Bogota Airport: The Dorado Lounge by American Express Inside the El Dorado Lounge

We spent five nights in Bogota, Colombia at the Grand Hyatt Bogota Hotel this past week. We returned home on Sunday.

We arrived  at the Bogota El Dorado Airport around 10:30 a.m.  The choice of airport lounges available at the international side of Terminal One seemed quite limited. There was the Latam Lounge, but, for One World Alliance elite members, only those traveling on Iberia could use it. We were traveling on American Airlines, so the Latam Lounge was out. Next, Priority Pass listed an Avianca Lounge, but that was limited to Star Alliance passengers. Next up were the Copa Airline Lounge and the El Dorado Lounge. They were close to one another at the airport, near gates A6 and A8 so we headed in that direction.

I had read about a pop up Amex Lounge located within the El Dorado Lounge, but  I couldn’t find anything about it’s existence or nonexistence recently, so I thought it might’ve just disappeared. Even the list of lounges in the American Express website did not mention it, so I thought it might be the Brigadoon of airport lounges.

I hadn’t heard much about the Copa Lounge, but there were reviews of the El Dorado Lounge. Mainly reviewers thought the El Dorado Lounge was very attractive, but they were turned off by the fact that many services, from buffet meals to cocktails, required additional charges.

We went to the El Dorado Lounge and were pleasantly surprised to learn that the American Express Lounge in fact existed within the confines of the El Dorado Lounge. At a special desk, I had to provide the agent with my Platinum Card, my Priority Pass Card, my passport and my boarding pass. We were then given a special card and told to hand it in for entry to the American Express Lounge. A sliding door miraculously opened and voila, we were granted entry to the Matrix Amex Lounge.

The main El Dorado lounge is quite nice. It is large – the space is long and narrow.

The Amex lounge, by contrast, is a small box of a lounge located within the larger El Dorado Lounge.  I read prior reports which seemed to indicate that it is better because it offers more than the larger lounge but I wasn’t initially convinced of that.

When I arrived, breakfast was still being served. The food offered  was minimal and not very appealing.

However, I soon learned that food could be ordered online through a QR code on each table. Okay, this was a horse of a different color. The breakfast selection was very limited, but the food was very good. We had the avocado toast and chicken soup.

I noticed that the beverages on display in the cooler included cans of beer, but I did not see any wine. I asked and was told that they didn’t serve wine in the Amex Lounge until noon, but that I could get wine in the main lounge now if I wanted. I took a walk through the main El Dorado lounge. At this time, it was not crowded and there was plenty of seating available including various reclining lounge chairs.

There were sandwiches and salads available that looked fine. The special buffet (for a fee) was closed, as it was likely between breakfast and lunch time.

The bar, all the way at the end, looked great!

The bartender poured a glass of wine for me, and I was told that there was no charge for it. (I was a little confused because I’d been told that liquor was not complimentary in the main El Dorado lounge).

What really blew me away was the children’s room! It was phenomenal. It looked like it could be the set of an incredible castaway film – think of a cross between Lord of the Flies and Gilligan’s Island.

Back in the Amex Lounge, the time was now after noon. The wine was served, and the QR code showed a number of very appetizing dishes.

Dave ordered the beef tenderloin and the fried coconut rice and he said the food was very good.

To conclude, the Dorado Lounge by American Express at Bogota Airport is fine as long as you don’t expect it to be a Centurion Lounge. Speaking of Centurion Lounges, when we got to Miami, the wait was over an hour.