New lounge in SVO!
May 11, 2009, 2:42 pm
#1
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Soon to be LEGT
Posts: 10,928
New lounge in SVO!
Not sure whether to post this here or the Skyteam forum.
Was flying OK from SVO this afternoon. Went up to the DATEd lounge, gave my invite and proceeded happily (listening to music on my HTC) into its interior, only to get the girl at reception run after me and say that I should not enter the lounge. My bemused bitterness ('what do you mean? Is this not a Skyteam lounge? I am elite plus...' - didn't quite get to giving her the full DYKWIA treatment, but came very close!) turned into sheer curiosity when she said "Czech Airlines use the Amber lounge, which is brand new". So I thought, alright, it's not like I have got that much to lose, and followed her directions to "opposite gate 8". Was fairly annoyed to find a large amount of stairs leading down to the lounge, but the facility itself was pretty pleasant. Snack and drink offerings comparable to DATE (but no diet cola for some reason), but the environment was a lot more pleasant (well, at least after I found the TV remote and pressed MUTE in order to stop getting distracted by a Soviet action movie involving the destruction of the tail of an Aeroflot plane on landing at SVO- I kid you not!) and it obviously was far less crowded.
The lounge is operated by a private company (not SU and not the airport management itself) and used by OK, AZ, and I think I spotted one or two other airlines (maybe OA?). Our flight was delayed a bit; meaning that the place became seriously deserted after the FCO flight started boarding- and I did manage to get a couple of pics, will try to upload them soon.
To answer apoivre's question before he gets to ask it, there is a decent-sized smoking section which is separated from the rest of the lounge by a floor-to-ceiling glass divider. ^
Verdict: modern, adequate but forgettable; at least it's quiet and you're guaranteed a seat and some privacy.
Was flying OK from SVO this afternoon. Went up to the DATEd lounge, gave my invite and proceeded happily (listening to music on my HTC) into its interior, only to get the girl at reception run after me and say that I should not enter the lounge. My bemused bitterness ('what do you mean? Is this not a Skyteam lounge? I am elite plus...' - didn't quite get to giving her the full DYKWIA treatment, but came very close!) turned into sheer curiosity when she said "Czech Airlines use the Amber lounge, which is brand new". So I thought, alright, it's not like I have got that much to lose, and followed her directions to "opposite gate 8". Was fairly annoyed to find a large amount of stairs leading down to the lounge, but the facility itself was pretty pleasant. Snack and drink offerings comparable to DATE (but no diet cola for some reason), but the environment was a lot more pleasant (well, at least after I found the TV remote and pressed MUTE in order to stop getting distracted by a Soviet action movie involving the destruction of the tail of an Aeroflot plane on landing at SVO- I kid you not!) and it obviously was far less crowded.
The lounge is operated by a private company (not SU and not the airport management itself) and used by OK, AZ, and I think I spotted one or two other airlines (maybe OA?). Our flight was delayed a bit; meaning that the place became seriously deserted after the FCO flight started boarding- and I did manage to get a couple of pics, will try to upload them soon.
To answer apoivre's question before he gets to ask it, there is a decent-sized smoking section which is separated from the rest of the lounge by a floor-to-ceiling glass divider. ^
Verdict: modern, adequate but forgettable; at least it's quiet and you're guaranteed a seat and some privacy.
May 11, 2009, 2:58 pm
#2
Join Date: Aug 2005
Programs: SK*G
Posts: 132
IIRC it is the same lounge LH used before they moved to DME, so not really 'brand new'. The lounge is indeed quite pleasant, but in the end your verdict sums it up quite accurately:
May 12, 2009, 10:58 am
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Soon to be LEGT
Posts: 10,928
Had it been particularly good at some point in the past? It seemed to me that, apart from the addition of more extensive f&b offerings, there was nothing they could do to improve the lounge- e.g. there doesn't seem to be any space to install showers or a lift or a window for some natural light, and the seating was comfortable enough. I'm struggling to see how the same space could have been appreciably better at any point in time!
May 12, 2009, 11:29 am
#5
Join Date: May 2003
Location: ATL/MOO (Many Others Often)
Programs: DL GM (2MM), Lifetime Marriott Plat, Hilton Gold, IHG Plat
Posts: 2,456
It is impossible for me to describe accurately the joy with which I discovered and starting reading this thread only to land right back where I started from by the time I got to the last post before mine.
The wait continues for SVO3's new and hopefully more than adequate offerings...
The wait continues for SVO3's new and hopefully more than adequate offerings...
May 12, 2009, 9:51 pm
#6
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Moscow
Programs: DL GM and so on
Posts: 1,200
May 20, 2009, 1:40 pm
#7
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: DFW
Programs: OWE AA EXP;*A TK Gold; Marriott LTT; Hyatt Globalist; IHG Plat; National VIP
Posts: 3,097
It is impossible for me to describe accurately the joy with which I discovered and starting reading this thread only to land right back where I started from by the time I got to the last post before mine.
The wait continues for SVO3's new and hopefully more than adequate offerings...
The wait continues for SVO3's new and hopefully more than adequate offerings...
Jul 4, 2009, 6:36 pm
#8
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 606
That's what I don't quite understand. I'm OneWorld Sapphire, which gives me permission to entry any OW operated lounge at SVO. Assuming, this new one is called Sheremetyevo Classic Lounge, and old one is DATE- which one is the better one, and why Skyteam passengers are not allowed to go to DATE while OneWorld are allowed to enter any one of both? 
Jul 5, 2009, 8:38 am
#9
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: MOW
Programs: KLM Flying Dutchman forever, bmi Diamond Club (is there a theme here?), LH, BA, EK, DL nobody
Posts: 1,877
I don't really think there's any OW-operated lounge at SVO. These are all contract lounges. The only two OW carriers flying into SVO are AY and MA so I guess you can only enter the lounge(s) they use, if any. (Oh, and the SU flight to HKG is a codeshare with CX so technically CX "flies" here as well.)
Skyteam elites use the lounge the operating carrier designates. As a Flying Blue Gold I would go to one lounge or the other depending on with which carrier I flew that day - SU or OK or AF or KL or AZ or DL and so on.
Back to topic - I just had a talk with someone who had been to the yet-to-open lounges at SVO3/Terminal D and none of these have tarmac views
Skyteam elites use the lounge the operating carrier designates. As a Flying Blue Gold I would go to one lounge or the other depending on with which carrier I flew that day - SU or OK or AF or KL or AZ or DL and so on.
Back to topic - I just had a talk with someone who had been to the yet-to-open lounges at SVO3/Terminal D and none of these have tarmac views