I deplaned from the short AF flight and the lovely Etihad PA was waiting just outside the jet bridge. As I was on a separate ticket, I had to collect my bags and re-check.
Walk to immigration took less than 5 minutes at LHR T4, which is a blessing. Also, I get to use the e-gates, so cleared immigration with zero wait.
Now ... AF does a fantastic job with P bags at CDG or in direct flights. But on this connecting flight, my bags were amongst the last to come down the belt, which is a bit annoying.
Luckily, the Etihad PA knew the luggage people and gave them the tags to confirm they were coming. She was just incredible, and has worked at LHR for decades (she even worked with the defunct Varig from Brazil, which I used to fly when I was a kid!).
With bags in hand, we walked up to the Etihad check-in, which was still closed. But a benefit of flying The Residence is that they go above and beyond, so my bags were tagged, photographed and kept at the office. My boarding passes were already issued and kept in a nice case.
Security had no wait at T4 and we walked to the No.1 lounge. I asked if we could stop at Boots for some essentials and that was of course no problem.
At the lounge, no check-in required and I was taken to the private VIP room (former Residence lounge) through a back door. I was asked if I wanted the doors to the rest of the lounge accessible (by movement sensor), which I declined. But the host just taught me how to program the door in case I wanted to visit the buffet area of the lounge.
I thought the VIP room was nicely appointed, with similar furniture to the AUH one. Some folks in the EY forum said the couch was hideous (those guys are difficult to please!) but I actually found it was ok, and it was very comfortable. There was also a private restroom with a shower.
At the dining table, there was a menu with a few à la carte options. I was not hungry, but ordered an aubergine bao, which was quite tasty. And had sparkling water as well.
After the meal, I took a shower, and that was not good ... pressure was super low for a gigantic rain shower head. Like, drops of water. I used the small handle, and even that one did not have good pressure.
At that point, I was tired, given that I had not slept much on the first AF flight. So the couch looked at me ... I looked at the couch. And we got comfy with about 90 minutes of solid sleep (I set my alarm clock).
Waking up, I had some more water, and my Etihad friend came around to take me to the flight. I requested to board first, and she said my butler was already waiting by the gate.
