thrwwrtlvsn

When I checked the lounge last week during the evening there were hot meals proposed (fried cod, carrots and vegetarian quiche). I couldn’t check the lounge properly due to time constraints but it was pretty packed.

HalconBCN

I have visited the lounge twice during the weekend. Overall very impressed.

- This is probably the best shorthaul lounge in the EU right now considering the range of services available: hot food, spa, nap area, etc. Not quite as good as the 2E-L lounge, but certainly close.
- The food is streets ahead of any KLM lounge in Amsterdam.
- The airy design gives the place a calm feeling.
- Staff are working hard to deliver a great experience, keep it up.

Nevertheless, there are a few points to improve
- Signage to the lounge within the terminal is not great: when you come from a bus gate there is no sign upon arrival.
- The design of the lounge feels to me somehow a bit sterile. I miss some more vibrant colors and plants. And a more French (AF) touch. Maybe a wall with some historic AF posters. See the MEA lounge in BEY as a good example. The neutral design canvass will allow the space to be updated with ease.
- The spiral staircase looks good and attracts attention (which was probably the design intention, to encourage people to go to the upper level). Nonetheless, the stairs are badly designed with shallow steps that are hard to walk on, and difficult to bring luggage on. Hence downstairs remains much more packed than upstairs. I recommend sitting upstairs by the way, it's much better, but you might need to go downstairs in case of missing food items!

Bottom line: Salon Air France a massive improvement on what came before. AF is to appluaded for not using covid as an excuse to cut back on quality.

Goldorak

I agree. I visited this lounge for the 1st time on Friday and was very impressed. Champagne (Laurent Perrier) was everywhere available in the lounge. The staff looked very happy and proud. In the Ultimate corner, they were coming regularly to propose champagne or other drinks and some warm items as soon as they were available. As an example, they bring me a delicious croque monsieur 😋.




I agree with previous comments done about the Ulti corner that we lack a nice view as on the other side, but it is a great improvement as the area is large, with still a lot of natural light, protected from invaders , and the small meeting room is a great addition (they should have made 2 IMO).
Many pictures have been posted already, but I am posting mine too

The entrance




The Ultimate area








The main part of the lounge




























power ports and USB chargers are everywhere including in the tables




and to finish, the lounge seen from outside

Goldorak

So, congrats to AF for such a nice achievement. As said by another poster, this is certainly one of the nicest lounge (to not say the nicest) for Schengen flights in Europe.

blairvanhorn

Great photos, thanks for sharing.

Xandrios

Thanks for the pictures. If I'm not mistaken the above is the main food station, right? I don't know at what time this picture was taken (mid day it looks like?), but for us regular 'non ulti's' that does look quite meager in terms of options. A few cold cuts and some sweets on the other side?

CyBeR

I'm impressed -- I was trying to work out from the pictures where the lounge was located in the building before realising they built an entirely *new* building specifically for it.

flying_blue_white_red

The hot food options are (should be) in the 2 stock pots in front of the lady.

NickB

I enjoyed my first visit to the lounge this weekend and fully agree with the substance of your post but this particular bit made me smile: it is not exactly setting the bar very high.

sfvoyage

Thanks for the photos and report. I will be flying SFO-CDG-BLQ next month in J. Is it possible to find out in advance which AF terminal and lounge I can use at CDG?

CyBeR

Your SFO flight will arrive almost certainly at 2E and your BLQ flight will depart from 2F. You can use either.

SkyteamEP

Can you actually go to 2E departure when your outgoing flight leaves from 2F?

sfvoyage

I have the same question. If landing in 2E, do I clear passport control and then make my way over to 2F for my connecting flight, in which case would it be better to use the lounge in 2F? Both lounges have the same F&B selection anyway, right?

CyBeR

Oh that's a good point, I forget sometimes that CDG separates them (very much unlike AMS).

The other way around it should be possible as there's just a set of stairs you walk up in 2F to get back to the departure level but I'll admit to being unsure if that is possible in 2E.

In any case I feel like this new lounge is enough of an upgrade over the old one that you'd not want to avoid it and would want to use the lounge in the terminal you depart from.

For the reason alone of having to clear passport control + the time it takes to go from 2E to 2F I would definitely pick the 2F lounge regardless of if the other one is accessible or not. I would not want to exit the lounge only to get stuck in an immigration queue much longer than expected *and* still have to walk the considerable distance to the other terminal.

canadavid

It used to be possible when making the connection 2L—> 2F (did it once) but one need to know exactly where it is. You can not just follow the signage.
However, with the new lounge, I am not sure it is necessary now. The new one has now a nice offer (better shower, food & drink equivalent, various seating areas, clarins space etc…).