Review: VIP Lounge Santa Cruz De La Sierra Airport (VVI)

Review: VIP Lounge Santa Cruz De La Sierra Airport (VVI)

NAME: VIP Lounge
Airport: VVI
DATE: September 2024
REVIEW RATING:
BEN SAYS: The VIP Lounge at Viru Viru International Airport is somewhere between a lounge and a restaurant. While it's not terribly luxurious, at least it has a decent food and drink selection.
5

During my two times to Latin America review trip, I had a roughly seven hour layover at Viru Viru International Airport (VVI) in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. I was arriving in Boliviana de Aviacion’s A330 business class, and was connecting to GOL’s 737 MAX premium economy.

In the previous installment, I reviewed The Lounge VIP, which is the airport’s primary lounge in the international terminal. In this installment I wanted to review the other lounge in the terminal, which is the VIP Lounge (I know, they’re not really into creative lounge names at this airport).

This is a quirky lounge, in that it’s somewhere between a lounge and a restaurant that’s open to the public. While the other lounge is probably a more comfortable place to sit, I appreciated the barista coffee, plus the more extensive food selection here.

VIP Lounge Santa Cruz de la Sierra location

The VIP Lounge at Viru Viru International Airport is easy to find. Once you’re through immigration and security in the international terminal, just follow the signage in the direction of gates 5-8.

Santa Cruz de la Sierra Airport terminal

Once you’re in the main part of the terminal, walk maybe a hundred feet, and then you’ll see the entrance to the lounge on the right.

Santa Cruz de la Sierra Airport terminal

The lounge exterior sure sets expectations high, given that the “VIP Lounge” sign has five stars underneath it… bring it on!

VIP Lounge Santa Cruz de la Sierra exterior

VIP Lounge Santa Cruz de la Sierra hours

The VIP Lounge at Viru Viru International Airport is open 24/7, so that’s convenient, since you don’t have to worry about opening hours!

VIP Lounge Santa Cruz de la Sierra entry requirements

Most premium airline passengers seem to be sent to the airport’s other international lounge, so the VIP Lounge at Viru Viru International Airport is primarily for those with access to a lounge membership program, like Priority Pass. Priority Pass members can visit the lounge for a period of up to four hours.

VIP Lounge Santa Cruz de la Sierra seating & layout

The VIP Lounge at Viru Viru International Airport is small, and consists of two rooms. The main part of the lounge has an area with a handful of couches.

VIP Lounge Santa Cruz de la Sierra seating
VIP Lounge Santa Cruz de la Sierra seating

On the other side of the room are a similar number of dining tables, each seating two to four people.

VIP Lounge Santa Cruz de la Sierra seating
VIP Lounge Santa Cruz de la Sierra seating

That’s the extent of the main part of the lounge. Then immediately outside the lounge is more seating. This includes half a dozen dining tables, plus some communal high-top seating.

What’s interesting is that this is actually a cafe that’s open to the public, but Priority Pass members can also sit here. I chose to sit here, given that there was no one there, and I also appreciated how it opened up into the terminal, so there was a bit more ambient noise (as opposed to the rest of the lounge, where people were watching videos on their phones without headphones).

VIP Lounge Santa Cruz de la Sierra seating
VIP Lounge Santa Cruz de la Sierra seating
VIP Lounge Santa Cruz de la Sierra seating

VIP Lounge Santa Cruz de la Sierra food & drinks

The VIP Lounge at Viru Viru International Airport has a very simple buffet, consisting of chips, crackers, nuts, whole fruit, and packaged candy.

VIP Lounge Santa Cruz de la Sierra food

The good news is that in addition to that buffet, Priority Pass guests could also order two drinks and one snack from the cafe menu, so you can actually get some relatively decent things.

VIP Lounge Santa Cruz de la Sierra menu

There’s a cafe counter inside the lounge, and then the second part of the lounge that’s sort of a restaurant also has a counter, where you can see all the food options.

VIP Lounge Santa Cruz de la Sierra cafe bar
VIP Lounge Santa Cruz de la Sierra cafe
VIP Lounge Santa Cruz de la Sierra cafe food
VIP Lounge Santa Cruz de la Sierra drinks
VIP Lounge Santa Cruz de la Sierra drinks

I ordered a cappuccino, which was much more of a sweet treat than I was expecting, but I was just happy to have any sort of barista coffee.

VIP Lounge Santa Cruz de la Sierra cappuccino

I wasn’t hungry, so I didn’t eat anything, but it’s nice that you can at least get some “real” food in this lounge if you are hungry. I wouldn’t expect it to be gourmet, but it’s certainly better than the buffet.

VIP Lounge Santa Cruz de la Sierra bathrooms

The VIP Lounge at Viru Viru International Airport has a small bathroom in the back of the lounge. It’s a private bathroom, at least, but very basic.

VIP Lounge Santa Cruz de la Sierra bathroom
VIP Lounge Santa Cruz de la Sierra bathroom

Bottom line

The VIP Lounge at Viru Viru International Airport is a bit different than The Lounge VIP. The VIP Lounge feels more like a cafe, and while the seating might not be that great, at least guests can select from some decent drinks and some more substantial food options.

Between the two lounges, I’d select this one if I wanted to eat or drink, and the other one if I just wanted to sit around.

What do you make of the VIP Lounge at Viru Viru International Airport?

Conversations (5)
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  1. Paul Guest

    I didn’t realise I had been here until I saw that menu and coffee counter. Flashback from when I passed through in 2018 (or I am imagining things)

    But from that trip my abiding memory of lounges was the truly terrible priority pass in the domestic part of Lima Airport

  2. Ben Y Guest

    I was there almost a year ago. It was fairly comfortable and the sandwiches were pretty good. They also had some nice fresh juices IIRC. Don't remember any choice of alcoholic drink, although I see some beers in your photo so maybe I just missed it. For some reason the Aerolíneas Argentinas flight I was waiting for decided to board well over an hour before scheduled takeoff and actually ended up leaving almost an hour...

    I was there almost a year ago. It was fairly comfortable and the sandwiches were pretty good. They also had some nice fresh juices IIRC. Don't remember any choice of alcoholic drink, although I see some beers in your photo so maybe I just missed it. For some reason the Aerolíneas Argentinas flight I was waiting for decided to board well over an hour before scheduled takeoff and actually ended up leaving almost an hour early, so I didn't have much time to kill in the lounge in the end.

  3. James S Guest

    I like that it's designed like any random place you'll find in the city and not a generic corporate airport outpost

  4. chris w Guest

    It's like visiting grandmas house

  5. FNT Delta Diamond Guest

    The sandwiches are better than what other Priority Pass lounges offer. Assuming they’re relatively fresh and haven’t been sitting for days. I don’t understand the limitation to just two drinks. How is that compliant with Priority Pass? I’ve never heard of a lounge limiting you to just two nonalcoholic drinks. Not that Priority Pass has any brand standard enforcement. Would they really tell you that you’re only allowed two waters or two coffees?

Featured Comments Most helpful comments ( as chosen by the OMAAT community ).

The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.

Paul Guest

I didn’t realise I had been here until I saw that menu and coffee counter. Flashback from when I passed through in 2018 (or I am imagining things) But from that trip my abiding memory of lounges was the truly terrible priority pass in the domestic part of Lima Airport

0
Ben Y Guest

I was there almost a year ago. It was fairly comfortable and the sandwiches were pretty good. They also had some nice fresh juices IIRC. Don't remember any choice of alcoholic drink, although I see some beers in your photo so maybe I just missed it. For some reason the Aerolíneas Argentinas flight I was waiting for decided to board well over an hour before scheduled takeoff and actually ended up leaving almost an hour early, so I didn't have much time to kill in the lounge in the end.

0
James S Guest

I like that it's designed like any random place you'll find in the city and not a generic corporate airport outpost

0
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