Was through the SYD lounge on Sept 17th, and they said that the kitchen renovations were due to be finished the next day.

Thing that strikes me about the lounge is that they've removed all the desks (bar the three with PCs on). Now much more difficult to work there as there are just chairs for lounging on.

I haven't encountered any service-related issues – in my own experience staff are always super-prompt and courteous – although I do try to avoid 'peak hour' when the dining area is flat out (eg for the mid-morning wave which includes QF11, QF127, QF81, I'll be at the lounge around 6am due to my desire to avoid morning traffic, so while everybody else is dining I'm in the spa or an office suite or one of the other bays), and I also go to a less-crowded bay (eg if I arrive and the first dining room bay is fairly full but the second is less so, that's where I'll head).

But yes, friendly chat with the staff always goes down well, and sitting at the bar is very smart – I've a few times lately enjoyed sitting there because it's quite different to the dining room.

I gotta say I'm surprised to hear that. I visited the lounge only once (before BA16), but I was blown away by both the food (hands down the best food I've ever had an an airport. I visited both FCLs in HKG, FCL/FCT in FRA and FCL E in ZRH on this trip) and the service.

The server that was assigned to our table caught me glancing at my watch — and told me to relax, enjoy the lounge and that announcements are going to be made for boarding.

If that level of service is "sub-par" compared to what was before, then I really have hard time imagining good it wad :D

Oh, it's still an excellent lounge in my book – still easily among the very best in the world, no question. I think some of the posts here reflect a longer-term experience with the lounge over many visits across many years - it's certainly become a lot busier across the years I've been Platinum, especially morning peak hours.

FWIW the lounge is now hitting its tenth anniversary, so it does stack up pretty well IMHO... and interesting to look back at this article from the QF mag in min-2007 (when VA CEO John Borghetti was 'exec GM', this was in fact one of his 'babies') for some idea of just how ground-breaking the F lounge was at the time: http://www.qantas.com.au/infodetail/...ne/lounges.pdf

Rumours persist about a refresh or more for the SYD and MEL international lounges, not sure there's a lot which has to be done to the F lounges but the J lounges certainly need some love!

The lounge itself is a great experience the issue is the sheer number of PAX now eligible to use it coupled with how many OW airlines this lounge caters to.

Most times I’ve visited it is very busy during the peak morning rush and no amount of service staff or tables can cater for the huge numbers of PAX coming through.

After 1pm is becomes a serene escape with great service nothing like its peak morning self. The OP seems to have visited right at school holiday and long weekend commencement - worst time of the year!

Regardless of what people think just pay a visit to the sad excuse of a QF J lounge downstairs it will make the F lounge seem like Valhalla!

I've never found the lounge overly crowded, and I'm usually there in the morning rush, or on an arvo flight to Europe. I've definitely always been able to get a table, maybe I'm lucky in that regard. I wandered into the J lounge a couple of weeks ago; I'd rather sit in the terminal than in there, there were virtually no seats and it just felt so cramped.

They need Hyatt to operate it. The best of the 5 star business hotel brands. That said the QF F lounge has an amazing ambience when it's not a zoo of people. The views, natural light, food and service are second only to a small few. The spa is great too and I can always find a quiet spot to sit. Yes it has become more busy and yes it does need to revert back to the polished service it was at the start. The dining furniture has definitely seen better days but carpets, lounges, marble and overall fixtures as well as bathrooms/showers are still immaculate. Shower room amenities however are half what they used to be, gradually taking away practical items like a brush and comb after a shower! Deodorant and mouthwash would be a good start too. CX offer these in a single serve in their J kits so why can't Qantas do this for its F pax lounge AND F amenity kit?! It's still definitely in the top world 10 F lounges but probably at 8, 9 or 10. QF need to take note and be careful as the F lounge has slipped-no doubt....at least in the eyes of pax who have been using it over the years.

I've had issues with service the past 2 visits to SYD F lounge.

There for breakfast with wife and daughter in June and food arrived just as we were leaving. This was at around the 30 minutes. I scoffed down the eggs benedict and wrapped sandwich to go and wife barelt touched her eggs as she doesn't like to be rushed.

Next visit in July and my order had not arrived before I left the lounge. Again around 30 minutes.

I know they state 25 minutes for food orders but lounge was not busy on either occassion. I shouldn't have to chase them up.

Personally I prefer the buffet style of the HKG CX Wing First lounge. Quality of food is quite good and I can always find something that I like to eat.

Anyone going to be there dec 18?

The "5-star bathrooms" are certainly anything but these days; stained toilet seats, broken fixtures, unused fittings from a bye-gone era.

EK's J Lounge toilets at DXB by comparison are continually attended to and kept schmicky (even the abomination that is the C-Concourse Lounge).

Regards,

BD

It has been a long time since I've been to SYD F lounge, but sometimes food can take a while in MEL F lounge as well.

I only get to visit F lounges when travelling with my partner, and we always allow extra time for the visit (about 45mins - 1hour), and it takes up all of that time. Contrast to when travelling alone, I visit the EK lounge and the buffet there is of a very good quality. Last time I had salmon entree, lamb chops main, a few glasses of bubbly all topped of with a strawberry meringue (plus a slice of salted caramel cheesecake :mad:) in less than half of the time I would need in the QF lounge. Good enough for me especially when I like to maximise my limited time in MEL visiting family. [Granted EK lounge has limited opening hours, but I haven't taken a flight when it was closed].

A small buffet would be a value add for the F lounge for those who are time pressed (+ a wider variety of self serve drinks).

I'm sitting in the F lounge right now. Doesn't seem any different to the last time I was here. It looks like the full menu is back, so they must have finished whatever they were doing in the kitchen.

Had food out within 10 minutes of ordering.

Seems still very good to me.
 

Visited prob 5 or 6 times in the last year. Sometimes the service can be a little uneven, but my experiences overall have been excellent. Great food, and facilities which in my experience have not diminished.

Like others I have found the SYD F lounge much busier during recent peak-time visits but I have not experienced any of the delays or service issues described. Sitting at the bar as a solo traveller is definitely a good strategic move at peak breakfast time. I think the lounge has held up very well considering its age - largely because the underlying architectural design of the space is so good (and going to the int J lounge is NEVER an option - just terrible - dirty, poorly maintained and overcrowded in SYD and not much better in MEL).

I generally find the service in the MEL F lounge is more attentive (perhaps because of the more intimate feel of the lounge?), and they seem to manage the dining room more efficiently in peak times.

The MEL F lounge is much better than the SYD F lounge, other than the architecture. But on a recent visit to the MEL F lounge I thought that there were a few things lacking in attention to detail - eg, wrong cutlery, no napkin on table etc.

I was not happy on my last visit to the SYD F lounge in August. It is too busy, overcrowded and the service is pretty ordinary. Dirty and a bit tatty were the impressions I was left with.