Originally Posted by B747-437B

I made my first visit to the lounge yesterday afternoon and was extremely disappointed by the entire experience.

I arrived at around 1240 for a 1420 flight, but was immediately told that I would need to leave in about 10-15 minutes so as to be at the gate for boarding promptly at 1305. I told them that was ridiculous since I didn't need 75 minutes to board in First Class, but she insisted that since it was an A380 I had to be there on time.

As a result, I also couldn't order anything from the menu (they said I needed at least 30 minutes to order and consume those due to the lounge being pretty full) and to my utter surprise they had no self-service or other ready snack options available. No nuts, no crisps, no packaged anything - nothing else to snack on if you have less than 30 minutes in the lounge. What a joke for a premium lounge.

One of the waiters suggested that I go to the old lounge instead which I did, and was able to have a quick bite from the buffet there instead. Went to the gate at 1325 and they were just starting boarding, after which we had a further 40 minute delay and only departed at 1500 (the boarding process was also a very poor experience but that is another story).

The entire experience is typically Etihad unfortunately. Over-promise and under-deliver. Very sad that the excellent on board product is complement by this disgraceful ground experience.