bruce80
Jul 8, 11, 9:12 am
As some of you might already know, a new first class lounge (or better a first class part within the existing lounge) has opened recently (on monday, July 4th to be precise, after more than six months of renovation). Thus, after Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, and Berlin, Cologne is now the fifth station within the DB network to offer a dedicated lounge area exclusively for first class passengers.
As I am writing this, I am sitting in said lounge and would like to share some remarks with you. First of all, the first class part is located on an open balcony above the ticket office (the former TV area) and the noise from below can reach quite bothersome levels (while the rear part, where the toilets have been significantly enhanced, is still available to bahn.comfort status holders and seems much quieter. Due to the fact that most people don't know about the first class area yet there seems to be a bit of confusion among both staff members and visitors as to the part of the lounge thy are entitled to use. Despite the fact that it's friday afternoon there are only 9 people in the first class area which is able to accomodate up to 30 people. Staff are friendly, but the delivery of ordered drinks takes quite a while - self service in the non-first area is definitely quicker. The main difference is that you can order a little snack (which is a tiny pie e of lavender and peach cake today) and a wider choice of drinks. Sadly, there's no list of beverages present (which used to be in the Frankfurt first class lounge) so you don't really know what you could possibly order.
As a result of the renovation, the entire lounge looks a bit more cramped than before and I'm not really sure whether the first class "gimmick" is really worth it, especially since first class passengers are seated in the noisiest part of the entire lounge.
As I am writing this, I am sitting in said lounge and would like to share some remarks with you. First of all, the first class part is located on an open balcony above the ticket office (the former TV area) and the noise from below can reach quite bothersome levels (while the rear part, where the toilets have been significantly enhanced, is still available to bahn.comfort status holders and seems much quieter. Due to the fact that most people don't know about the first class area yet there seems to be a bit of confusion among both staff members and visitors as to the part of the lounge thy are entitled to use. Despite the fact that it's friday afternoon there are only 9 people in the first class area which is able to accomodate up to 30 people. Staff are friendly, but the delivery of ordered drinks takes quite a while - self service in the non-first area is definitely quicker. The main difference is that you can order a little snack (which is a tiny pie e of lavender and peach cake today) and a wider choice of drinks. Sadly, there's no list of beverages present (which used to be in the Frankfurt first class lounge) so you don't really know what you could possibly order.
As a result of the renovation, the entire lounge looks a bit more cramped than before and I'm not really sure whether the first class "gimmick" is really worth it, especially since first class passengers are seated in the noisiest part of the entire lounge.