Originally Posted by
subject2load
Am very much in agreement with AnaTravel’s perspective here.
Specifically re catering : am conscious that Al Safwa food is not regarded as exceptional, though nor do I recognise the very poor quality as described by relaxonbarton. But in fairness, each to his own and you can only speak as you find.
All said & done, airport lounges - even the most luxurious - do not present themselves as high-end restaurants and they are, in essence, ultimately intended as waiting rooms in which to relax (or sometimes work !) ahead of a flight. And by that measure, I consider Al Safwa an excellent facility in terms of comfort, space, calm - and service (if actually needed). If you have ever used a BA First Class lounge at LHR (esp. T5) during a really busy period, or even their CCR, with noisy types shouting into their mobile, then Al Safwa by comparison is a true oasis.
1. It seems to be that the only fair BA comparison to the Al Safwa is to the CCR, given the access policy. They do a pretty good job of the catering, at least some of the time. And it is of course a very different environment to the Galleries First.
2. Some other lounges with similar access policies do in fact have considerably better catering; AF La Premiere lounge at CDG is widely known to have an incredible restaurant catered by Alain Ducasse (on my list but haven't been), the LX and LH FCLs have always been on point for meals, and even the EK FCL at T3 has a varied and impressive menu which is really quite good quality. So I would say that Al Safwa is in the minority when it comes to flagship First Class lounges at a home base amongst the top tier of airlines.
I absolutely love the hard product in Al Safwa, but it's equally appropriate to recognise that food quality remains an anomaly, both in terms of high quality on QR generally, and also amongst competitors.