The Air China Lounge in Shanghai is a spacious and well-designed lounge with two floors and an escalator in the middle. The buffet offerings may be humble, but the staff make an effort to provide a variety of food options. The seating options on both floors are plentiful, ensuring that there’s always a place to relax.
The lounge’s design is straightforward and minimalistic, which may come across as somewhat cold to some visitors. Unfortunately, there isn’t a view of the tarmac or outside scenery, but the lounge’s size compensates for this lack.
Overall, the Air China Lounge in Shanghai provides a comfortable and accommodating space for travellers to unwind and prepare for their flights.
The Air India Lounge is currently the only airline operated lounge at Delhi’s International Terminal 3 where Air India’s Business and First Class passengers; many Star Alliance passengers; and Vistara Airlines passengers can spend time before their flight.
After scanning the boarding pass at the lounge entrance, Wi-fi vouchers are handed out and passengers are directed to the Business Class or First Class section of the lounge.
There is a fairly large sitting area with newspapers on display, a small computer work station, and more couches with tables for passenger use.
The food section is on the smaller side and the choice is very limited. It was breakfast time but the bakery items did not look fresh or appealing to me, nor did the cold or hot dishes that were on display. This looked like a very sad offering when compared to the breakfast offered at the first class hotel I just checked out of.
I had a small plate of fresh fruit and then decided to have my coffee at a nearby coffee shop where they serve real Espresso and fresh bakery items to accompany it.
As a Tata Group company, I hope Air India will soon embark upon an urgently needed upgrade to the Air India Lounge in Delhi International Airport.
I visited the SAS Lounge Copenhagen after my inbound flight by SAS was cancelled (well ahead of time) and I rebooked myself on an earlier Star Alliance flight.
The SAS Lounge Copenhagen is open to SAS premium passengers as well as Business Class passengers and Gold Card Members of Star Alliance.
The lounge is decorated in a mix of urban and rural styles with well known Nordic wood furnishings. There was a comfortable seating area and plenty of communal tables for working or enjoying a quick bite.
This no frills lounge offers all-day buffet breakfast items, a few healthy dishes such as beetroot or chickpeas salads as well as a soup and the famous Swedish meatballs. Bread was also available but no desserts or sweet items were offered. (Maybe they follow a healthy life-style policy)
No announcements are made in the lounge and depending on the time of day it can become a little crowded.(Note that Scandinavian has drastically cut back on their long-haul network and is struggling financially. A number of their North American destinations are now operated by narrow body A320/321 aircraft and they have pulled out of the Asian market completely.
I had a comfortable and relaxed stay at the SAS Lounge in Copenhagen.
My visit to the Lufthansa Business Class Lounge in Munich Airport was an underwhelming experience and nothing to write home about. The lounge is located upstairs, above the security checkpoint and offers a partial view of the security check area). The lounge design is clean and simple, if not to say somewhat boring with no alpine or Bavarian design elements.
The lounge has a standard food and beverage offering, showers, and a small business area along with lounge chairs and a co-working space area near the buffet.
I found this lounge solid and adequate but not more than that.
The EVA Air lounge at Suvarnabhumi Airport is located at the corner of E and F gates (F1) and is open some 20 hours per day. EVA Air operates several flights daily to Taipei and Europe (Amsterdam, Vienna and London).
The EVA Air lounge is spacious, modern and offers a dining area, a common work space (bar-style tables) and a large lounging area. I visited late at night and there was a nice mood light concept in place which I liked very much.
The lounge offers Chinese, Asian and Western food (cold and hot section) as well as a full self-service bar, coffee/tea with sweet desserts including ice-cream. The lounge also offers a business corner and a shower area.
I found this lounge very pleasant and comfortable. The tarmac view on one side and the view into the F pier was also entertaining.
The Garuda Indonesia Lounge is located in Terminal 3 at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta Airport. This is the airport’s newest terminal and is mostly frequented by Garuda itself, and some other international carriers.
I visited this lounge because I was departing on a SkyTeam partner airline.
The lounge is a mid-size average business class lounge which offers views over the terminal and the tarmac. There are a couple of dining tables, a few napping chairs, a lounge area for relaxing, a Muslim prayer room and a restroom/shower facility. The food on offer was very limited and mediocre. There was soup, a choice of two hot dishes, some bread, potato chips and a small fruit bar. Drinks on offer were soft drinks, coffee, tea and beer. Nothing really special to write home about and rather on the underwhelming side. The Garuda International Lounge serves its purpose but not more than that.
The Business Class Lounge in Vienna offers a nice view onto the tarmac but the design is more like a canteen than an exclusive Lounge. Food offering was mediocre and very limited. Most tables do not have power sockets. There is only one small toilet and two showers available inside the Lounge.
I found this Austrian Business Class Lounge to be underwhelming and lackluster.
The SWISS Alpine Lounge is located in Zurich Airport Terminal 1 Concourse A. I originally intended to visit the SWISS Business Lounge, but at the entrance I was informed the lounge was crowded, so I walked over to the new SWISS Alpine Lounge.
Indeed, this lounge is much quieter than the others at Zurich airport. That might come down to how hard it is to find. It is located at the entrance of Concourse A (left of the Transit counters).
This is a pretty impressive lounge with a cool design in warm wooden colours and many typical Swiss decorative elements.
I found this a very nice place to spend time, with friendly staff and a small open kitchen where a “daily hot menu” was prepared freshly for every guest.
The SWISS Alpine Lounge is open to business class passengers of the Lufthansa Group.
(SWISS, Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines)
The TAP Air Portugal Lounge is located one floor above the main departure hall with a panoramic view over the tarmac and runways. The lounge is open to TAP Air Portugal Premium passengers, Star Alliance partner airlines premium passengers and Star Alliance GOLD members.
I visited early afternoon and the spacious lounge was very busy but I was able to find a free table near the food buffet area. There is also a bar with chairs, a napping area, and restrooms with showers are also available. The bright green, white and red colour scheme is a bit odd in my opinion but easy to get used to. The Wifi was fast and there are electronic departure boards which display the boarding times of the flights.
The lounge offered a serviced bar, a self-service wine bar, a coffee bar, and hot and cold food items of a decent quality. The food items were restocked frequently but the tables were not cleared and cleaned adequately. I found this an OK place to spend some time before departure time.
Royal Orchid Lounge, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, open since November 2019:
ROYAL ORCHID LOUNGE:
Thai Airways offers their First and Business Class passengers a separate check-in located at gate Door 1 on Departure Level 4 at Suvarnabhumi Bangkok International Airport. Porters are available and separate areas for First and Business Class passengers are provided for check-in, security screening and Fast Track immigration.
After passing through immigration, an escalator takes passengers down to the lounge level near gate D1. The First Class lounge, and the former Business Class lounge (now used for Star-Alliance partner airline’s passengers), are located in the west zone on the left and the new Royal Orchid Prestige Lounge is located in the east zone on the right and is used exclusively for Thai Airways Royal Silk Class passengers.
The lounge was opened in October 2019 and is approx. 2000 sqm. The lounge offers various seating options (restaurant-style seating near the buffets) and lounge areas as well as rooms for child-care and showers.
There are two bars and a main buffet area plus 2 small corners with a more limited food selection. Comparing this new lounge to the “old” one, the food and drinks options are much more generous and more delicious items are available. Frequent visitors of the old lounge remember the triangle sandwiches and the hot dog sausages that were served for decades.
A fresher look and a wider choice of food offering is now available. This was urgently needed as there are plenty of excellent alternative lounges available at this airport.
I found the new lounge to be pleasant, even though it was a very busy night. This is not the most luxurious lounge that I have experienced but it serves the purpose well.
ROYAL ORCHID SPA:
Thai Airways offers a unique facility to its premium passengers which is the Royal Orchid Spa. This spa offers separate treatments for First Class passengers (full body massages in separate luxury rooms) Herbal Spa or Steam rooms and short neck/shoulder or foot massages are available for Business Class guests. There is a resting area where relaxing Thai music is played and healthy beverages are served. The relaxation and rejuvenation treatments offered a wonderful way to get in the mood before a long flight. I find this a fantastic place to visit, especially in the evening before long night flights.
The Thai Airways Royal Orchid Spa is consistently voted number one airline spa by Skytrax and I find it a true heaven in the busy airport world. I always enjoy this special THAI experience.
SWISSTRAVELMANAGER 