Imagine resting here while you wait for your flight to leave...
enter a airport lounge It produces the same effect as tasting blood for some animals: it awakens something primitive that sleeps inside many human beings; something that crouches and patiently waits to be summoned, almost like a Lovecraftian creature. What is? appreciation for luxury .
Once you discover that in most airports in the world there is a place that is the closest thing to spending the best two hours of your life in a five-star hotel suite, your body, your mind and your chakras refuse to accept. that we have to go back to the waiting rooms normal . Actually, it is something that goes beyond the concept of 'five-star hotel suite'; it's more akin to being in the VIP backstage of a mega rock star and feeling like you could ask for anything and it would come true. For example: that they put a giant bowl of M&Ms and that they remove all the green ones (as an urban legend says about the extravagant requests of some of the wittiest rockstars).
What does a VIP room have to have to become excellent?
Beyond the certainty of enjoying a luxury experience , the truth is that VIP rooms can be measured by a series of scales and that, even among them (as in everything), there are classes. Those who know the most about the subject (because, basically, they have dedicated themselves to testing them all) point out these key factors to develop the ranking of the five best :
1. The environment should be welcoming . It seems obvious, but it is not. Some VIP lounges wallow in perhaps too opulent details and decor. Here, the philosophy of 'less is more' triumphs again . There must be different types of seats that allow you to relax, eat or work.
two. The service they provide should be noticed beyond the room. Yes, not everything good has to happen in this kind of airport limbo. The best VIP experiences sometimes start as soon as you 'check-in' at the counter until you board. How? With personal escorts who make sure everything is excellent.
3. The food and drink have to be spectacular. Considering the level to which the menus served in the first class of many airlines have reached, it is necessary to demand even more from the VIP service on the ground.
Four. Free details are paramount. For example: a massage, a jacuzzi or a spa session.
5. The practical must never forget. That is: you have to be comfortable, you have to eat great, you have to feel super well treated... but here we have come to save time. No one wants to wait too long at an airport. For this reason, the possibility of boarding directly from the room is a great plus.
Once you try a VIP room...
With that said, here are the top five VIP lounges from around the world (randomly ordered). Warning: once you enter them, the rest is like seeing the world in black and white...
**Emirates First Class Lounge, in Dubai (DXB) **. To Caesar what is Caesar's. If the hotel with the most stars in the world is here, how can it not have the best waiting room... in the universe? Yes indeed, here forget about minimalism . The lounge itself is like an airport terminal; it has its own duty-free and a quite maximalist area to rest . You can board directly from the room, which is quite spectacular. It has a spa, massage and manicure service, liters and liters of Moët, cigar cellar and private rooms.
Emirates First Class Lounge in Dubai
**Lufthansa First Class Terminal in Frankfurt (FRA)**. Here the physical space is transcended and there is not a room, but an entire terminal dedicated to premium travelers. The luxury experience begins in the parking lot with a personal assistant : either they park your car for you, or they take care of returning the rental car to the corresponding company. Afterwards, your assistant makes the tedious check-in and security process go as quickly as possible, and has a glass of sparkling Bollinger or thick Macallan ready on the marble bar of the bar that welcomes the traveler to the lobby. break. There is more, of course: the possibility of taking a bubble bath (literal) , and enjoy the best pastry and sweets service in the world (also literal) . Here you cannot board directly, but the journey to the plane is made in a Mercedes-Benz or a Porsche.
Lufthansa First Class Terminal
** Thai Airways First Class Lounge in Bangkok **. Here everything is structured in semi-private lounges to which every traveler is entitled, as long as there is one free. Each private space It has a large sofa, a pharaonic television and service personnel with a kind of motion sensor that detects when a glass is half empty (which is not at all acceptable in Thai Airways). The food may not be the most remarkable of the five waiting rooms, but if you like thai gastronomy It will be like having a reservation in the seventh Thai heaven. In addition, the offer of relaxing body treatments is also divine: t All passengers who have time receive a one-hour massage . Oh, there's no Mercedes-Benz to whisk you off, but there are a legion of golf carts that zip around the airport with stunning precision and effectiveness.
You will receive a one-hour massage in the Thai Airways VIP lounge
** First Class Lounge, Air France, in Paris **. For many, the best VIP lounge. Why? Because it's really elitist. In it you cannot pull the resource of adding travel miles, but you have to pay for it. The only way to get a small discount is to belong to the elite of their frequent flyer program, and it's more symbolic than anything else. If Lufthansa's passenger pick-up service was stunning, Air France's is even better because they take care of another key point: pick up the traveler from their arrival flight, even if they are in a different terminal than the VIP lounge. More plus points: the decoration is very neat, the atmosphere is super cozy, it is never too crowded, there are many different seating options ( from armchairs to beds ), the service is very refined and the restaurant is absolutely amazing. They say that the scallops served by Alain Ducasse , who holds a Michelin star, are the best one can eat. And not in an airport, but anywhere in the world.
Air France first class lounge in Paris
** Qatar Airways' Al Mourjan Business Lounge in Doha (DOH).** Speaking of decor, there are few things more impressive at an airport level than the feeling of seeing, going up and down the spiral staircase that outlines its glittering spirals as if gravitating around an epic crystal lamp that presides over the room of Qatar Airways . The sparkles of luxury do not end here, because there are a small lake that in its water shows the reflection of the mirror on the ceiling . Who said minimalism? Ha! Yes, the strength of this room in Doha is the colorful decoration, but there are a thousand great practical details such as its nursery and its private sleeping rooms. Come on, another thing not very practical, but irresistible: It has a games room with a Formula 1 simulator.