It was a very very very long taxi to our remote stand which was right next to the terminal!



A separate and rather nice bus for business class



And maybe a one minute drive to the terminal and then a one minute walk to international transfers



After which, an absolute route march along this massive terminal to the lounge







Time to explore

Unsurprisingly The lounge is absolutely enormous. First stop was the concierge to talk about the sleeping pods but unfortunately they’re all fully booked. I’m not entirely sure if I understood it correctly but I believe she said that you can have their own room for as long as you like but once one is free, which must mean that they make them fairly hard to get hold of in the first place advice was to go back in an hour so it’s time to check out the food

I’ve taken some pictures but they just don’t do this justice. There are multiple Live cooking stations all the way along the lounge serving all kinds of everything. I’ve gone to the far end and starting with the chicken tikka masala with rice and it is absolutely delicious. I’m not sure I’m going to need to eat on the plane if I can tackle all of these food stations.

Well, here's to you doing justice to the lounge's food and drink stations. And, hopefully, a sleeping pod.

David

Yes, those loooong taxis are a feature of IST. In fact, it could have been even worse if you'd landed on one of the western most pair of runways! The 737s are used on a lot of domestics, so you've parked at a domestic gate and needed to be bussed to the international side! It's nice that they've got separate buses for business class!

A little more wandering of the lounge and food offerings













VorelNaCestach goodies



And then food station number two for fresh Manti, again delicious

Looks amazing! This is the regular thing business lounge, or are you in a separate Star Gold lounge? Is there an even better first class lounge?

It is a single lounge accommodating Turkish Airlines Business Class, Star Alliance Gold, etc.

As I remember it: There's a separate Business and Star Gold lounge (called Miles&Smiles Lounge). From my experience, both lounges feature the same food stations and offerings.

I managed to get a Private suite at 21:30 and have had a nice 90 minute snooze to take the edge of



There look to be 13 of them in total and a fair number of showers



These are obviously ‘after’ photos as I nose dived straight into bed




Right now it’s time for a coffee and then I think a shower is in order

Around two hours before I need to be at the gate and I have the room until then. Very handy to be able to leave things on charge and wander around

A couple of wider shots of the lounge now that it has quietened down quite a bit. A number of the food stations are closed now, it is 23:30 after all





Shower is booked, there is a 20 minute waiting list. I’ll try to remember to take photos before I trash it . I’ve seen inside where they have been cleaning, looks fairly basic but clean and tidy.

It is literally LOUNGE business



I have seen signage to the other lounge mentioned, maybe I�ll go be nosey on the return layover

Whilst I wait, a couple of negatives, one that will be quite major for some people, one just surprising:

The is no bar and no spirits available, alcohol is limited to beer and wine so no G&Ts here. This doesn’t bother me, but I know of some that it would irk.

And a silly one, there’s no shoe polishing machine, and no shoe mitts or similar. The little refreshing hand wipes to the rescue on that one

Those aside, this is a really very good lounge, one I’d happily come back to many times.

I was chatting to SKT-DK on WhatsApp earlier and I said that I’d already been leaning heavily to Star Alliance for 2027 status and this is another reason to follow that path.

My first thought on seeing this picture was that a High Street Turkish Barber could have trimmed that right up.

Much better!





Not sure what brand the toiletries were but the smelled and felt OK.

Now 90 minutes to departure and boarding supposed to start at T-60 which I’ll believe when I see it! In any case it’s time to pack up my kit and head out for one last coffee before heading to the gate.

[QUOTE=JapesUK;37585857]Whilst I wait, a couple of negatives, one that will be quite major for some people, one just surprising:

The is no bar and no spirits available, alcohol is limited to beer and wine so no G&Ts here. This doesn’t bother me, but I know of some that it would irk.]

In the former lounge at the old airport the spirits etc were on a side table, self serve but not very obvious. I'm surprised that with the extent and lavishness of the new lounge they've disappeared.
May I also join others is saying what a joy it is to see you posting again!