Luxury lounge opens in Kansas City Airport, with ‘tranquility,’ BBQ & local touches
Portland, Edinburgh, Brisbane, Bristol and — as of recently — Kansas City.
The City of Fountains is now home to one of Cavu’s newest Escape Lounges, which can be found in several airports around the world. The Manchester-based travel company unveiled the ritzy space inside the Kansas City International Airport at a grand opening ceremony Thursday.
For a fee, the travel lounge offers customers respite from the rolling suitcases, travelers sprinting to gates and pinging devices often found inside the airport. It promises “an escape to remember,” or so the sign on one of its walls reads.
Ragena Hale, the lounge’s manager, hurried around the space Thursday, talking to media members and city officials while her staff handed out champagne and mimosas.
She hopes she and her staff create an atmosphere that allows passengers to “just relax for once instead of traveling and doing business.”
The Escape Lounge was completed a few months ago and quietly opened at the beginning of the year. The interior buildout was $5.7 million, not including the cost of knocking out the wall and building the exterior shell. It lives near gate A5.
The 6,000-square-foot space holds 124 seats in the form of booths, barstools and swivel chairs.
The lounge will start around $30 per day or be free for certain cardholders or members of select reward programs.
Mayor Quinton Lucas was at the ceremony Thursday. After snipping a ribbon outside the lounge with golden scissors, he took to a podium to congratulate Cavu and Vantage Group — KCI’s concessions management team — on the lounge’s completion.
Lucas has been part of discussions about the airport’s improvement since 2017, then as a councilman. After cutting the ribbon outside the lounge, Lucas told the crowd of visitors that he felt like the space was another move in the right direction, especially with the expected influx of travelers as the city hosts the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
“I feel like today, we’re delivering,” Lucas said. “I have great confidence that people’s first steps in Kansas City … are ones that leave them knowing how exceptional this community is.”
Design of new airport space inspired by KC
When customers walk through the doors, one of the first things they’ll notice will likely be the large, glass chandeliers with raindrop-shaped beads winding around the sides.
Many of the elements inside the lounge are reminiscent of water, said designer John Trosino, who was inspired by the fountains across the city.
Deeper inside the lounge, a blue art piece hanging from above the bar emulates splashes of water, as though someone were skipping stones along the ceiling.
Trosino has been creating Escape experiences for Cavu since the group began doing business in the U.S. about 10 years ago. He’s designed lounges in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Northwest Arkansas, Tulsa and beyond.
He pointed to the two rooms in back with small tables and glass doors.
“I know families go in there with little kids and turn the lights off because their kids are asleep,” he said. “It’s just a nice sort of thing when you’re traveling and you’re sort of anxious.”
How to use new KCI lounge
For American Express, Platinum and Mastercard Black Card cardholders, the lounge is free, including drinks and food. Priority pass and dragon pass members (an offering through several credit card companies in conjunction with airports) are also free.
Others are allowed to purchase a day pass ahead of time starting at $29.95, which includes a buffet of unlimited food and drinks. When the lounge starts serving alcohol, the price will increase to $45, or $60 for a walk-in.
Its full bar will offer mixed drinks (once it receives its liquor license).
Some offerings on the Kansas City-inspired menu include barbecue chicken wings, roasted potatoes, bourbon molasses baked beans and cheesy corn.
For breakfast: doughnuts, scrambled eggs, parfait, overnight oats, brisket hash and more.
Marsha Chesmore, general manager of Vantage Group, also spoke at the event, telling media members how impressed she was with the final product.
It was Vantage that first sent out the proposal to open another luxury lounge in the airport — aside from the Delta Sky Club that opened with the new terminal in 2023. As readers could guess at this point in the story, Cavu won the bid, and the rest is history.
“This new lounge is just amazing,” Chesmore said. “It’s going to be a space that exemplifies serenity, tranquility, and just a great vibe to relax.”
This story was originally published April 3, 2025 at 5:18 PM.