Capital One’s New Lounge at Denver Airport Features Cocktails from One of North America’s Top 50 Bars

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Spanning 10,800 square feet, the new airport lounge provides an enticing reason for travelers to choose Denver for their layovers or to arrive early if they live in the Mile High City. On November 3, Capital One unveiled its latest lounge at Denver International Airport.

Located in Concourse A near Gate 34 on the mezzanine level accessible by escalator or elevator, the new Denver lounge is the third venue in Capital One’s expanding network of proprietary airport lounges. Previous locations opened at Dallas–Fort Worth International Airport in November 2021 and Washington Dulles International Airport in September 2023. Future lounges are planned for Las Vegas’s Harry Reid International Airport, New York’s LaGuardia Airport, and Washington D.C.’s Ronald Reagan Airport.

Open to all travelers, the new Capital One Lounge offers locally sourced cuisine, shower suites, artwork from numerous Colorado artists, and a craft cocktail bar that features recipes from a Denver establishment listed among North America’s 50 Best Bars.

Dinogo received an exclusive preview of the new lounge just a day before its grand opening. Here’s everything you need to know about the Capital One Lounge in Denver, including its location and entry details.

Layout and Design

The lounge’s expansive layout creates separate zones for dining, relaxation, and work. For example, the corridor to the left of the welcome lobby offers travelers quiet, private workspaces, including two phone booths (available on a first-come, first-served basis for up to 20 minutes) and three bookable office spaces for 30-minute intervals. Additionally, this hallway includes two Relaxation Rooms, illuminated by small pinhole lights in the ceiling designed to mimic the night sky. One of these rooms features an EnergyPod, a zero-gravity chair specifically made for napping.

At the rear of the lounge is a midcentury-modern living room area, featuring booths and café-style tables with dedicated outlets, a coffee and snack bar, and expansive floor-to-ceiling windows that offer views of the concourse. Continuing counterclockwise, there’s a corridor with six unisex, ADA-compliant restrooms equipped with changing tables and luggage racks. The two shower suites provide towels, Dyson hair dryers, and dissolvable shampoo and conditioner pods. This section also includes a dedicated Parents Room, complete with adult- and child-sized furniture, a changing station with wet wipes, a bottle warmer, and loaner bibs that say “Little Pilot.”

The final area before heading back to the lobby is the dining and bar space, featuring tables for two to four guests, booths, and a row of wingback chairs that overlook the runway.

Scattered throughout the lounge are over 50 original artworks created by local Denver artists. One of the most prominent pieces is Front Range Hitching Post by Windy Chien, known for her use of knotted rope and wood. This particular piece is designed to resemble a mountain range. Additionally, there’s a mural by Gary Gomez crafted from colored soil sourced from Red Rocks Amphitheater.

The Cuisine

For travelers with tight schedules, the lounge’s welcome lobby serves as a grab-and-go spot, featuring packaged food items such as breakfast sandwiches, beet and pear salads, vegetable hummus cups, and mini churro bites accompanied by vanilla pudding.

For those with a bit more time, the dining and bar area offers hot and cold food stations. Unlike typical airport lounges that rely on buffets, Capital One’s lounges emphasize individually portioned small plates. In Denver, this includes house-made options like corned beef hash, Colorado bison sloppy joes, lemon garlic broccolini, soba noodle salad, and a rich mac and cheese with bacon. Desserts come from the local bakery Good Bread, with the lavender chocolate-chip cookies and mini carrot cake loaves being particularly noteworthy. The culinary team intends to introduce four to six new dishes monthly to keep the menu fresh for regular visitors.

The Beverages

For those preferring nonalcoholic options, guests can enjoy a selection of artisanal sodas (like pineapple cream soda and black cherry with tarragon), flavored waters, and drip coffee from Denver’s Unravel Coffee Merchants, all available for self-service.

As with all its lounges, Capital One collaborated with a local brewery to create its own signature airport draft beer, exclusively available there. In Dallas, it’s a pilsner, in D.C. a helles lager, and in Denver—renowned for its craft beer—it’s an IPA named Sky High P.A., featuring bright citrus, pine, and resin notes, crafted by Cerveceria Colorado.

Unfiltered Hospitality, the team behind the bar program, also created a unique aperitif for the Denver Capital One lounge. The Spirit of Denver Proprietary Aperitif includes Colorado botanicals like sour cherries and spruce tips, offering a flavor reminiscent of Campari or Aperol. Guests can sample it in cocktails such as the Colorado Cool-Aid, a creative take on a classic Negroni.

Another cocktail to try is the Werewolf in London, a variation of a bourbon mule topped with the Sky High P.A. It’s served in a custom ceramic mug from Fenway Clayworks, which bears the inscription “On permanent loan from Capital One Lounge” to deter sticky fingers. Two cocktails are inspired by Yacht Club, a popular downtown Denver bar frequently listed among North America’s 50 Best Bars. One of these is the Espresso-Tini and Tonic, crafted with Marble Distilling Vodka, La Colombe cold brew, Oloroso sherry, and tonic.

Alongside complimentary house cocktails, beers, and wines, there’s a selection of rare spirits available for an additional fee, including Uncle Nearest 1884 Tennessee Whiskey and Real Minero Ensamble Mezcal, priced between $10 and $20. The lounge also offers five premium champagne options in 375 ml bottles, ranging from $15 to $160.

How to enter the Denver Capital One Lounge

Anyone holding a boarding pass for a departing or connecting same-day flight can access the new Capital One Lounge in Denver up to three hours before their departure time. Access fees vary depending on whether you (or a companion) hold an affiliated credit card.

Travelers holding a Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (including authorized users) or a Capital One Venture X Business card can enjoy unlimited complimentary access to all Capital One Lounges, plus free entry for their first two guests per visit ($45 for each additional guest thereafter).

Cardholders of Capital One Venture and Capital One Spark Miles receive two free visits to Capital One Lounges each year, applicable for themselves, their authorized users, or traveling guests. Additional visits can be purchased at a reduced rate of $45 per person.

For everyone else, regardless of Capital One card ownership, access to the lounge costs $65 per visit.

The lounge will operate regularly from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. However, during the soft opening period, which lasts until November 12, 2023, the hours will be adjusted to 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Recent lounge openings at Denver airport

In the past year, Denver has seen significant growth in new and expanded lounges across the airport, accommodating a record-breaking 69.3 million passengers in 2022. Most recently, American Airlines launched a new 6,000-square-foot Admirals Club in Concourse C on October 18. Not to be outdone, United has introduced three new lounges in Denver over the last year, including a 35,000-square-foot, three-story lounge near gate B44, another for international flights near gate A25, and a new concept called Club Fly near B61, designed for quick service with all food and beverages packaged, similar to the grab-and-go section of Capital One’s lobby.

While the offers stated above are accurate at the time of publication, they are subject to change at any moment and may have been modified or may no longer be available.