My EgyptAir flight to Cairo was scheduled to depart at 3:30PM, so I headed from the hotel to the airport at around 1PM, plenty early. I hadn’t eaten lunch, so figured I might as well head to the airport and have a snack in the lounge.
Continue reading: Review: Austrian Business Lounge Vienna Airport
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Around the time Trans Atlantic flights are scheduled, there is no place to sit. The lounge gets crazy busy! Horrible food too at that time. Other times, ok traffic and food
Abysmal food during the evening. Mean, dry, stale and unvarying. Zero choice for vegetarians other than limp salad.If you want something to eat , it’s better to buy it upstairs unless you are very easy to please ( or wait for the plane service).
I was there for a flight home to IAD a few years ago and thought that for what should be the airline's flagship lounge it was very underwhelming. Looks like they had a bit more food on offer than the time I was there. I think there's also a PP lounge next door that I wished I had visited instead.
The Priority Pass lounge Sky Lounge next door is like Austrian Lounge but with a little less food options and crappier seating and no view. Seems same company runs both.
what is the best star alliance lounge in the world that someone with *G status can get into?
I visited the Senator side a few months ago. To be honest Lucky's pictures of the Business Lounge make the Business Lounge seem much much better! I thought the Senator lounge was tired and in dire need of updating. And, yes, it was incredibly small and cramped. I was surprised that this lounge was the OS VIE flagship lounge. This lounge needs a complete overhaul - immediately.
I also visited the OS lounges in the Schengen side @ VIE. Again, these lounges need a complete overhaul. Right now! The only good thing about the lounges is the Do&Co food. That's it.
I was there during a short layover back in July and had pretty much the same experience as Lucky. It is underwhelming. having said that, VIE is a fairly quiet airport to change planes.
Hi Lucky - thanks very much for the review. I was actually in the exact same lounge myself on Friday afternoon. I was there - partially because of a delay - for several hours. It was definitely busier than when you visited. How did you think it compared with the BA lounges in London? Not particularly well in my view in terms of the drinks variety or quality or in terms of the food replenishment. I know you’re often quite critical of BA so I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.
I am curious what the shower rooms look like and if they also have toilets inside them. Too bad that isn't covered in this review.
The ambiance and food (except the machine with a coffee menu) look disappointingly unappealing for the flagship lounge of an airline with high quality onboard catering
I have learned to manage with limitations as I am lactose intolerant. Imagine my surprise at the SWISS lounge ZRH where a sign advises that all coffee choices can be made with Lactose Free milk upon request. In comparison, this lounge seems to offer very little over the quiet which is not so rare at VIE.
@Ryan: I showered in the Schengen side showers. Yes, each shower room had a toilet, sink and shower. I have a picture but have no idea if picture posting is allowed in replies.
@Bob Thanks for the info! No pictures are fine, I will find out in a couple of weeks 🙂
@Ryan - I took a shower there a few days ago. The bathrooms are small but adequate sized rooms with a separate sink/wash basin and toilet. It was clean. Towels and mat were in plastic packets. The toiletries weren’t great - for example no separate shower gel and shampoo and were from a dispenser attached to the wall - so perhaps pack your own. The decor was like the lounge itself - recently redone but felt very ‘Ikea’ and like it had been done on the cheap. A shame.
Can't believe how similar this looks to the priority pass lounges in Vienna. Those cakes are exactly the same.
Bit that that's such a bad thing as they're amongst the best contract lounges in Europe (and where you'll end up flying business not on star alliance)
Ha -- if you think Vienna Airport is "not that big" you should have seen it a decade ago when it only had an A and B wing. Today, there are 7 wings instead of 2! And further expansion to come!
Like others I also found this lounge underwhelming and overcrowded when I visited a few years ago. It was so crowded, there were quite a few people just standing! Crazy. And the pictures of the terminal match my recollection - black, black everywhere. I used to like Vienna airport, but the renovation was terrible, the terminal feels far too stark.
I will be connecting through VIE next week. Does anyone know if the showers in the Austrian Business Lounge ( Schengen ) are open?