Review: Etihad Airways Business Class Lounge Abu Dhabi Airport

this looks to be a pretty amazing business class lounge.

is Gino single? i am available to fly around the world with him...

Do Etihad Gold members have access to this lounge?

Thanks!

What is that round white thing on the fruit platter?

When we have used the Etihad Premium Lounge Abu Dhabi ahead of a USA departure in first class, we didn't experience the level of attention and service you seemed to have received while in the lounge. Is that standard?

There definitely was not any special recognition or sectioned off area for F pax in this lounge in Dec or early Jan when I was there. It was a great J lounge but in terms of F experience at their "main base" lounge, it was pretty disappointing.

We still maintain that Etihad needs to focus on ground service at AUH. Although it seems that you didn't have to wait in line except for to enter the lounge, which sounds like a good improvement.

We did a post about that here: http://milesdownunder.com/2014/12/etihad-need-to-focus-on-ground-service-at-its-hub/

CM: great question. freaky looking.

Lucky: i don't ever use massage or spa stuff but i'm curious, when you tip while in transit or briefly abroad somewhere, do you tip in local currency or USD/euro? also, i know this is purely subjective but how much would you personally tip for a free 15 minute treatment?

@ pavel -- If I have local currency I tip that, while if I don't I tip USD. I tip ~10USD for a 15 minute treatment.

@ PL -- Hmmm, it definitely was in late December, and I had a friend fly through there last week and he said they still had the partitioned off area. Where you connecting to first class or connecting from first class?

@ Miles Down Under -- Did you get access to the partitioned off area and the service just wasn't as attentive, or?

@ CM -- Something ridiculously delicious that I can't remember the name of. Anyone know the name?

@ Bryan -- Nope, they don't.

@CM - I think it's called a rambutan. I remember seeing them all over the place at street markets in Myanmar.

Great review like always Lucky.

@ CM and others. It is Rambutan. Very smooth and sweet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rambutan

Yep that fruit in the middle is called a rambutan. I agree with James. I've seen it all over Southeast Asia.

@ Lucky - Very nice review. I've been to the old first class lounge which is being remodeled. I believe the new one is set to open in a couple of months and I really look forward to spending some time there between my flights this summer. Please follow our blog also!

Lucky - it was both connecting from F (to J to MLE) and also departing in F (connecting from J). In both instances there wasn't anything special nor even any recognition of flying in F. Departing in F was on Jan 2 and transiting from F was around Dec 20-ish.

The experience wasn't bad but it just wasn't First class level.

@ Lucky

I have a flight from london to sydney via abu dhabi, the first segment is in economy and the other in business class, will i have access to this lounge or..?

Thanks!

Totally different experience in this lounge a week ago, no special service or menu in the first class section and plenty of people just coming in to use it who weren't first class passengers.

The lounge was PACKED. It's a physically grand lounge, and there's plenty of food. But it was chaotic, not peaceful.

The internet worked better than I've experienced it in the old first class lounge and in the business class lounge in T1.

Also widely available in Central America where "rambutan" = "mamon chino".

Nice review, Lucky.

Just visited this lounge (business class) last week. Physically beautiful if a little sterile. Great food choices and service.

@ Dave -- Yes, you'll absolutely have lounge access in Abu Dhabi before your flight to Sydney.

Barber is a nice Touch I'll definitely have to have a beard trim and shave next time I go through. Very reasonable prices.

@ Lucky - the roped off area didn't have any service that we noticed, and was rather more full than the rest of the lounge.

We used this lounge last weekend on our way to India and I can confirm that the cordoned off area for first class passengers is still there. Although we didn't find the service to be particularly noteworthy other than a couple of check ins to see if we wanted anything, I have to agree that the physical layout and food options are very appealing. Food was very tasty too.

We tried the massage options at the six senses spa. My wife enjoyed her treatment but I had the worst back massage of my life which left me sore for a couple of days. My own fault for not speaking up about the excessive pressure and over use of the sharp end of the elbow but I didn't want to waste the 15 minutes going back and forth with the masseuse and just figured it would be fine, not a mistake I'll make again.

I'll also have to agree with one of the pervious commenters about Etihad’s abysmal ground services. There was no escort or anything when we landed. You just get thrown into the crowd with everyone. When we went to board from the lounge, they had already shut the door for first and business passengers and we had to push our way through the scrum in the economy lane with dirty looks from all around. First world problems in the big picture I know, but you would think given how good the hard product is that they would put some effort into their ground service, at least at their home airport.

Lucky - have you seen any sneak peeks of what the new first class lounge will look like? I am transiting end of March and want to frustrate myself with what I will be missing.

@ Peter -- I haven't. They've been VERY tight-lipped about it.

Lucky,

Any inside info yet on when they will start their A380 service to JFK and which of the two daily flights will have it?

@ Mike -- Unfortunately not. Haven't heard anything further, other than that JFK service may be delayed a bit.

Hoping the next installment is ready soon.

For those looking for an update on the "First" section of the AUH T3 Premium Lounge, I can advise (due to a long transit):
* The area towards the back of the lounge and just behind the restaurant style seating area / first buffet station after reception, is still a roped off "First" area.
* However, this area is really open to anyone and is not access controlled *until* it's starts to get into the evening and AUH's peak period.
* Etihad staff (usually two but sometimes one) then stand on the rope letting people in and out. I didn't see much boarding pass inspection but I'm pretty sure there was control (vetting seems to happen at the concierge desk, thereafter it's by face checking).
* Technically ala carte menu ordering in the First area is a Residence guest privilege but if you're travelling in First and are given some special attention, then you'll find you'll be offered to order off some of the dishes off the all carte menu (some require advance ordering as part of the pre-arrival Residence treatment). There is a real menu (it was offered to me, and I ordered a lovely Australian beef fillet it off it), others have reported not being offered the menu per say but given the offer of having the chef whip up a curry (not on the buffet) of some sort.
* While in the First area, you often have wait staff offer to get you something from the bar or buffet (this can happen outside the roped off First section too).

So it's not a dedicated First lounge, but it's a nice minor differentiator while we all await the opening of the new First lounge (except surprise and delight).

I travel through AUH a lot and short stays in the business lounge at gate 33 are OK but this week i was with my wife and we had a four hour layover. The lounge is like a zoo. It is so noisey that rest is not an option as no sleeping area ( unlike the old lounge).
After 4 hours there we had the usual Etihad abu dhabi THIRD CLASS boarding experience with no Business class segregation. When we complained the gate agent laughed at us. Nice work

The lounge is spacious with tons of seating but I miss the private rooms the old lounge had where one could catch some sleep on really long layovers or before flights leaving for India at odd hours of the night. You literally cannot even put your feet up in the lounge as it's an insult in the Middle East. So you can eat and drink to your heart's content, shower and get a massage, but don't expect any real rest for the weary in this lounge. Hope they change that soon.

I was there Nov. 28 while departing in F Class to SYD and was IMPRESSED. My wife and I had the massage treatments and loved the experience. The buffet food was delicious and the First Class area was a nice getaway from the rest of the facility. In my mind, they're tied with the LH F Class Terminal in FRA. They have EY beat with the car service to the aircraft. Other than that, it's an awesome place to relax. I wish that I had asked our chauffeur to pick us up from the hotel even earlier.

Ben! So excited to be flying LHR-AUH then AUH-JFK in May. Thanks to your suggestion! Setting fire to a ton of AA miles before devaluation. The US call center couldn't find the space, read about calling Australia (thanks) and hey presto, worked a charm. Got 3K & 4K, and 3A & 4A locked in. Thank you 🙂

Anyway, onto my question - looks like the F lounge in AUH wasn't yet up and running when you flew, but given the late departure to JFK (2.55am), can we still expect it to be...open? Spa/massages and all, when we arrive at the airport that late??

Also, did you make use of the chauffeur? Do they just operate a departure service, or can they pick us up when we arrive from LHR too? And they don't drive you to hotels in Dubai do they? 😉

Hello Pete,

they operate all services, massage, hair cut etc. until your flight leaves, it is their busiest time of the night. I just was at the lounge on the 10th of January 2016 and literally got the last couch for my 10 year old so he was able to sleep (he sleeps even with lots of noise around him). We arrived a bit after 11:30pm and left close to 2:00am and it was still full. The lounge was a zoo at this time of the night. The F lounge is still the roped off area, we were in C but the F part looked as full as C.

You can use the chauffeur at arrival and departure. on both ends of your flight.

https://www.etihad.com/en-us/plan-and-book/book-chauffeur/

Up to 100 miles at LHR and to any UAE location regardless of distance. We had a chaffeur pick us up from the Waldorf at Ras al Khaimah on a previous trip and this is much further then Dubai. We booked the chauffeur online but I did call to change our time in Abu Dhabi to an earlier pick up. They tend to pick later time to minimize your time at the airport but we wanted to be there earlier so your son could sleep a bit at the lounge (not easy to do there though, one of the flaws of the lounge in my opinion also considering their main flight banks being in the middle of the night).

Ben, great review, I Am flying economy in a couple of weeks but I have platinum virgin Australia velocity membership which I am told will get me access ?

Very useful review thank you! Just visited this lounge yesterday and would add two things. One is that they have a concierge service where you can deposit stuff in lockers. The second is that there is a rather large kid's play room, cosily tucked away so adults don't get any of the noise.