The EK lounge at MEL is fabulous - great food, great staff. Actually apart from
the one at T3 DXB, which was too crowded, all the EK lounges are good. At DXB I usually do the long, long hike to T1, telling myself the exercise is good for me.

Do they still provide the same "extensive" service at the EK lounges in T1 like full buffet etc. ? I guess most passengers are directed to the T3 hub lounge now.

Shilla the buffet still exists. Its in the non smoking area downstairs. When compared to T3 its got fewer options ( T3 has multiple outlets )
The buffet upstairs is a barebones one ( but they figured that smokers dont eat that much :p )

The upside is that its not crowded and you can enjoy the time there.
T3 has better showers though ( relatively better )... IMHO if you have a long layover, take a shower in T3... then take a walk to relax in T1

Checked in at DXB, its 0204. As usual the T3 Business Class lounge is packed, no place to sit. Ended up walking to gate 122... sitting here in peace and enjoying a smoke.
Why is it that UAE/EK spent Billions on a new terminal but the lounge in their hub is not big enough to offer space to pax?
Nothing like a brisk walk dodging people on the concourse to enjoy a quite smoke.
Just one of those days when I ask myself if paying the extra $ for SQ would have been worth it.

A FEW MORE LOUNGE REVIEWS (last 3 weeks)
 

In no particular order..........

HKG (Emirates)^
If you are on the direct flight to DXB dont arrive too early, as there is not enough room for 2 flights, same issues as DXB T3 as its open so you get the nose and the heat. OK selection of food n booze. Friendly Staff, close to gates. Business Center.

BKK (Emirates)^^
Great, large enough, great sleection of food and booze, really efficient staff, poor airport views (looking out onto internal courtyard and carpark, faily close to gates. Business Center.

DXB (T3 First Class - Emirates)^^^
Lovely, again, open and noisy, but there are a few enclosed areas where you can sit, adjust the air con and block out the nose from downstairs, business centers, great selection of food and booze, good staff, smnoking area! :D

SFO (Red Carpet lounge):td:
Was told in Dubai and on flight I could use the lounge as I was in Transit and as an arriving First Class passenger with a connection. However, was NOT allowed to use it - so no review.

BOM (Emirates)^^
Not bad, good selection of food n booze, Business Center, plenty of seats, great staff, no views, close to gate, one of the best lounges in BOM airport

DXB (T3 Business Class - Emirates)^^
Hot, Sticky, busy, long queue at reception area, great choise of food and booze, fantastic smoking areas, pleny of coices of paces to sit, although you can feel like you are in a corridor, long queues for showers and no way of reserving a slot. Business Centers

LAX (Skyteam):td:
Awful! Bad all cold food "wet" due to ice they stick around the sandwiches, all drink in mini cans, mini glasses, no business center, nowhere to dry your hands in bathroom, reception staff great - if you speak Korean, view onto the airport, but blinds were asked to be kept down, long walk to the EK gate, hot. TV's on walls, no seats to watch them, ambiant lift music bellowing out though whole of the lounge - it was quieter outside!

KHI (CIS Lounge)^^
Surprisingly good, modern, clean, friendly, very attentative staff, not too far from the gate, fairly hard to find, gets busy, but has an upstairs too. Smoking area :D

Still having seen these, SYD and LHR are still high on the list as the "Best"^^^^

My picks
 

*****Best:

1. Emirates Auckland
2. Emirates Sydney
3. Emirates Brisbane
4. Emirates Melbourne
5. Emirates London
6. Emirates Singapore

Love all of these for obvious reasons, but most of all Emirates Auckland because the staff know me and take good care of my friends who often come away me. We love those girls. Everyone is a friend of the Emirates Lounge in Auckland!

***Good:

1. Manama's Delmon Lounge - bloody nice place, huge amounts of space, bar woman, food and booze flowing and it's good. Wonderful showers, the best ever in any lounge!
2. Muscat (Oman Air First Class Lounge) - A little old-school but bags of space, old leather sofas, plasmas, filled with other airlines but still feels empty?!
3. Beirut (Cedars Lounge) - Massive no mans land in the middle, separating airside views from food/booze area. Like the little Piper bottles they give out. Always full of French people. Food is woeful, but it's a cool place to people watch...this is Lebanon after all.
4. Emirates T3 Business DXB - Good food, space etc etc. We know this.

**Average (use it only because you can):

1. Cote d'Azur/Nice - .....y staff, no food, no atmosphere, little booze,
2. Tehran - Grotty bathrooms, woeful food but a good place to hang in overcrowded IKA Intl. Also like how it is downstairs, very secluded.
3. Sana'a - Nice staff but average offering, filled with smoke but again a paradise to the rest of the airport.
4. Sao Paulo - Varig Lounge is a simple affair, bored staff, no proper food. Very Red Carpet-ish.

BEST:

I would like to put in my vote for the Paris (CDG) EK-dedicated lounge.

Anytime I have been there, I've experienced nothing but very good food, and the very best service.

Plus, it is really nice to see your plane get to (or even better: stand at) the gate, getting ready for you to board. As the CDG EK-lounge is at ground level, one can observe all of the ground operations as the flight is getting ready. I think this really enhances the traditional "Travel"-experience, it's almost like those scenes from childrens' books about planes and airports.

Anytime I've been to EK-CDG, the plane pulled up at exactly the same gate, just meters in front of the lounge. Nice !!


CLASSIC:

I also love the old T1-22 lounge (DXB). It's been a while since I've been there, but the food offer used to be a bit different (and far more relaxed), and for sure this is THE place if you want to catch up with some sleep and take a quick "power-nap".


WORST:

Shanghai (PVG), especially on the very early morning flight. But then again at that time of the day I guess it doesn't really matter, as the winter flights leave at 6 in the morning, and the summer ones at 7... Besides, in all of my life I've never been to a good lounge in the whole of China, anyway. I think it must be quite a challenge to set up (and MAINTAIN) an airport lounge in the P.R.C.

.

The Lounge at JFK has the best food.. never gets too packed.. and was excellent when the a380 was there.

I like the DXB lounge though.. i smoke when i travel.. so i like to kick back with some drinks and chimney up the place.. decent selection of food and plenty of drinks..

The lounge at DUS wasn't too bad either.. but the food was a total bore.. dessert selection wasn't anything to write home about either.

We really do have to meet in a lounge one day!

can you elaborate more on the lounge in pvg? i am scheduled to run through there end of july and the flight departs at almost midnight. i imagine it will be a ghost town with respect to service. is it far from the gate, typically?

I can add to this, I did the same midnight flight a few months back.. It is not an EK lounge, it is shared by many other airlines, when I was there it was only EK and Turkish using it at that hour. bad selection of food and drinks. As lounges go there are worse, but there are MANY MORE better ones. Separate sides for First and Business Class, but they looked the same, there is however a smoking section, but you have to look for it, its kind of by reception, a tiny room with massive Air Con in the center. The whole place was shabby and needed a re-fit. (This was in October last year)

hah.. we definitely do!

Here is what FTers can expect at the EK Gate 122 lounge at midnight. This is supposed to be food, served by an airline that supposedly prides it self for the quality service it provides.
Burnt / Dry Pasta: It was like biting in to a rubber hose.
Cream & Pesto Sauce: Thats gone off because it was sitting on the buffet for too long
Chili : that's got bits of burnt ground beef from the bottom floating in it. You know when the ground beef coagulates but does not burn because it has been over cooked

Ended up getting a happy meal at McDonalds, because I really needed a happy meal after the EK food. Ok .... went to McDonalds because Irish Village was packed.

Before any one points out that there is always the option to use the T3 lounge, was there it was packed as usual with kids running around and babies crying.

http://i27.tinypic.com/293hfk4.jpg

Keep Discovering : Bad Food

A bit of Humanity: Let kids be kids - and be "Happy" about that !!!
 

Oh come on. It's nothing personal but... still.

1. First: I find it hard to believe that there was nothing else on offer at T1-22. E.g.: I know they used to serve cereals and yoghurts in separate portions, which must have been so much better than the stayed pasta (doesn't look too "happy" indeed) they served you here, or than the crap (did you get a picture??) that they serve at McD for that matter :rolleyes:.

2. Second: I really don't understand. Personally I have a far far far far far far far far far far far far higher tolerance towards kids and babies, than I have towards airline food (including the food the airlines serve at their lounges, and including the food EK serve onboard of their planes and at T3 - and which (generally) is amongst the best in the industry), or than I have any tolerance towards the crap they serve at McD for that matter :rolleyes:.

3. Third: Besides, it's not as if McD wouldn't have been "packed as usual with kids running around and babies crying." :rolleyes:.

.

The EK flight related lounges I have been to:

1.) LHR - excellent
2.) Munich - excellent
3.) Zurich - was a shared lounge when I was there in 2007 - poor
4.) Nairobi - Awful (shared lounge)
5.) JNB - Rennies lounge - awful. I understand EK lounge will be open soon and that will be most welcome. EK ground staff in JNB very rude/unpleasant/abnoxious.
6.) JFK - very good to excellent (food was better when the lounge initially opened)
7.) Chennai - Le Meridien lounge - Awful to pathetic
8.) Mumbai - have not been to the new EK lounge yet. Old one poor.