I took the shuttle from the Marriott to the airport at around 7PM, well ahead of my 11:25PM flight to Mexico City. My Aeromexico flight was departing from Terminal 1, which is the first time I've used anything but Terminal 4 when departing the airport. I have a love-hate relationship with Terminal 4. It's gorgeous,…
Continue reading: Review: Sala VIP Cibeles Terminal 1 Madrid Airport
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Just out of curiosity but if you leave the hotel at 7PM for a 11:25PM flight unless you didn't have time to take a shower at the hotel why do you need another shower at the airport? It might be just me but I would avoid having to take a shower in place where many others use unless it is extremely necessary (like after a long flight and before a new connection).
@ Pafunco -- I had checked out of the hotel at noon, and had showered at 8AM that morning. So I figured I might as well shower again, since I wouldn't get another shower before getting to LA.
Why do they refer to it as the VIP lounge? From recollection of my parents' diplomatic experiences, the VIP lounges are usually rather remotely located and quite intimate... Other than the choice of name, the lounge looks pretty cool..
yeah, that's the old terminal at MAD. Before T4 opened that was all there was. It was VERY fun then, as you can imagine.
I like T4. distances can be long, but moving sidewalks move you along quickly and it's perfectly set up for a hub operation, which is what it is.
Wow! The lounge indeed went through m-a-s-s-i-v-e renovation. I've been there last time in 2014 when departing to IST on Turkish. The lounge was even more dump than the rest of the terminal 1. Really it was so outdated, tastelessly decorated and simply awful.
It's indeed a nice one. The only what hasn't changed is food. On pics it looks similar to what they had back in 2014. Can't say I consider it any other than very bad selection.
Anyway I think Iberia lounge in terminal 4S is better, in terms of food IB is of course better. Never noticed that T4 is poorly planned, great terminal and I love it since the day it opened.
Kent,
It's cultural for Spain. They always call airport lounges VIP and all priority services for biz class are also called VIP. Priority Security Check is Acesso VIP and so on.
Lucky_Ben
Excellent review! Excellent pictures. Thank you.
Great to shower and relax before a flight.
How do lounges make money? Have you addressed this topic before?
I got PP access through Citi Prestige Card, so at no cost (thanks to your blog).
I usually have no time in MAD to do anything.
I was there this past Sunday and was also pleasantly surprised! The wifi was steady and functional. The food at breakfast time (9am - 11am) was similar. They had fruit cups instead of the pasta salad.
Hi
I am considering using this lounge on my return flight to Edinburgh, in August.
Can you tell me if use of the shower is free, or if there is a charge?
Many thanks
Dave
Ben,...what happened to the next part of the story about the geriatric pilot & his wife?
I am a little disappointed at the lounge. There is no hot food. Is it the time of day? Our flight was 11:35 AM and we were there at 9. Booze is plenty though. I am not in the mood to be tipsy that early in the morning.
I'm in terminal 1 right now. I agree the design of the lounge is very pleasant and spacious. That said while there is a lot of different food it's pretty awful. They also have this strange Asian food corner that has packs of ramen noodles you'd eat as a broke student. The red wines I tried were all terrible and that's impressive given that there are drinkable reds in Spain for 4 to 5 euros. I ended up giving up and going downstairs to buy lunch. There's really only one restaurant so I got a fairly tasty yet pricey cheeseburger at the Urban Grill.