What's your worst airport lounge experience?

Well, it's Friday, I'm bored, and sitting in the Cathay lounge at Manila airport where my connection to HK is currently delayed... So... Time for a bit of experience sharing.

I will just add that this particular lounge is not horrible per se... Just very small, old/dirty furniture, very small drinks fridge (I count 4 bottles of beer left with no sign of replacements). Food limited to a tiny trolley with a bit of soup.

Overall, it probably rates as my least impressive experience to date, but I have no doubt that others can easily improve on that...

So - why not share your own worst experiences... And nothing libellous please!

RC

The Emirates business class lounge at DXB, it's akin to a noisy works canteen!

[preiffer]

Agree with James - DXB's EK lounge is horrendous. Oh, the food is amazing, the fixtures and fittings are quality, the staff are excellent.

But it's got SO many people in it, and is so huge - it just feels like a bus station crossed with a school canteen. v(

Any UA lounge where they give you two "drinks vouchers".

The VS lounge at MIA although it's in keeping with the rest of the airport :$

Agree with James - DXB's EK lounge is horrendous. Oh, the food is amazing, the fixtures and fittings are quality, the staff are excellent.

But it's got SO many people in it, and is so huge - it just feels like a bus station crossed with a school canteen. v(

Agreed.

I had four hours there between the EK004 and the EK434 in April and spent quite a time trying to find a seat. It was jammed. I gave up trying to get a wifi connection.

AND THEN SUDDENLY y) y) y) y)

An armada of airbuses and their premium passengers set off for pastures new and it was as if the lounge could have replaced Camp Granada (after it stopped raining!!) in the Allen Sherman song "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah". It became an oasis of calm.

And, as preiffer said, the food is excellent as are the staff and anywhere vintage Moet is used in the bucks fizz will do for me!

I am looking forward to more of the same (the better bits) in September and October.

And for those who find it too intimidating there is a smaller quieter lounge available for EK's J passengers in terminal 1, by gate 122. A ten minute walk or so away.
ii)

EK J lounge, completely agree with all the comments.

Club America at MIA is like a prisoner's waiting pen, just ugh.

The old clipper lounge at BOM now that was something dire, I swear there were cockroaches, wires hanging out of walls, toilettes that do not bear description in polite society.

The old NW lounge that VS used at BOS was grim.

And back to the OP, the SQ lounge at MNL is not too bad next time you go!

EK J lounge, completely agree with all the comments.

Club America at MIA is like a prisoner's waiting pen, just ugh.

The old clipper lounge at BOM now that was something dire, I swear there were cockroaches, wires hanging out of walls, toilettes that do not bear description in polite society.

The old NW lounge that VS used at BOS was grim.

And back to the OP, the SQ lounge at MNL is not too bad next time you go!

Do you know Slinky... The SQ lounge was directly across from the Cathay one, and I was staring at it thinking just how much nicer it looked from the outside! Sadly though, not sure I can think of a way to get access on a MNL to HKG leg. Which is a shame as it's a route I'll be doing again...

Happily, no such complaints about the HK CH, which is where I've just settled down...

[preiffer]

Actually - I may need to rethink my choice.

Anyone else tried the "first class" lounge in Kolkata/CCU? Granted, the flies are much posher in there than in the rest of the shed, but that lounge experience made me feel dirty for weeks...

(And this is the one that Emirates use for CCU-DXB. Not quite the flowing Moet setup...!)

[Darren Wheeler]

Servisair at LHR T3 before the smoking ban came in. All it was missing was a tobacconist in the corner to complete the ambiance. Throw in nibbles and warm beer along with gentleman whos phone calls consisted of shouting "HELLO, HELLO!!!" into the phone and the main terminal was a haven of peace in comparison.

The Delta Lounge at MCO does absolutely nothing for me whatsoever v( Cramped, poor selection of food and drink v( Hey but it did have a putting green

The lounge at LXGB Gibraltar, they write the code for the door when you check in on your boarding card and when you enter you have some sofa's that look like they have come from a charity shop and a bar area that... Well looks like Pat Butchers from East Enders front room. I hope the offering in the new air terminal is much improved!

I was in the DXB lounge last Tuesday although it wasn't busy, it was not much different from sitting outside at the departure gate, (except for the free food and drink). I was waiting for the VS401 at 10:00 so all I had was a can of diet coke and a pastry.
The Sevisair lounges at both LGW and LHR were a bit old looking but I'd take them over of the general seating areas anytime.

The Elegante Salon Havana. Inedible snacks, dim lighting, disinterested staff who were only interested in you to exchange money for them. Having a long to wait for disinterested staff to serve you with coffee or anything stronger. n(

The VS lounge at MIA although it's in keeping with the rest of the airport :$

Completely agree! The Servisair lounge at Liverpool is pretty dire too. No windows and makes you feel like Harry Potter under the stairs.

The Bidair Premier Lounge in Johannesburg is simply the worst lounge I have ever experienced.

I complained to Priority Pass and had the visit cancelled. Yet about 200 meteres away is the best lounge I have ever been to : Menzies Aviation Shongololo Lounge.
That was really really lovely, I preferred it to the LHR Clubhouse based on my requirements each time.

Yet about 200 meteres away is the best lounge I have ever been to : Menzies Aviation Shongololo Lounge.
That was really really lovely, I preferred it to the LHR Clubhouse based on my requirements each time.

Really? A priority pass lounge comparable with the LHR clubhouse? How so?

Any SWISS Lounge.

Have to agree with Slinky - the old Clipper lounge at Mumbai was never a treat when I was in and out of India in 2007 & 2008, full of flies and never clean...its was one of those places where you wiped your feet on the way out.. v(

Well, it's Friday, I'm bored, and sitting in the Cathay lounge at Manila airport where my connection to HK is currently delayed... So... Time for a bit of experience sharing.
RC

Think yourself lucky RC, back in the early '70's there was no lounge as such in Manila airport - just a corrugated shack with a dozen straight backed chairs in it and a couple of large ceiling fans, the place also doubled as the customs area at times - oh happy days

Have to agree with Slinky - the old Clipper lounge at Mumbai was never a treat when I was in and out of India in 2007 & 2008, full of flies and never clean...its was one of those places where you wiped your feet on the way out.. v(

Remember the big velour sofas that you really, really didn't want to sit on?

Have to agree with Slinky - the old Clipper lounge at Mumbai was never a treat when I was in and out of India in 2007 & 2008, full of flies and never clean...its was one of those places where you wiped your feet on the way out.. v(

Remember the big velour sofas that you really, really didn't want to sit on?

Do I.....it really was an interesting experience. Things were starting to change when I was there in Autumn 2008 and have heard good things since ?|