Mauricio23

This is my first time in the YVR domestic MLL post so-called renovation My immediate impression is that Air Canada could have spared itself the expense and us the aggravation. In order of increasing slap-in-the-customer's-face value:

- The carpets are the same old tired ones, for all I can tell.
- The red chairs and outdoor food court tables sure look classy.

These first two are really petty gripes. It gets better:

- The quality of coffee continues to go down. Van Houtte must die. I t is so bad that I am officially back to paying for Starbucks - and that is saying something.
- There are probably 50% more armchairs crammed in the same space as before.

Cherry on the cake:

- It is bloody hard to find an electrical outlet.

Now, what the hell does AC think a business traveler do in the MLL? Haven't they yet gotten the message? WE WANT OUTLETS! PUT THE DARN ELECTRICAL OUTLETS BACK IN! In this lounge, each set of facing armchairs used to have its own set of outlets before the renos (right next to the dinosaur credit-card operated phones). Now the outlets are only on the walls, and usually taken by the first few pax. I have had to run my extension cord from a center armchair to get power - two people have already almost tripped on it. WHAT IS THE FIRGGING DEAL WITH REMOVING ELECTRICAL OUTLETS? Did BC Hydro just hike your rates that you can't feed our laptops for 30 minutes?

Today, for the first time, I felt I would be better off outside the MLL than in it. In fact, that's where I'm heading for a proper breakfast.

will5404

Haven't visited the YVR MLL, but I have tried the alleged coffee at other MLL's. I wish AC would partner with Second Cup to get some decent coffee in the MLL's, or if they must Starbucks.

Mozzarella

Coffee is really a personal preference. I find Starbucks coffeenormally way too harsh and have drink Timmy's all my life so when I think of coffee, I normally like Tim Hortons. I probably will be in the minority but it just goes to the "I can't please everyone" adage.

I'm not so sure I'd go to the extreme of the "worst renovation ever" on the YVR Dom MLL.

More chairs is a good thing. I've spent far too many days in that MLL standing without a seat.

FrequentFlyerYYZ

They also need to do a better job of making sure the quiet area is treated differently. A few little "no cell phone signs" aren't much help when you're trying to have a pre-red eye nap next to a group of a-holes acting like it's last call at Hooter's (and with lots of other empty seats available).

How hard would it be to fence off the section and put a prominent "quiet area" sign right at the front? GO Transit's silent train system works, so this would be the same kind of thing.

Mauricio23

Coffee is indeed a personal preference. You may like it brewed or expressed. Your thing might be dark or light. Tim Horton's coffee is still coffee. What comes out of the machine at MLLs is not. It is impossible to detect the faintest trace of an arabica bean in it. To put it in perspective, I would take the coffee you get in the Y cabin of a domestic flight any day.

More chairs are not a deal breaker, but they reduce the value of the MLL. However, smack in the middle of the morning rush hour, a lot of chairs were empty. Still, none of the empty ones (and most of the taken ones) had an electrical outlet next to them. No outlets *are* a deal breaker. The business area in the YVR domestic MLL is also a joke. I don't know how much money they spent in this reno, but it is actually a downgrade from the way it was before.

The worst part is that, since the YVR domestic terminal has been thoroughly renovated for the olympics, now you can find plenty of outlets and comfortable seats *outside* the MLL (not to speak of decent breakfast options). Had I known this, I would not not have gone in the MLL in the first place. The quality of the place is that bad.

I am now sitting in the YUL international MLL and the difference with YVR domestic is night and day. A complete shame.

tlvancouver

I found the lack of outlets an issue as well. Also was surprised that the quiet lounge was between the food and the television lounge (during playoffs the noise is particularly an issue!)

I wasn't looking for quiet, but did empathize with one of the people who was clearly trying to chill out.

YZF_Elite

I was there a month or so ago for the first time post renovation and had a similar shoulder shrugging experience. I thought that it really just looked like it did before, no major enhancements other than upgraded monitors for the internet.

Mauricio23

I visited the CDG and YUL domestic lounges today. Both are head and shoulders above YVR domestic. I sent AC customer relations a lengthy email detailing the differences and requesting YVR DOM be brought up to standard.

cloudcuckooland

I agree with most of these except I have no comment on the coffee as I'm not a coffee drinker.

I was also disappointed that that bar area disappeared; I liked the extra spce for eating while having a laptop or newspaper out. I had to pry myself in the smaller counter space on the other side. I did not see the other end of the lounge, but the TV area was so-so (and, of course, a lot of those new chairs faced away from the hockey game).

spddemn

Well atleast the washroom doesn't smell like an outhouse at the lake any more.

lcohen999

CDG is not anything to write home about

old school domestic feel lounge....in a bunker...

WestonC

Well I'm glad it is not just me! I was in the new DOM MLL a couple of weeks ago after arriving in from an overnight from HNL.

I looked around and figured I must have not gone into the MLL that had been renovated - assumed there was another one.

And YES YES YES - get some power outlets! What a crazy setup.

Much easier to sit outside the MLL and use the free internet and power outlets in the airport itself.

The Tsar

The 'renovated' YVR lounge is no better than before. And the shower rooms havent been touched, and are as grotty as previously.
I agree with the other complaints.
I hope they didnt spend any money on this 'renovation' because if they did they sure got ripped off.

Mauricio23

I agree that aesthetically it is not quite with the times. But it is functional - you can always plug your computer in and grab some decent food. Neither are guaranteed at YVR domestic (in fact, the decent food part is almost not guaranteed).

Also, the CDG decor actually matches the location very well. The YVR one is about 20 years behind the rest of the airport.

zkzkz

I'm trying to decide which airports to go through for both Intl->US and US->Intl flights. I've done the US->Intl side in YVR a few weeks ago and found the Intl terminal really quite nice. The MLL was nothing spectacular -- arguably the terminal itself was more pleasant and less crowded.

What about the Intl->US side? Is the transborder terminal comparable with the Intl terminal or is it less pleasant? And does the transborder MLL have the same problems as the domestic MLL described in this thread?

Is it better to do Intl->US in YYC or YYZ? The YYZ transborder lounge was quite nice and the showers were great.