Review: Air India Lounge Delhi Airport

Is there a smoking section?

Can you please Review the new SWISS Lounge at the Dock E in ZRH?
I think they have some Nap Rooms with great Tamrac View.

Didn't you notice the bug zapper in the middle of the buffet table?

It looks like the only difference between the two lounges is the wall separating them. If anything, the business class side looks better!

Definitely not one of the better first or business class loungers you'll find...

Loving this on-going trip report, they've all been very interesting, looking forward to your write up of the last leg.

> Despite being peak hours at the airport, the lounge wasn’t very well.

Unless the lounge was actually ill, you may have missed a word.

Great review. As you say, it's not going to win any awards, but it's certainly better than many lounges I've been to in many parts of the world and would beat most US and Canadian domestic - and most US and Canadian international - lounges by miles.

Did you try any of the food? I know you said that the attendants were very, um, proactive in offering things, but did you eat any of it? If so, how was it?

Although I don't spend a lot of time in lounges, I always do use the shower. In this instance, I will say that the shower rooms looked nicer than the ones I have used at the MapleLeaf in YYZ and the tiny thing I used at the CX lounge in Hong Kong. I especially dislike the MapleLeaf Lounge's shower facilities in YYZ, since they literally provide no additional amenities except for towels and the three dispensers containing shampoo, conditioner and body wash. So, actually, I thought the lounge looks nice, although again, I spend a max of 30-60 min in lounges and never ever eat in them. I generally find better dining establishments within airports.

The question is this. Would you fly air India again without hesitation or reservation if you weren't trying to review a product and trying to generate more clicks on your blog or please everyone with a balanced review.

Are you comfortable with other cultures and not just when you are flying in a sterilized, sanitized cocoon called first class. I don't think you have lot of exposure to the "real" cultures of most these places. Maybe you will actually spend time in places you visit in the future.

@ Credit,

I assume your post is directed to Ben and not Jared.

I know Jared personally and he travels to and actually experiences the cultures of more places than anyone that I know or read of (including Ben).

Glad to see they carry High Life, the Champagne of beers. All kidding aside, that's my favorite "bottom of the barrel" beer to drink that's widely available.

@lucky

The new LX ZRH dock E lounges are open.
Did you see the pictures Sven posted?

Man, the new F lounge has bedrooms complete with alpine views.
And there is a whiskey bar too!
Besides that the new 777-300ER F cabin now has a new amenity kit by Zimmerli with La pairie.

@ roberto -- Looks gorgeous, really gotta figure out a way to check it out!

This is to subscribe to comments.

Just passed through this lounge last Thursday. Had to overnight in this lounge a couple of years ago and the wifi was much better back then. I spent most of my time streaming videos and it only had to buffer a few times. It's ironic that the free Tata Docomo wifi accessible from the rest of the terminal was much more usable than the one in the lounge. However, that involved having to get a code sent to your phone and was only valid for 60 minutes.

Great report so far, Lucky -- I think you're capturing what AI really is like: great when they want to be, although just a bit behind in the presentation department. Eagerly awaiting the DEL-SFO part.

Also, for the ZRH lounge, sounds like you could easily go there with a same day LH F flight departing FRA or MUC, no? I've done the FCT with a same-day LX F flight departing ZRH so I hope it would be the other way around as well.

@Joop
There's no smoking section in the lounge. However, there is a separate smoking room on the same level as the lounge, halfway between the lounge and the escalators to go downstairs.

@wwk5d
You are right. Pretty much the only differences between the two sides are the color of the seats (same furniture otherwise) and higher seat density in the business section.

Incidentally, I saw there was a new 'flight simulator experience' in the terminal. I had some time to kill so inquired about prices. 30 minutes for 5000 Rupees...no thanks.

Photo of toilet seat makes me laugh, how many readers think it's good to see that 🙂

OFF TOPIC

Lucky, I am in desperate ( 😉 ) need of your review of the Crowne Plaza in Auckland...! Have to make reservations soon, and I am still torn between the Holiday Inn at the Airport, the CP, or the Langham (for a completely different experience). Price wise, the CP and HI are basically the same, so pleeeeeease...... 😉

How do you set your standards for lounges? You say that this is 'nice enough' yet you slate the BA lounge in Heathrow despite it being infineately better

@Kyle:

I would tend to agree with your line of questioning. At this point I read the review for the pictures and descriptions more than the commentary on whether it's nice or not. While I love Ben for his many thorough trip reports, trying to get a handle on any sort of ranking (outside of LH, EK, and CX being the best of everything) is nearly impossible. All the reviews are littered with "while such-and-such was shitty, this-and-that was decent" with glaring flaws being constantly redeemed by one or two positive things so that you'll rarely be able to get real sense of whether something's to be avoided. It's a very milquetoast approach to critiquing and leaves a lot to be desired when trying to determine whether an airline/lounge should be utilized. I'd recommend looking at these trip reports as more as more a story and less a subjective assessment on a quality-point scale.

I saw an Asian face. LOL.

Thanks for reviewing Air India & the T3 Lounge Lucky. Am sure you enjoyed Indian Hospitality. Am looking to a trip to Australia. Choosing between Air India, SQ & MAS. My vote goes to MAS, which allows to bid for upgrades. I have upgraded Mum-Kul for $100 one way. Cool ain't it?

A good number of lounges in the third world including Air India's Delhi lounge is for Senior Gov officials , Ministers and Senior Executives of Gov organisations. The odd Fortune 500 CEO and top diplomats pass through these portals ocassionally. Not designed to WOW the world at large. Only in Sin Hkg the gulf and some places in Japan and Korea and ANZ do you have top quality First Class. These gov owned carriers right round the world buy new planes for balance of payment, trading and safety reasons and transpirtation purposes.. As long as the attendents are attentive and the lounge is clean, there is little to complain about. If you have a shit picking attitude suggest you get your own BBJ or ACJ

For the nap room, *A Gold travelling in economy can also use it.

REVIEW VERY WELL DONE. THANKS

Ben,
I am pretty surprised with this positive review. I am right here in this lounge and these are my impressions:
- It gets hot because it is not isolated and there is not AC (at least in the warm season).
-Staff is frankly unwelcoming (I have interacted with four and they were in stark contrast with how nice people are in India... I felt back in Paris)
- Food selection is minimal and sketchy, on the "let's cut corners" side. I tasted a few of the cooked items and they seem to have been sitting there (and refried) for a long time. Frankly, the Mcdonalsa across the lounge seems more enticing right now, in comparison.
- the place is spacious but forget about working. Seats were for chilling, not laptop typing. There is no separate working area.
I am surprised none of these things were mentioned. Maybe staff was different back then, or it was during the colder months, or food selection improves but only around the lunch/dinner hours. Just to watch out.