

A man in a suit slept in the corner chair, his mouth open, his AirPods dangling. He had achieved what everyone wanted - escape from the terminal's fluorescent purgatory. But he would wake up eventually. They always do.

True things about The Club SFO: The design is clean and expensive, like a rich man's hangover The staff work hard but there aren't enough of them The food is better than it needs to be but worse than it wants to be It's crowded when you need it empty and empty when you need it crowded The TVs always show sports because sports are easier than conversation Everyone is pretending this isn't an airport, and that's okay

The truth is, it's a good lounge if you don't expect it to be great. It's a bad lounge if you think your Priority Pass makes you first class. But it's always better than sitting at the gate, unless you're the kind who likes to watch planes and people and think about where they're going and why.

In the end, The Club SFO is like most things in life - not as good as the pictures, not as bad as the complaints, and made better by lowered expectations and a decent gin and tonic. If you find yourself there with time to kill, kill it gently. And tip the bartender. She's had a...

I was shocked at the experience I had at The Club SFO. As I was getting food, the bowl I picked up turned out to be broken in place, and I sliced my index finger. In the 20+ minutes I had until my flight, I could not get the bleeding to stop, and I almost missed my flight as I tried to get medical help to determine if stitches were needed, as it was a long haul flight

The staff on-site were extremely attentive. However, the person helping me with first aid told me that The Club was out of bandaids. He had to go procure bandaids from somewhere else in the airport. Moreover, the staff informed me that because the bowls are taken out from the dishwasher and then placed for guests to use, they can break in place as they cool. It is hard to believe that this is a known problem, yet the management of The Club has not implemented higher safety standards to alleviate this. No wonder they were out of bandaids!

The staff took down my contact information and filed an incident report so that the manager could reach out to me to resolve what happened. However, I did not receive any outreach from The Club, so I contacted them through their online form. The response I received indicated that because I had paid for the lounge fee through Priority Pass, The Club claimed no responsibility over what had happened. This was shocking, as the incident occurred due to the practices and management of The Club, and has nothing to do with the payment method I used - Priority Pass isn't the one who provided me a broken bowl

Through the 40+ airport lounges and countless restaurants I have been to, I have never had an incident like this happen. I do understand that accidents can happen, but it is shocking and disappointing to know that this was an issue known by the management of The Club SFO that was allowed to persist, and then when an incident occurred, The Club tried to deflect any responsibility and simply stop responding to my messages instead of acknowledging...

I have been a frequent guest at The Club at SFO for several years and have always enjoyed positive experiences—until Thursday, August 7th, at around 7 PM. I went to the bar and politely asked for a drink. The bartender looked at me as if I were asking for a personal favor. I still thanked her, left a $5 tip, and returned to my seat. Later, when I came back for a second drink, she saw me, ignored me, and served a person who had just arrived instead. This time, I left no tip.

When I returned again, she was smiling and warmly engaging with other guests, but when it came to my turn, her demeanor shifted—her expression immediately hardened. I asked, “Is everything OK?” and she bluntly replied, “No.” In that moment, it became clear to me that her behavior toward me was rooted in prejudice. I felt unwelcome and judged, as if I were somehow less deserving of respect. It was an awful, demeaning feeling—one I haven’t experienced in a very long time. I declined to order anything further and went back to my seat, deeply unsettled.

I later approached a busser nearby to ask for the bartender’s name, and she, too, was rude until I directly asked for her own name. If I remember correctly, their names were May and Taty.

I understand that working in hospitality can be challenging, and I respect that dealing with customers all day requires patience. However, if someone cannot treat all guests with basic courtesy, professionalism, and respect—regardless of who they are—they should consider a role that does not involve customer service. The tip expectation was also painfully obvious, making the service feel transactional rather than welcoming.

This was a stark and disappointing contrast to the many wonderful experiences I’ve had at The Club. I hope management addresses this, because no guest should leave feeling the way I did...