MichielR

14 reserved seats is not quite the separate lounge with (wishful thinking mode on) better food/drink/quiet space I thought had been promised on a number of occasions.

This appears to be where the bar/buffet was in the old lounge.
Overlooking the gates used by LH most of the time.

rcs85551

Brussels Airlines will open their new lounge "The Loft" at BRU Airport tomorrow, October 24 2014. After half a year of renovations and construction work, Brussels Airlines is finally offering a modern and up-to-date Lounge concept at their A-Pier. It is a huge step up from the previous offerings and the interim lounge in the Basement.

Today, I had the opportunity to check out "The Loft" prior to the Lounge being open for all passengers starting tomorrow. I tried my best to give you a good translation of my original review as posted on Vielfliegertreff.



"The Loft" is located at Brussel Airport's A-Pier accross from gate 42 on the first floor. The Lounge opens at 5:00am and remains open until the last SN departure at 9:00pm. In addition to Business Class and Miles&More status customers, all Star Gold cardholders have access as well as eligible Germanwings customers thanks to BRU being a station with the BEST product being offered.

Brussels Airlines is expecting more than 300.000 guests to use the Lounge each year - and a study has shown that the average time spent at the lounges in BRU is 74 minutes per visit.

The new lounge has a capacity of 300 guests and covers 1240 qm of space. The airport has already set aside the space right next to it (towards the connector) for a possible expansion if needed.


Welcome to Brussels Airlines' Business Class lounge!


The Star Gold sign is old School, the full list of the Airline Partners using the lounge is quite modern


The lounge branding behind the reception


Area near the reception with lockers that were fully thought through: They feature a power outlet inside, so that one can charge a phone or laptop while it's being stored.


View of the lounge on the left hand side (towards the pier)


Cold buffet in the center section of "The Loft"


Müsli, jam, a variety of bread for breakfast


Pastries for breakfast


Small hot lunch items: Cheese rolls and Quiche Lorraine; apple tart and waffles which are served in the afternoon


A lounge tailor-made for coffee junkies: several coffee machines all over the lounge


Four beers on tap - Stella Artois, Leffe Blonde, Leffe Brune, Hoegaarden


Other alcoholic drinks...
Wines: Vina Oria (Garnacha) 2013, Cotes du Rhône Les Argutières 2013, L'Orangeraie (Chardonnay) 2013, Les Salices (Sauvignon) 2013, Gris Grenache; Cava Dubosc
Liquors: Rei Manuel Proto Ruby, Martini Bitter, Barcardi Superior, Bombay Sapphire, Eristoff Vodka, William Lawson's Scotch, De Lonnal Cognac


Soft drinks are ordered by Touchscreen


Lounge area on the right hand side (towards the "connector")


Seating area on the right hand side (towards the "connector")


The "living room" within "The Loft" - designer furniture from Bulo


View towards the center of the lounge where the buffet is being located


Private cubes on the left hand side with view of the apron


Chairs in the area reserved for Senators and HON Circle members to the left of the entrance (unfortunately, the system for controlled access was a victim of budget constraints, so expect something similar to the HON corner in WAW)


A few dozen Microsoft tablet PCs are waiting for the lounge guests - the new "ConnectedLounge" concept offers services ranging from video on demand to reserving a shower room


Screenshot from the digital lounge assistant (which you can download as an app if you do not want to use the Microsoft tablets...) on one of the big touchscreen monitors


Screenshot from the digital lounge assistant on one of the big touchscreen Monitors - you can see the countdown to your flight, so the app will tell you when it's time to leave the lounge


Business area with five workstations and several work cubes


Two Skype booths are supposed to provide an ample environment for conference calls


The boardroom - an exclusive Meeting room which can be reserved by Senators or HON Circle members free of charge


View of the boardroom towards the apron - up to 10 guests can easily hold a meeting at "The Loft"


b.Relaxed or b.Refreshed - the lounge offers nice showers or a perfect quiet zone with "nap boxes"


Four "nap boxes" are perfect for those passengers with longer layovers - and it's easy to see if they are all occupied or if one is available


View of the four "nap boxes"


If you're using one of the "nap boxes", SN wants you to think about the comfort of their long-haul business class product


Reception accross from the shower rooms; if you need to use the restrooms, head straight on


The PIN needed to enter the shower room is provided through the app


One of the shower rooms - including ample space to unpack your fresh clothing...


Mood Lighting and matching music can be chosen by the guest


Lars Redeligx, Chief Commercial Officer, proudly presents the new lounge to the media

What makes "The Loft" unique?
The use of modern technology is certainly one of the highlights.

Thanks to the co-operation with Microsoft, modern Surface Pro 3 tablets are available for the duration of the visit to the lounge. A digital lounge assistant can be used either on the MS tablet, or by downloading the app onto one's own device.

The unique concept of a "ConnectedLounge" does not just offer video on demand through the partnership with Telenet/Yelo, but also very useful features like the booking of a shower room or the ability to see if one of the nap boxes is available. Also, the countdown towards one's flight departure should be a nice feature for some guests as well.

Microsoft ambassadors are on hand to explain the use of the Surface tablets - or possibly help with other issues relating to MS software as well

Personally, I believe that offering a fully-fledged meeting room that Senators or HON Circle members can reserve is also a very unique feature the lounge has to offer.


How about catering?
Of course, Brussels Airlines has tried to give the catering a Belgian touch as far as possible. For the catering, prepared by Autogrill chefs, Brussels Airlines partnered with renowned Belgian brands. The beer offer of the Belgian Bar for example, is provided by Inbev, while JAVA is responsible for the coffee, Maredsous prepares the cheese. The offer is completed with extensive assortments of healthy breakfasts, salads, beer snacks and a whole range of freshly made quiches and meat. Furthermore lounge guests can enjoy, among others, authentic Belgian waffles, rice pudding, apple pie and chocolate mousse made with Callebaut chocolate.

While other lounges elsewhere might offer a more extensive food selection, I would rate the offerings as satisfactory given that it's a departure lounge mainly used for short-haul departures within Europe.

There will be three different settings - breakfast (continental - no hot dishes); lunch (cold buffet with salads, two soups, quiche und cheese rools) as well as an afternoon setting with cakes and the cold buffet.

The lounge features so-called "Maitre de Lounge" who have followed a special butler training to assist passengers during their stay. This includes a drink Service at the table for example.


What's different at "The Loft"?
Plenty of premium passengers coming off a long-haul flight will probably love to take a shower at the new lounge. It's not just the mood lighting and the corresponding music that are supposed to make the stay enjoyable - the shower rooms were planned to offer sufficient space so that one can un-pack a set of fresh clothing without having trouble due to space contraints like other (competing) Lounges do.

Another well-known issue with lounges are the power outlets - "The Loft" has plenty of them (the "Living Room" being an exception - unfortunately...) - and with the international outlet covering various different plug types (as well as USB outlets), all guests should find an option to plug in their device(s) without having to drain the battery.


Summary of what "The Loft" has to offer
Brussels Airlines has pretty much given a nice summary with their 8 hot-spots:

- b.Welcome: A more personal registration
- b.Connected: a unique digital experience
- b.Delighted: Belgian cuisine with a typical Belgian beer bar
- b.Productive: Free Wi-Fi; a business center and a premium Meeting room
- b.Inspired: individual "living rooms" to relax or to play a game on one of the large touchscreens
- b.Refreshed: a new concept of shower rooms with mood lighting & sound system
- b.Relaxed: "Nap Boxes" for all guests who need a little peace & quiet
- b.Exclusive: a seating area reserved for Senators and HON Circle members

whiskey_sk

looks like an improvement most definitely. I like the nap boxes and the "mini cubicles" with apron view a lot.

The whisky 'selection' is a disgrace though, they could have done better than that.

joshwex90

Interesting - thanks for sharing! I transit BRU a lot, flying EWR-BRU-TLV on UA/SN, so this is great news!

Are the beers self-serve?
Do the nap pods need to be reserved somehow?

The showers remind me of the Senator Lounge (Business Lounge I think actually is the one with the showers) in ZRH, and they're great. Hopefully these will have similar water pressure.

Out of curiosity, I've never really understood - why don't other M&M airlines, besides LH, LX, and OS, have M&M lounges?

malmostoso

This lounge is in the Schengen area, so it won't benefit you on your route. Beers are self service.

bartla

removed

joshwex90

Well that stinks - though I could in theory leave and re-enter

gojko88

Because they don't have the money to operate them. Besides, it was a great way for OU and JP to get rid of those pesky FTLs in contract lounges in their respective hubs.

jerry_greece

Will it be accessible only for SN flights or for all *A companies?

rcs85551

The beers are self-serve.
Nap Box cannot be reserved, it is first come first serve on your day of departure.

Any *A boarding pass and a *G cold will suffice.

TPJ

It has *G logo, so I guess standard *G rules apply - you need to fly on any Star airline (and be able to get to the Schengen part of the airport).

BTW... Nice lounge!

TRAVELSIG

Thanks RCS for the great review!

Was there any mention if/how to book the boardroom and what the cost is? Also- if booking the boardroom are non *G members or people who flew in on a non Star Alliance Airline allowed in for a fee? I am just thinking if holding a meeting for 8 people- and one of them came in on a non *G flight for example- is it still possible to host them for a meeting and pay some type of charge?

kirkwoodj

Looks like a massive improvement! Looking forward to a visit ^

Altaflyer

They'd better get to their other lounge ASAP....it remains a disgrace.

berlinflyer

As some of you might now, I have personally been heavily involved in the concept and design of this new lounge, so I would really appreciate any feedback from your personal visits to "The Loft". Let me know what you think of the passenger experience, the concept of the digital experience called "ConnectedLounge" (which lets you, for example, pre-book a shower spa, reminds you when its time to leave the lounge for boarding, enables you to watch the same movies on your smart device as you can on board etc.) and much more.

Any feedback is appreciated, either here on the forum or by sending me a PM.

Thanks a lot!