GVA lounges... [merged Geneva lounge thread]
 

I an idiot for forgetting to post this, but I picked up about a month ago when overhearing a conversation the lounge agent in GVA had on the phone that the GVA SEN lounge will close shortly (end of January ...?) for refurbishment.

I wonder whats after that. A real F lounge? Improvements?

See here (unfortunately, not available on the english pages yet): http://www.lufthansa.com/online/port...nodeid=1757104

Die Lufthansa Senator Lounge am Internationalen Flughafen Genf wird zum 31. Januar geschlossen. Im Sinne der gemeinsamen Lufthansa und Swiss Philosophie „Alles unter einem Dach“ können daher ab 1. Februar Hon Circle Member und First Class Gäste die First Class Lounge der Swiss nutzen, Senatoren und Besitzer der Star Gold Karte erhalten Zugang zu den Swiss Business Class Lounges.

Voraussichtlich im Sommer 2007 wird Swiss ein neues Lounge Center in Genf eröffnen, welches eine First, eine Senator und eine Business Lounge beinhalten wird. Damit wird auch in Genf für Lufthansa und Swiss Gäste langfristig ein hochwertiges Loungeangebot sichergestellt.

The Lufthansa Senator Lounge at Geneva International Airport will be closed as from 31st January. In accordance with the joint Lufthansa / Swiss policy "Everything under a single roof, as from 1st February, HONs and 1st Class guests can use the Swiss First Class Lounge, SENs and Star Gold Card holders will have access to the Swiss Business Class lounge.
It is foreseen that in summer 2007, Swiss will open a new Lounge Center in Geneva, which will comprise a First, a SEN and a Business Class Lounge. With this, Lufthansa and Swiss Guests will have access to a high quality lounge offer. (my translation)

A bit of a comedown for SENs (like me) who will have to make do with the Swiss Business Lounge (which last time I was there reeked of cigarette smoke) until this summer.

Will the same hapen in ZRH?
 

I wonder if this means that the same thing will happen with the Star Alliance Lounges at ZRH. I hope not as I quite like the Sen/1st lounge there.

GVA is my homebase, and I always use the LX lounge. Never had any problems with smoke, and the lounge is more roomy than the SEN. Check the area on the far right: just walk to the right from the reception desk, past the smokers lounge. This area (until now...) is less crowded, they have free internet (which sometimes does not work, though) and two very comfortable fauteuils. Only backdraw is the absence of bathrooms: public ones are located closer to the SEN lounge (which does not have any, as well).

And the public showers can be used as an arrival lounge. AFAIK same entrance rules as for the Allegra lounge in ZRH, but I wonder how many people actually use them since nobody seems to know that those showers are complimentary for M&M elites. I've never tried them, since GVA is my homebase. But I will ask the lounge staff next time I'm there. But this is only in a couple of months, I'm based in SIN for a while.

I'm sitting in the SR...er...LX lounge now. I can confirm - the LH lounge is closed, and the staff says it's closed for good.

I fully agree. The SEN Lounge in GVA hasn't een that good. Quite poor choice of snacks and beverage. No internet, not very comfortable.
Salve Luigi

From the LX newsletter I received these last days:

The sign on the door next to the Swiss F lounge in GVA says that the first part of the new lounge complex will open on 1st May.

I think it said they open the C lounge first, followed by SEN and new F.

Where is this lounge "complex". Any pictures?

What I learned today is that the current LX Lounge, is in fact a Star Gold Lounge. Meaning that SEN's are only allowed entrance with a *A boarding pass. At least I was sent away today.

What lounges exactly give access to SEN's? Is it just the actual SEN lounges? What about biz lounges? Or them only in Germany?

New lounge in GVA
 

The SEN lounge has disappeared and was replaced at the same location by the new Swiss business lounge, which is has more space. It has just opened yesterday.

It has a quite modern design. For me it looks very much ok.

There are 6 small eating tables, and 6 bar type working places with PCs.
The rest is furnished with black armchairs which are all separated by a small table. There you can also find power supply for three different standards: British, Swiss and German (Schuko) ^ . Maybe they do not expect visitors from US or Japan etc, they still would need an adapter.:o
I am missing real desks though, but if you just need to use your laptop it is an acceptable alternative.

Three big TV screens are at the wall.

The drinks and food are the same as before in the Swiss lounge. The rolls are even more like rubber than in the plane. Nothing special at all.
A rack with all kind of international newspapers can be found at the wall, but they do not seem to expect too many German customers (no German papers, what for?:mad: )
The coffee machine was not working, but that is perhaps just temporary.

At the end of the lounge, in a separate room, is the VIP corner for F and HON. There they serve all the usual goodies.
The armchairs are the same, there are also the same PC working places as in the other part (what I could see from the outside).
Maybe I should have asked if I could get a coffee there. :D

The toilets are still outside (next door).

As a result for me: I would prefer to have real desks, but I can certainly live with the new layout. The major difference to the old SEN lounge is: No champagne any longer for the second tier LH customers in GVA. :mad:
It remains to be seen if the lounge is big enough for peak times.

I like how SENs are now 2nd tier!

I'm confused: Last time I was in GVA late March, the old LX F lounge (just past the doors at the top of the stairs) was closed for reconstruction. The C lounge (along the balcony over the dufree shops) was still operating. Which of the 2 is now the SEN lounge?

Geneva
 

I was there on Sunday and had to sit in the old lounge, after inhaling all the smoke from the smokers corner outsite. The new one was not open, as anounced on May 1st.

They would need to improve a lot, until you can consider this business lounge nice. Why is it possible in Basel to have a nice LX lounge and not in Zürich or in Geneva?

Isn´t it a business card of an airline?

Because the lounge at BSL was designed and operated by Crossair, the others by Swissair. This is a huge difference! (I agree that the LX-Lounge at BSL is the best I've seen so far).
The downside of the lounge-merger at GVA will also be that LX-Lounges are accessible with *-Boarding-Passes for the same day only. The LH-SEN-Lounge was also usable as an arrival-lounge.

How are "bar type working places" by that way? Are there chairs, or is it necessary to stand?