The Emirates First Class Lounge at DXB T3
Upon deplaning, a distinctly non First Class experience. There was no First Class meet and greet, no EK representative nor signs for much of anything. Also, precious few flight/gate monitors. And since our flight was not for 6 hours, there was no indication of what gate or what terminal. No EK representative. No signs to Terminal 3. No priority security. No clue where to go. It's OK if you know the layout. But having only been here one time before, arriving and departing from Terminal 3, not so much. I knew I wanted to go to Terminal 3 but our choices were A, B or C, not 1, 2 or 3. We eventually found the First Class lounge for the B gates, but it was clearly the old one. We did finally get the info I wanted... our JNB gate was A4 and the Terminal 3 is the A gates. Jeez, is it that difficult?? Back down to the train and finally to T3 and the largest First Class Lounge on the planet.
Since we both declined the on board shower, our first stop was to get a shower... yet another distinctly un-first class experience. I can put up with a small and cramped shower rooms, but no ventilation or air conditioning in the shower rooms not so much. And the shower temp setting are either hot or scalding hot. It was so hot that one needed a shower after you got done with the shower. When you have to open your shower room door to get some cool air, something is wrong. Not even close to LH or TG shower standards, or even AA for that matter.
It took 15 minutes after the shower to cool down and become comfortable again. Next on the agenda was food... breakfast, although lunch would have nicer. But is was only 9AM and we didn't want to wait until the lunch was served.
After breakfast, we headed for the Quiet room and set up camp for the next few hours, where we were the only customers today. With padded walls, this place is eerily quiet, with no announcements or interruptions save for the call to prayer.