The Singapore Airlines First Class Lounge Singapore Changi, Terminal 2
After deplaning, I was left with about half an hour to spend before the announced boarding time for my onward flight to Frankfurt. I could just have gone over to the adjacent gate where our plane was already parked, but I decided to make a short excursion to the lounge, primarily for the sake of getting a printed boarding pass for the onward flight and in order to take a look at it for this report. Unfortunately, the walk to the lounge turned out to be quite long, but as I already knew where it was located (the reception is shared with the adjacent business class lounge that I had already visited two years ago), I didn't waste any time having to first locate it.
The lounge in terminal 2 is actually quite well hidden, as you'll have to go upstairs behind a few shops and then walk down to the end of the gallery towards the lounge entrance.
I was welcomed at the reception (who scanned my mobile boarding pass, which is actually just a PDF file with a PDF418 barcode on it as opposed to the usual Aztec barcodes within an email or a pkpass file you'll usually get with most other airlines - clearly, the email boarding pass is meant to be printed out instead of being used from a mobile phone) and invited to the first class section of the lounge (which is to the right, while to the left, you'll find the business class section).
I asked the receptionist whether they could print a "proper" boarding pass for me (I was really not comfortable with the improvised solution of presenting the PDF boarding pass on my phone), and instead of just printing one on an ATB printer (they obviously don't have one in the lounge), they asked me to first connect to the lounge wifi, then send the boarding pass email to a specific email address and that they then would be able to access that email from their office computer in order to print it. While this very circumstantial (and time-consuming process) was going on, they asked me to sit down at one of their assistance desks right next to the lounge entrance. I finally received a printed copy of my boarding pass (after some issues with the printer) and proceeded into the lounge.
The lounge was more or less deserted, including me, there were only five people inside. And while I understand that T2 lounges are not Singapore Airlines' primary lounges for their long-haul customers, I was actually quite underwhelmed. At least at night, the first class lounge is similarly dusky as the adjacent business class lounge, and the differences were actually only minor - for example, the seating seemed to be a bit more spacious, and then they have an attended bar (which was already closed when I arrived). Other than that, the amenities seem to be more or less similar, and I even think that food-wise, the business class lounge offers a more extensive choice than the first class lounge.
I don't really understand why they actually need to maintain two separate lounges for business and first class customers in terminal 2, as I think it would probably make more sense to just have one lounge for all passengers. I would definitely not mind going to the business class side instead.
One thing I don't remember them to have in the business class sections are these phone cabins with an armchair and some kind of old-fashioned phone on a side table (which cannot be seen in the picture, unfortunately).
However, I remember the business class side to feature some kind of phone boxes with payphones inside. While I generally like the idea of sealed-off phone cabins, this one seems to be quite exaggerated. Additionally, most people just don't seem to bother to actually go into one of those booths when placing or taking calls, which sometimes makes airport lounges noisier than a call center.
Just like on the business class side, the amenities provided in the bathrooms are quite impressive:
However, I really didn't have much time to spend in the lounge (hence the few pictures) and headed back to the gate area only approximately 10 minutes after entering the lounge.
Verdict
Like I already said, I find this lounge rather expendable. I mean, having an attended bar in a lounge is a nice feature, but of little use when it closes down already early in the evening. And just declaring a lounge as "first class" while not really providing more than in a business class lounge doesn't really help in terms of quality either. I really wouldn't mind if they closed this lounge in favor of a larger general lounge for both business and first class cabins, as there is hardly anything to distinguish between the two. And they should definitely improve the lighting situation.