The BEST lounge on the Emirates Network!
 

I would clearly put the JFK emirates lounge as their Number 1 lounge. here are my reasons:

1. The lounge is JUST THE RIGHT SIZE! it feels like a nice quiet and exclusive space (has privacy too!, with a cornered L design), with adequate seating, good lighting and tasteful decor!....plus plenty of reading material available AND panoramic views of the airport!...further, if you wanna watch TV, its always available.

2. There is always only max, 1 flight on the ground at any point in time.

3. NOW since the A380 has stopped service to JFK. all the problems with overcrowding are GONE!

4. The Service is excellent. Very prompt in clearing up your plates and topping off your champagne!

5. Those constantly annoying PA annoucements you hear in those Dubai Lounges?! Yup! NOT HERE IN JFK!....cause ofcourse...there is ONLY 1 flight to announce.....and the staff will gladly come and tell you in person when its time to board! :)

6. The bar selection, including wine, is the best across the network. If you noticed tiny details, you will notice that they offer you Red Bull (both regular and light!) at JFK whereas its nowhere to be seen at the DUBAI lounges.

7. The food selection is also excellent. One of the best Best breakfasts I've ever had was at THIS lounge. An amazing selection and excellent chefs!

8. Direct Boarding to the aircraft from the lounge!

Really! what more do you need?!?! I think I've said enough!

AND O! did i mention, that I've met Beyonce, Jay-Z, Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony & Michael Jordan in the lounge over a few trips?!?!? :):):)

NEW YORK= Celebrity Capital of the world! (after LAX!, ofcourse)

I am on your side! This EK-lounge is the best for me too.

I like it too.

Good food, great staff and easy access to aircraft.

Quiet too unlike the terrible noise at DXB T3 first class lounge with all the announcements not just from the lounge but from the concourse below too.

I like to try out the new lounges and I won't be getting to DXB T3 too early again unless I want my hearing damaged.

JFK for me too. It's actually the only lounge I look forward to relaxing in.

SYD is a good one too.
 

Despite a number of flights landing at one time, SYD is a great lounge, the best EK Lounge staff I have encountered by far, great food and selection of booze.

DXB T3 is great - only for the smoking section, you are treated human and even have drinks and small selection of food there.

I am currently in the CIP Lounge in Karachi - waiting for EK607 - I must say I am impressed - although not exclusive to EK, its surprisingly clean and facilities are way over what you would expect!

I am liking the EK lounge at LHR, love the fact that you can board from the lounge now....

I digress - SYD gets my vote.

EK in BNE = Great!
 

Among the lounges I've visited I like EK's beautiful new(ish) BNE lounge the best...

It's an awesome lounge with the following features:

-> Spacious & Big enough to seat 100 odd pax comfortably although it's usually not even 1/2 that busy ... so more room to relax in ^ :D

-> Direct boarding from the lounge for A380 & other aircraft

-> In the event direct boarding is not used never fear; the EK gate is just down the escalator outside the lounge's door ^

-> 360 degrees view of the tarmac

-> Excellent staff that cant do enough for the pax ^

-> Restaurant waiters also real good & eager to arrange whatever you ask for esp in the morning ... fresh omelettes etc :)

-> F pax get a welcoming letter with flight & captain/crew details at check-in or at the lounge.

Some pics :

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/phot...1113-5y2r.html

http://biztravelguru.com/blogs/busin...australia.aspx



DXB


The T3 VIP F section is very nice esp the inner seating area ...

The main F lounge not so much only liked the restaurant sofa seating area

I have heard BNE is a great lounge. I think if Auckland's airport had a good view it would be great as its always EMPTY!

Sydney's always pleasent because of the view, however DXB is just too busy.

LHR T3 is a cool lounge too..(although no cushions on the seats as is in the photos I saw in BNE)..lounge features...

- direct boarding from lounge (normally)
- great massage chair
- attentive waiters
- great views over south runway
- delicious Lindt choccies!
- free wi-fi

will post some pics soon wen i download them

EK HKG lounge - Review
 

Noise : Its open to the concourse, would be noisy during busy hours. PA can be a bit annoying.
Food: Pretty decent.... nice range of food. Not a lot but not to little either. Includes hot meals.
Privacy: Not half that bad considering that its a busy airport
Seating: Most uncomfortable seats evar... Take a look... http://img35.imageshack.us/my.php?im...kberrypict.jpg
Showers: One tiny shower. But its not half that bad as the lounge was pretty much empty.
Service: Great service, nice attentive staff... unlike the Business Class Lounge at DXB, where they keep on running around and are pressed for time.
Smoking: There is a smoking room right under the lounge. Take the elevator and turn left... ~50 ft down the hall way.

Finally - someone else takes smokers into consideration! The smoking rooms are not too bad in HKG, dependent on the time there I guess. I still say the DXB T3 lounge is the best ever for smokers though

Honestly I've never been able to check out the smoking rooms in T3. Lack of signage or am going blind :confused:

The one in T1 are horrible. Disclaimer : Am a smoker
T1 rooms are too smoky, too cramped. And god help the non smoker who sits next to you on the plane. A few minutes in there and you'll smell like an ashtray.

I refer to the smoking sections of the lounges. T3 EK Smoking Lounge is to the far right as you enter the Business Lounge, T1 is upstairs in the business lounge. Both are great for smokers as you still get the PC's to use, TV\s to watch, and food and beverages at the same time - and a lovely glass ashtray!

Better than "y"
 

Hi.
Best one we have been in is Gatwick. Lot's of room in eigther of the 2 main areas,exelant staff, 5 min walk to the gate. The only down side is the view. But I have to say, can't wait to next Feb out of LHR as it has views of the gate and runway...... little boy's (48) and aircraft HEAVEN.

i guess JFK wins on the overall! :)

Review of EK-T1 lounge at DXB:
I've read lots of comments about this one, never a review. Here goes.

Location: Sticks! After dodging the Duty free gwakers in T3, and the loooooooonnnnnnggggg walk. Made it to gate 122 ( Flight departs from gate 200ish, gotta walk back ). The T3 lounge was like a zoo... took five steps in, saw the cahos and decided to walk to somewhere where I can eat in peace.
Ambience: Pretty good... its dark upstairs
Food: Awesome, not a lot of choice but the luxury of eating in peace and not having the feeling that am sitting on the concourse is good
Service: thin
Smoking area: nice...

Time to run... have 25 mins left till departure and need to run to T3

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.

Oh! and have mentioned previously about the EK T3 F lounge in Dubai.........

main problem is it's very noisy in places where you overlook the terminal. The announcements lack any clarity whatsoever.

Shower cubicles are quite bad.

Food/drink and space in the lounge very good. Those mini snack sized pastries are delicious.

Wine cellar/shop very good - if there is an attendant. Most times, there is the "closed" sign on the door. Happened last two visits atleast. Wonder why?

Cannot disagree with you on any of those points.

Yes, there was the chili, spicy fish, some thing that looked like steamed veggies. ( Note: this was upstairs, did not bother going downstairs after almost choking on rubbery pasts ).

Yes, McDonalds is full of kids. In fact I ordered two happy meals and gave one toy to a kid on the next table because the kid wanted the zebra from Madagascar. Gave the second toy to the EK lounge reception lady, requesting that she give it to the Chef. The whole point of the lounge is that it does not have the atmosphere of the concourse. There is no quite area in the T3 lounge.

Despite the food, stayed in the gate 122 lounge because it was peaceful. Got some work done before they called the flight.

McDonalds review : Just to satisfy you :) Food: Horrible as usual, not sure if the patty came from a cow or from a lab petri dish. The bun was dry as usual, and the fries were the standard fries. But the thing with McDonalds is its standardized where ever you go. A Big Mac tastes the same where ever you eat it. And people entering a McDonalds expect _______ ? Cheap food thats standardized, nothing more, nothing less.
EK != McDonalds , Maybe Easy Jet or Ryan Air, IMHO not EK. :D

Got to be the F lounge in good old Dubai

JFK is a good one. Even Bombay has a new one and its very good. The new T3 or T2 depending on whom u ask is terrible. Probably the worst in the EK network. Their older lounges in the old terminal are better.