"Holiday Business Class" lounge @ CHI??

[Blackwolf]

Alright, riddle me this!

Just opened up my Twitter this morning, and the fifth Tweet down was from @ChiUnionStation (re-tweeted by @Amtrak) with a photo and quote:

"Our holiday @Amtrak Business Class lounge in the Union Gallery is in full swing"

Photo: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BaFpFNmCUAE5Cgr.jpg:large

Anyone have a clue what this is? Because that photo is most certainly NOT the CHI Metro lounge I've been in before!

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Guests are awed as they enter this 20,000 foot classic Beaux Arts style room which boasts 18 soaring Corinthian columns, terracotta walls, a pink Tennessee marble floor and is crowned with a spectacular five-story, barrel-vaulted, atrium ceiling. Opening onto the Great Hall is the Union Gallery, a beautiful 3,500 square foot room, ideal for VIP receptions, lounges, ceremonies and meetings.

From: http://www.chicagounionstation.com/

 

[Blackwolf]

Guests are awed as they enter this 20,000 foot classic Beaux Arts style room which boasts 18 soaring Corinthian columns, terracotta walls, a pink Tennessee marble floor and is crowned with a spectacular five-story, barrel-vaulted, atrium ceiling. Opening onto the Great Hall is the Union Gallery, a beautiful 3,500 square foot room, ideal for VIP receptions, lounges, ceremonies and meetings.

From: http://www.chicagounionstation.com/

I understand what the Union Gallery is, it's this "Holiday Business Class Lounge" part that has my head tilting like a dog's. :blink:

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Maybe they opened it up for Business Class ticket holders during the holidays to relieve the congestion in the Metropolitan Lounge. Just a guess.

 

[MrFSS]

Great Hall Facebook Page has this posted.



It looks like it might be a small room off of the main Great Hall. At the back of the hall, opposite where you go to the trains tunnel, is a good size room that had been the Metropolitan Lounge at one time while the lounge we know now was being remodeled. Could it be that area?

 

[the_traveler]

My guess is that it might be! The ML is small and crowded as is, and with (potentially) many more BC passengers traveling over the holidays, it is a good idea to offer an "overflow room"!

 

[Bob Dylan]

Tom and Dave nailed it! This was the Location of the "Temporary" Lounge while the Metro Lounge was undergoing Renovation !

Amtrak realized (New Management/Innovative Ideas!)that with the Holiday Crowds thronging Union Station that they needed Extra Space for the recently Added Business Class Travelers! Wonder who was Assigned to Work this Lounge, a Gate Dragons or one of the New "Good" Attendants? <_<

 

[AudenHoggart]

I've noticed something similar in the July 15, 2013 national timetable. On pages 80 and 82, referencing "Illinois routes," the timetable says:

"Business Class: Complementary non-alcoholic beverages and newspaper and access to Amtrak Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago."

This obviously wasn't a special holiday lounge. Anyone have experience with the accuracy of this? If accurate, did it only apply in Chicago?

 

[the_traveler]

Yes, it just recently started in CHI. (Allowing BC access to the ML.) AFAIK, it only applies to the ML in CHI and nowhere else on Amtrak. (But now that I think of it, I believe the new ML at LAX also allows access for BC passengers.)

 

[rickycourtney]

Chicago's metropolitan lounge is normally open to Business class passengers (along with LA's Metropolitan Lounge) but this is a different setup. I'm sure Amtrak and the states who fund the trains did this because they were expecting a crush of passengers over the next 5 days.

It's a great idea in my opinion.

 

[Nathanael]

This is interesting. So is it the Union Gallery which was opened up as a lounge? It looks like it from the photo name.

Chicago was *supposed* to get a giant new two-story Metropolitan Lounge in the southeast corner of the Great Hall, but it seems to have been delayed indefinitely, much to my frustration. That would probably hold *all* the crowds. Next year maybe.