Review: SWISS First Lounge Zurich Airport Terminal E (ZRH)

During my trip to Zimbabwe, I intentionally planned a roughly 10-hour layover at Zurich Airport, to be able to do some lounge hopping, after getting off my SWISS 777 first class flight from Miami. My first stop was the SWISS First Lounge Zurich Terminal E, with Terminal E being the area for non-Schengen departures.

This lounge is exceptional, among my favorite first class lounges in the world. There’s so much to love about this lounge. The three most impressive things are the restaurant quality dining, the outdoor terrace with plane views, and the amazing private bedrooms. But even beyond that, the lounge has great decor, lots of natural light, and is such a nice place to pass some time.

Separately, I’ll review the SWISS First Lounge Zurich Terminal A, and the SWISS Senator Lounge Zurich Terminal E.

SWISS First Lounge Zurich location

The SWISS First Lounge Terminal E is located near gate E27. When you’re in that area, you’ll see both a staircase and elevators that can take you up a level to the lounge.

In the interest of being thorough, let me clarify that this is both beyond security and passport control, though if you’re arriving from the United States, you don’t need to clear security. If you’re traveling within the Schengen zone, it’s easier to use the SWISS First Lounge Terminal A, which doesn’t require going through passport control.

SWISS First Lounge Zurich hours

The SWISS First Lounge Zurich Terminal E is currently open daily from 6AM until 10:30PM, covering virtually all departures from the airport.

SWISS First Lounge Zurich entry requirements

Who gets access to the SWISS First Lounge Zurich Terminal E?

• Passengers traveling in SWISS first class same day can access the lounge whether arriving or departing; you can even use this as an arrivals lounge, without an onward boarding pass (assuming you can get through security, which is dependent on where your flight arrives from)
• Passengers traveling in Lufthansa first class same day can access the lounge, but not purely as an arrivals lounge, so there needs to still be a connecting segment
• Lufthansa HON Circle members get access to the lounge whenever flying a Lufthansa Group flight same day; there’s no need to be in first class, and there are no route restrictions

In each case, travelers are allowed one guest in the lounge.

SWISS First Lounge Zurich seating & layout

The SWISS First Lounge Zurich Terminal E is roughly 750 square meters (~8,100 square feet), with seating for 80 guests. The first thing to appreciate about this lounge is that it has floor-to-ceiling windows throughout, with most of the lounge having apron views.

As you enter the lounge, you’ll first be greeted by the wine humidor (which reportedly has over 1,000 bottles of wine from around the world), plus a welcome table with champagne and some candy and other snacks.

If you look straight ahead, you’ll then see the center part of the lounge, which is the bar area. The dining area is to the left, while the lounging area is to the right.

The wraparound bar is the centerpiece of the lounge, and has roughly a dozen high-top seats, should you want to plop down there for a drink.

Then to the right of the bar you’ll find the area intended primarily for lounging. This is broken up into about half a dozen semi-private living room areas, separated by vertical wooden partitions.

These areas have sofas, chairs, and in some cases TVs.

Deep into this area you’ll find a conference room of sorts, containing is a table with 10 seats. Under normal circumstances, anyone can just sit there and use this as a workstation, though I believe this can also be reserved for a meeting.

Then to the left of the entrance you’ll see the dining area, which is in two separate spaces. One side contains four booths, each of which could seat at least four people comfortably.

The other side is the main dining room, which has nine tables, each seating two people (though they can be pushed together for larger parties). This is a beautiful space, especially with each table having a tablecloth and a little decorative plant.

Then there’s one of my favorite parts of the lounge, which is the terrace, spanning the length of the lounge. This is only open weather permitting — it was open during the first part of my visit, but then it started raining, so it closed. The terrace has benches and a seating area, and amazing views of planes.

As you’d expect, this is much more popular in summer than winter, and in summer it’s common that ice cream is served out there, which sure is fun.

There are a few other minor things to mention. Just inside the entrance to the lounge and to the right you’ll find a machine that lets you generate a Wi-Fi code using your boarding pass. This is the same system used in all SWISS lounges at the airport. It would be much nicer if you could just connect with one click, but I guess this is the system because the lounges uses the airport Wi-Fi system.

Also in this area you’ll find a selection of newspapers and magazines.

Lastly, the SWISS First Lounge Zurich Terminal E doesn’t have a smoking lounge. However, the Terminal A location does, so if you’re a smoker, you might like that lounge more.

In terms of lounge crowding, you can expect that the lounge will generally be busy until shortly before 12PM, as that’s when most of the transatlantic flights depart by. By around 1PM, the lounge was completely empty, without a single other guest. Then the lounge gets a bit busier again in the evenings prior to overnight flights, though not as busy as during the daytime rush.

SWISS First Lounge Zurich food & drinks

Aside from the few snacks near the entrance, the SWISS First Lounge Zurich has an entirely a la carte food and drink service. If you sit in the main lounge area, there are servers roaming to offer you drinks. Upon arrival, I had a cappuccino and some water.

A little later during my stay, I decided to have lunch in the dining area. You can find the SWISS First Lounge menu below.

You can find the SWISS First Lounge drink list below.

The SWISS First Lounge Zurich offers an exceptional dining experience. Look, lots of first class lounges offer a la carte dining, though they’re not all created equal. The SWISS First Lounge is in the top tier of lounges when it comes to dining, along with the Air France La Premiere First Lounge.

Upon taking a seat, I was asked if I wanted something to drink. I ordered a glass of champagne, because I figured I might as well try to buzz my way through the day.

As an appetizer, I ordered the Scottish smoked salmon with honey mustard sauce, cucumber, yuzu pearls, rice chips, and french fries. Yum.

Then for the main course, I figured I had to order the Swiss cheese fondue with pickled vegetables, bread, and potatoes, given that I skipped it on the plane. I’ll let you guess how it tasted (what’s not to love about bread and cheese?), though I tried to limit my overall consumption.

This was an absolutely phenomenal dining experience. I also had a meal in the other SWISS First Lounge Zurich later in the day, which had an identical menu. As you’ll see in that review, every dish is executed very well.

SWISS First Lounge Zurich bathrooms & showers

The SWISS First Lounge Zurich’s bathrooms and showers are located on the opposite side of reception of the rest of the lounge.

The men’s room has quite some nice apron views, which is rare. The bathroom has two sinks, two urinals, and three stalls, and is cleaned constantly, as you’d expect. Toiletries are from Soeder.

In addition to the bathrooms, the lounge has two shower suites.

The shower suites are well appointed, and each has a sink, toilet, and walk-in shower. One thing that stood out to me was that the shower suite had very good airflow, which is all too often not the case.

SWISS First Lounge Zurich bedrooms

Last but most definitely not least, the SWISS First Lounge Zurich Terminal E has two private bedrooms, available on a first come, first served basis. I’d argue that these are the best bedrooms that you’ll find in any airport lounge.

The bedrooms are super nice — each room has an absurdly comfortable Hästens beds, a TV, a chair, and views of the apron.

The bedroom also has a private bathroom. I was assigned the accessible bedroom, so the bathroom setup was perhaps a bit less glam than in the other bedroom, but still had a sink, toilet, and walk-in shower.

Bottom line

The SWISS First Lounge Zurich Terminal E is one of my favorite lounges in the world. The lounge has phenomenal dining, panoramic views, an outdoor terrace, and the best airport bedrooms. If you have the chance to visit this lounge, I can’t recommend it enough.

Admittedly scoring a ticket in SWISS first class isn’t cheap, though you can also access this lounge when flying in Lufthansa first class.

What’s your take on SWISS First Lounge Zurich Terminal E?