Was passing through T1 en-route to Brussels this afternoon and had a quick poke around the new Gate 5 lounge. It’s certainly a lot smarter than the old Gate 14 lounge, but I think that one of the reasons I liked the old lounge was because it was nothing too flash and the girls on the desk were always so friendly.

It was always quite nice to curl up on the sofa there with a book and a few too many red wines on a Sunday evening, but I digress.

Managed to snap a few photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wainhou...7619023478717/

There’s a really strong smell of new carpet when you walk in the new lounge. They’d obviously been working flat out to get it finished, and in bmi style haven’t quite managed it. The showers weren’t working yet, neither were the computers, and in the gents loo, one tap was almost falling off, and there was a broken toilet seat lying on the floor. They were having some problem with the public address system, which meant there were no boarding calls. After a couple of glasses of champagne I nearly drifted off to sleep whilst lying on one of the day-beds in the sun, so missed flights could be a problem if they don't get that fixed.

Can confirm that there is an Aga and a fire! There was just soup on the Aga when I passed through, but that was a lot nicer than stale sandwiches.

Some of the fixtures feel a little flimsy, so I’m not sure how the lounge will look after a bit of wear and tear. Can forgive all the problems though, as usual the lounge staff were lovely and coped remarkably well with the haphazard finishing. I guess its the lovely staff that keep me going back to bmi regardless.

Had to trek all the way back through the terminal to gate 21 for the little Embraer 145 back to Brussels. Passed the old lounge which looked really sad all closed up. Oh well, things move on.