Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Princeton, NJ; Lviv Ukraine
Programs: UA 3.6MM, AF/KL Lifetime Plat, BA Gold, AA 1MM, IC Spire RA, Kimpton IC, Marriott Plat, et alia
Posts: 2,732
I take it that the Novia lounge is a contracted third party lounge.
The ST EP lounge access privileges apply only to a ST-member-owned lounge. Contracted lounges are not obliged to accept ST members. This is the case in virtually all "contracted lounge" situations on all three airline alliances.
If other ST airlines offer OTHER AIRLINES' ST EP members lounge access to their lounges, that is nice of them, but they are doing something they are not obliged to do.
There are some non-US-based programs (say AF/KL's FlyingBlue) program where lounge access is a feature of the program. So if you're traveling on AF/KL and have a FlyingBlue Platinum, you should have access to the contracted lounge. But if you are using a Continental, then they would not be so obliged.