Review: Diamond Lounge Brussels Airport

Don't you have a Star Alliance Gold Status @Ben?

This trip is very confusing. The last report said you were connecting to Bangkok, but now you're going to Vienna?

Awful lounge. Not surprising to find it in Brussels which was voted several times the most boring capital in Europe.

Economy? Lucky?

We live in interesting times.....

The Diamond lounge of pier A is indeed awful. Very sad compared to Brussels Airlines very nice lounge. Actually the Diamond Lounge in pier B is much better (but still very poor).

That said you’ll find plenty of nice bars in pier A so it’s not much an issue. 😉

Interesting; just like @Max I also would have thought that you still held *G status...

Actualy, as a Belgian citizen on average I find ALL lounges at BRU awfull and which I almost Always tend to avoid.
Lucky, there are a few more than two lounges in Terminal A, as you mentioned. When you reach the top with the escalators, in fact you have at your left side the Brussels Airlines and the Diamond Lounge. But at your right side you have some more Lounges. The best Lounge in my opinion in BRU is the SAS-Lounge, which in your case (I Supose) you can enter with a Star Alliance Gold or HON. On the other hand if you wanna have some rest I undoubtly recomend the IBERIA Lounge, which you can also use as a Star Alliance Gold or HON. Always empty. Just because there isnt anything besides a few drinks and a restroom.

@Nelson: The SAS lounge has closed a while ago and has been replaced by the very nice “The Loft” of Brussels Airlines 😉 Lounges at BRU are
-Brussels Airlines The Loft in pier A
-Brussels Airlines The Suite in pier B
-Brussels Airlines Sunrise Lounge near gates T (only open when flights to Africa departs from there)
-British Airways lounge in pier B
-Diamond Lounge in pier A and B

@Wingslover; Thanks for the Update! In fact it's a while ago I was personaly in BRU. So in that case today, the only Lounge you mention I was in is the Sunrise Lounge and the both Diamonds.
Anyway, Lucky could easely have used any Brussels Airlines Lounge out there, suposing he has a Star Alliance Gold or Hon. And I have to admit, that the Sunrise is/was quite a nice Lounge. I visited it several times back in time and the nicest part was due to the fact that it was at the end of the terminal nobody wanted to do the walk, so after the African Flights departed is was empty.

The lounge has three things going for it:
A. The beer, while not great by Belgian standards, is far better than what you get in most lounges. But usually, I'm not in the mood for beer when I'm there.
B. The food isn't horrific.
C. The view isn't quite so bad. Sit in one of the high tops at the window and you're looking down on the Ryanair corrals: yes, that open, covered structure down there on the right of your photo is for human beings, and they park 737s along the far right. Off photo to the right, you have the threshold of 7L, and beyond that, you can see the Atomium in the distance.

There is not really that much difference between them all. I’ve noticed that Brussels, BA and Diamond all use the same caterer. The Loft is physically the nicest. You would think that Brussels would have nicer lounges.

Been there still better than most U.S. domestic lounges

The loft has been renovated and extended a while ago and has become quite a nice lounge. Space has almost doubled.

My guess is you’re taking a 5th freedom BR flight to BKK to try out their new C product on their 787!

This lounge is the old SAS Lounge.

How was...EVA's 787? (Am I right?)

By the way, do you EVER sit on the right side of an A350?

If you're flying Austrian you can order premium meal, it's the same as business class(and could be even better)

Vienna to Urumqi on China Southern???

Lucky, how come you don't have status on Star? Even I (and I do a fair bit of flying incl some MRs, but nowhere near you) can maintain *G and ST E+. Just curious...or are all of your flights award redemptions?

@Nelson
"Actualy, as a Belgian citizen on average I find ALL lounges at BRU awfull and which I almost Always tend to avoid."

Have you actually been in the Star Alliance lounge? It is by far one of the best business lounges in Europe.

@Jan
In fact I've yet not been in the Star Alliance Lounge. Although, I find that an Airport like BRU should have more and better options. Obviously, I don't expect Lounges like the FCT at FRA, MUC or ZRH in BRU. On the other hand you have the same problem in some Business Lounges at FRA, MUC and so on, they are overcrowded most times but at least they serve better food/drinks.

The lounge looks like the lobby of a poorly funded public hospital. They got the paint from the county for free after the sheriff thought it was too ugly to use on the jail. I imagine the furniture came from a nursing home that closed. Someone’s Aunt Mabel died on that chair.

BRU does not have a Star Alliance lounge yet, I believe. CDG has a renovated one, and AMS has a new one. I believe some may be thinking of the Loft, but that is a Brussels Airline lounge.

@Arthur: Star Alliance lounges are for airports with a strong *A presence but is not a hub for any *A airline.

It's still better than some of the Priority Pass lounges I visited, which had no windows at all

Still way better than U.S. Priority Pass lounges. For example, the "Club at ATL" looks like it hasn't been cleaned in about a year.

@Lucky, how do you not have *G status?

@Wingslover, there are some *A hubs that have *lounge. For example, BMI era LHR had both the BMI lounge and *A lounge. (My least favourite of all *A lounges)
LAX, a UA hub, has a *A lounge.
NGO, an NH hub has *A lounge.
So yes, I would imagine it would be unlikely and unnecessary for BRU to get *A branded lounge, though it is clearly not merely in non-hub airports.

Let's be honest, while it isn't in the class of many of the upper class lounges, it is still far better than 99% of lounges servicing the US airports.

Uhm maybe I'm a bit confused here - but the Brussels Airline lounge is by definition a *A lounge, just like all the LH lounges.

Hey Ben,
We just missed you in BRU- peter and I were next door at The Loft *A lounge, which had just ok offerings but a good aesthetic. Hope you remember us from early FT days (Where2next?) Pls hit us up when in DEN.

@ theluxurytraveller….

I do wonder about you. You have this annoying egotistical habit of posting comments that have little or no relevance to the specific article, and which are centred around bragging rights and "bigging yourself up" with regards to your own travel, in much the same way as your chosen name does.
I actually wonder if you do travel for real or not. I suspect not....

Worth noting they're not Priority Pass anymore as of late 2021

Are you sure Kafka. Its still in the Priority Pass app as a lounge included in the program.