So, we started at BHX in the Servisair lounge. Comfortable place with a good view of the apron. Small nibbles and sandwich choice and a limited wine selection. Score:

Ambiance/view – 8/10
Food – 4/10
Drink – 5/10

Our flight to FRA was 30 minutes late but we still had 4+ hours to explore.

Part 1. Tower lounge
We arrived at B32 (no bus!) and walked into the terminal. I went to the business desk at the service centre near B2 and showed our BPs. The very polite and confident lady said,
“ok, just go around here to B42 and you will see our new SEN lounge there”.
I pointed out the 4 hours and said we wanted to explore FRA and go to the Tower Lounge. Top marks to the lady, she just frowned a bit and said,
“let me think, the best way is to walk over there…. no no, go around to the right here and take the skyline to A, then walk the 100 metres to the Tower lounge, good luck!".

It sounded so simple.

So we entered the maze of twisting passages, all alike!

A short walk got us to the Skyline escalators but of course we went up the wrong one….. to go to A it is the FIRST escalator on your left, not the second! Onto the Skyline and over to A we went, great views of aircraft and we were able to get our bearings. Off the Skyline and the trouble started…

Security check point… a big one with very ferocious looking people.

I went up to the first lady who asked for BPs. She frowned and said,
“you are going to GRU, you are in the wrong place”.
“Well” I replied, “we are here because it is a 4 hour wait for us and we wanted to visit the Tower Lounge, may we go through please?”.
“No” she replied, “this terminal is for departures to the USA, you will have to go back to B."
We put on our best ‘we were so looking forward to this’ expression on our faces and I pleaded… she hesitated (she looked unsure of her ground) and called over a supervisor. He listened to us and said,
“but most of the USA flights have left and the Tower Lounge is probably closed”…
excitedly I said, “but it COULD be open…., and we would really like to see it”.
“OK, this time you can go through” he replied, what he meant by ‘this time’ I was not sure but I wasn’t going to argue… we went through security… belts, shoes, false teeth, hip replacement… all went into the bins, and hanging onto our trousers so they wouldn’t fall down we entered the secure zone.

The terminal was indeed in the process of shutting down and the last 2 flights were boarding, we walked at high speed to the Tower lounge, up the lift and into the Lounge. A surprised lady said,
“we are closing”
I went through our story and she said.
“ok come in but I am afraid that everything is being put away”.
So no food or drinks to peruse but WHAT A VIEW! Amusingly the world clock showing London was 2 hours out. Score:

Ambiance/view – 10/10
Food – ?
Drink – ?

When we came out, the route further along A was closed and shut down so we went back to the Skyline and back to B.

Part 2. C14
On the way, we were looking for “Out of Frankfurt” and completely missed the fact that it is in B close to B41. Instead we went through immigration into Germany. We stopped at the “Connection” Bar because we were hot and thirsty. This was the open public area and quite crowded. The beer was ok (Konig Pils) but the staff rude and terminal too warm. Score:

Ambiance/view – 3/10
Food – ? (but looked like it would be a 4/10)
Drink – 6/10

By the way, later we passed the Goethe Bar inside B… it looked MUCH better. If I were a non status pax in B then I would end up there… ambiance, food and drink all looked pretty good.

We then went over to C to have a go at the SEN lounge at C14. The checker at the start of immigration was very friendly and when I tried explaining our BPs he shrugged and said “of course you can come in here”. Through immigration turn left and along the long twisty passage!
Just before the lounge was a security screening point. The staff were a joy and most professional, they laughed about our quest and pointed us on on our way.
At the SEN lounge the Nice Lady at the door looked at our BPs in horror,
“do you know how far you have to go to get to your gate?” she asked.
We explained our quest and she laughed,
“go inside and enjoy” was her reply.
We really liked this lounge, perhaps because there were not many people in it, but there is a good view of the taxi-way, runway and apron. There was a chilli available along with the usual frankfurters and pretzels. What we particularly liked was a bottle of Entre Deux Mers…. Very tasty, Score:

Ambiance/view – 8/10
Food – 7/10
Drink – 8/10

We looked at our watches…. 2 hours to go, so we left the lounge for the long walk back… no moving walkways in this direction!

Part 3. B42
Where C meets B we found a short staircase that by-passed the exit and sent us straight towards B back past the escalators up to the Skyline. We should have taken this route on our way to C rather than go outside, but no harm done.
Back through security to enter B and over to the new lounge opposite B42. This is a completely new area B Senator lounge. Light and open with a spa. It was quite full but there was still plenty of space. We found a place by a window and had a good view of the apron but the view of the runway was restricted.
Having couches didn't seem to work because people were lying on them meaning that nobody else would sit there. It didn't matter to us because there was plenty of room elsewhere. Had the lounge been fuller this may have been an issue.
One thing we noticed in all of the lounges was that the windows have a horizontal glazing bar that is at head height when you are sitting so it really obstructs the view….. silly architects!
We went in search of food and drink…. The food was the same as C but the wine selection more limited. Score:

Ambiance/view – 6/10
Food – 7/10
Drink – 6/10

I decided on one final attempt at finding “Out of Frankfurt” so I took a walk back to the centre of B, past the Goethe Bar which was serving some fine looking meals and beer, I will go back there one day! After some searching I found that “Out of Frankfurt" appears to have disappeared behind a temporary wall, no wonder I couldn’t find it!

Eventually our flight was called and off we went, on the way to the gate I asked at the business lounge in the centre of B40-48 if there was a view of the aircraft. I was told no so was glad we didn’t waste our time on that one….. (was she correct?).

Well organized priority lane and easy boarding of a TAM flight to GRU (first time on TAM). We were in business and I was stunned by the pre-flight nibbles…. Some bubbly wine with a small dish of heated nuts including peanuts….. what a joy. We were really impressed by the service on board but that is another story.

Conclusions.

We now feel much more confident about FRA and some of the twisty passages no longer look the same! Security check points were efficient and polite and apart from our near miss to get into the A area staff were quite happy for us to wander about. We decided not to include the business lounges in this itinerary because it would have made the lounge crawl too long and frantic, maybe next time.

I would love to spend some more time in the Tower Lounge, and in our opinion the Senator lounge at C14 was better than that at B42.

Well done LH staff for your help and polite attitude, you are all a credit to the company.