Before landing in AMS this week, the FA's handed out a card that lists all the facilities at each of their intl. destinations with the exception of Madrid.
Apparently, all you do is show them your boarding pass and this card.

Here they are:

Amsterdam(2 choices):
-Hotel Mercure(before customs, main hall, up escalator)
-Sheraton Schipol(main reception desk)

Brussels:
Sheraton Hotel(main reception desk)

Frankfurt:
Cathay Pacific Lounge(before customs, departure hall, opposite gate E7)

London: (effective 6/1/01)
-USAirways First/Envoy arrivals lounge(exit arrivals, elevator to lower level)
-Gatwick Hilton(lobby suite 1275) - through 5/31/01

Manchester:
Radison SAS Hotel Manchester Airport(main reception desk)

Munich:
Kempinski Airport Hotel(main reception desk)

Paris:
Salon Bleriot(before customs, between satellites 3&4, level 10)

Rome:
Hilton Rome Airport(main reception desk)

Having never used an arrivals lounge, I'm curious to see what you get at a hotel...do they have a block of rooms available until noon for this purpose so you can shower, freshen up, etc.?

[This message has been edited by PHL (edited 05-16-2001).]

Originally posted by PHL:
Having never used an arrivals lounge, I'm curious to see what you get at a hotel...do they have a block of rooms available until noon for this purpose so you can shower, freshen up, etc.?

At Gatwick, the arrvials lounge consists of two connected hotel rooms. The room that you enter into has the breakfast items plus a staff member from the Hilton. You've got a standard bathroom in each room - so yes, you get to shower and freshen up. The attached room (on the left) just has a few sofas and a tv. Of course it has its bathroom. So nothing stunning, but you do have the chance to get going in the a.m.

Nice to hear that they'll be opening an arrivals lounge in the new area being built in the South Terminal - will mean a much shorter walk - and no walk outside (even though it's covered, can still be a pain in the winter). Hadn't heard they were going to be doing that. Now, I wonder if the other US-based carriers are doing the same thing.

It is good that they're doing this at Gatwick, as it will compete directly with Virgin's lounge(does BA have one there, too?).

I guess US figured that with 4 intl. arrivals each day now, they can't easily accomodate up to 150 or so people from all the combined F/J cabins. What if they all decended upon the make-shift hotel suite now!?!@

Originally posted by PHL:
It is good that they're doing this at Gatwick, as it will compete directly with Virgin's lounge(does BA have one there, too?).

Yes, BA's arrivals lounge is located in the North Terminal (hope I've not gotten my directions reversed - when I say North Terminal - I mean the BA terminal, and South is the other one used by US, AA, and CO). BA's lounge used to be in the Le Meridian Hotel which is connected to the North Terminal. Don't know what VS has at Gatwick - but would assume that with the number of flights they have into LGW that they'd have something, or will be one of the airlines building a lounge in the lower level of the South Terminal.

BA has an arrivals lounge at both LGW and LHR. Virgin has its Revivals arrival lounge at LHR only, but the Clubhouse lounges at LGW have showers. While the US facilities might be small, I doubt that very many premium pax take advantage of them.

Salon Bleriot in CDG has got to be one of the worst facilities for taking a shower. The shower rooms are extremely tight and difficult to maneuver. It looked more like a gym locker room than a VIP facility. I was not impressed at all. The snacking area was fine and there was a decent assortment of things to nibble on.