The DTW Delta Sky Club (near gate A68) was *so* much nicer back in 2014

The Delta Sky Club at DTW (the one closest to gate A68) was a lot different back in 2014 compared to the way it is today.

The food wasn’t all that great back then, but the layout was sectioned off into individual rooms. Who cared if it looked like the lobby of a stuffy law firm? It was cozy!

A detailed overview of what the A68 DTW Sky Club was like in 2014

The following is a summary of my experience visiting this lounge in January of 2014. I was fairly new to visiting airport lounges back then, and I didn’t have very much experience with Delta Sky Clubs – so it didn’t take much to impress me.

Location

There are currently 5 Delta Sky Clubs at the Detroit Metro Airport. This one still exists, and it can be found all the way at the north end of the McNamara Terminal near gate A68.

It’s located one level above the main gate area, adjacent to the north station for the overhead people mover. You can access the second level via an escalator or an elevator. The way I accessed it back then is exactly the same way you can access it today.

How to get in

I paid $50 to access the Sky Club in San Diego earlier that morning. That day pass was good for the entire day (for use at any airport in the US), so I took advantage of it after landing at DTW.

Note that it is no longer possible to purchase day passes to get into Sky Clubs. Total bummer.

These days, the most common ways to get in include:

• Flying international business class (Delta One) on Delta or any SkyTeam partner airline.
• Flying transcontinental business class (Delta One) on Delta.
• Having SkyTeam Elite Plus status with a same day ticket on Delta (or any SkyTeam partner airline).
• Using the American Express Platinum Card (which comes with complementary Sky Club access).

There are a number of other ways as well, which you can read about on the Delta website.

Layout

It was shortly after 8pm when I arrived, and since this lounge closed at 9, it was nearly empty. Kind of surprising considering how busy DTW usually is.

Instead of one large open space (like it is today), the floor plan segmented into a number of smaller rooms down one large hallway. The overall vibe was “private and sophisticated.” Or, depending on your personality type, “dark and moody” works too.

I just walked around taking pictures since I wasn’t planning on staying. And for what it’s worth, I found this to be much nicer than the SAN Sky Club I had visited that morning.

Food and drinks

Perhaps it was because I had arrived just as they were about to close, but food and drink options were minimal. The only thing available to nibble on were small snack items (mostly vegetables). It was hard not to appreciate the beer tap located just off to the left of the self serve food bar though.

The bathroom

I think Delta was going through some sort of a brand image transition at the time, because the bathroom in this lounge looked nothing like some of the more brightly colored bathrooms that I had seen in other Sky Clubs.

Pros and cons

Even with my limited airport lounge experience back then, it wasn’t hard to appreciate how nice this particular Sky Club was. It actually felt exclusive. Somewhat high-end. The only thing that could’ve made it better was scent of whiskey and cigars. Well, that and proper food of course.

Pros

• Everything was broken up into smaller rooms, which provided a lot of privacy.
• Individual rooms (instead of one large open space – like it is today) helped to cut down on the noise as well.
• The furniture was actually fairly classy – at least compared to the Alaska Airlines Board Room up in Anchorage at the time.
• Self serve beer tap FTW.

Cons

• Food? Ha! You like carrot sticks and olives, right?
• The dot pattern tint on the windows is extremely annoying (because it makes plane spotting difficult).
• As much as I liked the decor, it wasn’t hard to imagine that it may not be everyone’s cup of tea. It was definitely dark and moody.