Bioluminescence isn’t just for fireflies or algae in the Caribbean anymore. Now, you can experience it at the airport—specifically at The Club SFO, a new lounge inside the refurbished Harvey Milk Terminal 1, now open to the flying public from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.
Strictly speaking, it’s not actual bioluminescence, nor does it resemble what visitors to Tulum might be familiar with. Rather, the lounge’s three reservable “bioluminescence rooms” come with two light settings—a warmer-toned Relax and cooler-toned Energize—that supposedly help travel-weary users to adjust to a new time zone or wind down ahead of a long flight.
“First of its kind,” said Chris Gwilliam, a senior vice president for Airport Dimensions, which created The Club SFO and 65 other such airport oases worldwide. “We don’t think there’s another lounge out there that has this feature.”
The rooms, which come complimentary with the $75 entrance fee—free for Priority Pass members—are only one of the 12,000-square-foot lounge’s wellness amenities. There’s also a workout room with weights, yoga mats and preprogrammed Lululemon fitness mirror-screens. After working up a sweat, three private showers are available for an additional $25 (the only perk that costs extra). A lactation room for nursing moms is free.
The most visible highlight may be the faux fireplace with water-vapor “smoke” and radiant floors just opposite the concierge desk at the top of the stairs. Open to the rest of the lounge, it’s a degree or two warmer in this area, enough for Airport Dimensions and design partner Corgan to rebrand it as a “microclimate.” This theme of the Bay Area as a forested, high-tech utopia pervades throughout the lounge, with a punched-metal ceiling creating a fog-dappled light effect, plenty of requisite reclaimed redwood—gotta get that LEED Gold certification!—and a lot of deep green and rust colors.
On the more practical side, there are electrical outlets everywhere; about nine out of every 10 seats have easy access to power. There are three soundproof, first-come-first-serve “Zoom Rooms” for taking a call. A family room with a TV in one corner can keep children occupied while parents do parent things, and tucked behind the elevator bank is a quiet room with lounge chairs and reading lamps.
Then there’s the food, which spans the entire healthy-to-who-cares spectrum, from bowls of carrot coconut curry to towering trays of brownies. The menu is available via QR code, while a full bar lets adults recapture the feeling of Jet Age air travel—which is to say, knocking back a few stiff martinis before boarding. It’s all complimentary, too: food, drinks, all of it.
The Club SFO can accommodate 249 travelers, making it Airport Dimensions’ largest to date. Centrally located near Gate B4, it’s a short walk past security, with its own internal elevator to ferry people upstairs. You don’t even have to be flying out of Terminal 1 to get there: A post-security walkway now connects it to the International Terminal.
Granted, a $75 price tag isn’t for everybody, even though nothing at the airport comes cheap. And there are a few drawbacks—such as humdrum views out the window. Instead of the soothing diversion of watching jets take off and land, attendees gaze down onto a mall-like concourse with only the faintest glimpse of the tarmac beyond. And for all the hue and cry about energy-efficient air-filtration systems and food with soul, there is still some wastefulness, like the bowl of individually shrink-wrapped apples anchoring the pre-plated food options—a suffocating airline meal as still-life.
If mistreated fruit gets you down, there’s always bioluminescence to soothe the spirits. Spend 30 minutes fiddling with the music volume in that yellow light, have a martini at the bar and you’re as ready for that 16-hour trans-Pacific odyssey as you’ll ever be.