I’ve been fortunate enough to visit some of the world’s best first class lounges, and earlier in the year I even wrote a post ranking them. All of the lounges on the list have their pluses and minuses, some more impressive than others.
Well, today I visited the new Swiss first class lounge in Zurich, and I’m blown away. While the lounge on the whole is spectacular, there’s one feature this lounge has that truly sets it apart. Specifically, the lounge has complimentary hotel rooms with views of the taxiway and runway. There are two of these rooms, and they’re available on a first come first serve basis for the hours the lounge is open.
I’m not sure whether to love or hate this feature, because clearly it wasn’t designed with aviation geeks in mind. HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO SLEEP WHEN THERE ARE AIRPLANES TAKING OFF RIGHT OUTSIDE MY WINDOW?
In all honesty, the rooms are incredible as well. The only other airline that has “real” bedrooms in a lounge is Qatar Airways in their Al Safwa Lounge, though this one is significantly more impressive.
The beds are extremely comfortable and the rooms are well designed with international plugs.
But of course what steals the show are the views. Not only do you have a view over the area where the widebody aircraft park, but you also have a direct view of the runway, specifically the area where most planes start to “rotate.”
Of course I’ll have more detailed thoughts on the lounge as such in a follow-up post, but the hotel rooms in the Swiss first class lounge Zurich are hands down my single favorite area of any lounge I’ve been to.
The fact that the lounge has an outdoor terrace is also pretty awesome, though I imagine that feature would be more enjoyable in summer.
If you want to experience the lounge for yourself, your best bet is to book a Lufthansa first class ticket originating in Zurich. The flight from Zurich to Frankfurt or Munich would be in business class, but your connection would need to be same day in first class.
I say that because you need to be in Lufthansa or Swiss first class to use this lounge, and Swiss first class can’t typically be redeemed using partner airline miles (I lucked out and managed to book this when they briefly released space earlier in the year).
Can Swiss First ticket be from inbound to gain lounge access-- or have to also be outbound when transferring?
The Novotel at Auckland airport is my favorite hotel to watch planes from. Given it's a few meters from the international terminal , you can literally see everything. Last week I was there and got to see all 4 Emirates A380s lined up next to each other!
Fantastic lounge, the best I've ever visited. I dare say it's noticeably better than FCT. I may have been one of the first guests to use the day rooms and indeed they're awesome, super comfortable with proper private bathrooms. We were on a 6-hour layover on the way to Hong Kong and very kind lounge agents insisted that we try a day room. "Nah, thank you, we're fine". But when we had a look it...
Fantastic lounge, the best I've ever visited. I dare say it's noticeably better than FCT. I may have been one of the first guests to use the day rooms and indeed they're awesome, super comfortable with proper private bathrooms. We were on a 6-hour layover on the way to Hong Kong and very kind lounge agents insisted that we try a day room. "Nah, thank you, we're fine". But when we had a look it changed to "Hell, yeah, why not!". Great relax and a refreshing sleep before a long flight. Definitely the brighter side of travelling Swiss first class on their new 77Ws (which are a bit of a letdown - especially FC tiny lavatories).
Awesome find! I wrote the book 'Airport Spotting Hotels', which lists all of the best hotels with views of aircraft action, and I didn't know about this one!
I'll share it on my website and make sure it's in the next update of the book.
FYI Swiss uses Hästens luxury bedding in their FCL. marvelous beds
@MarkP: Yes, I never had an issue with this (German Passport, I figure it will be the same for any Schengen passport). Sometimes I am being asked where I am going and I just say "the lounge" - has never been a problem. Schengen passport also ensures that you can calculate the way back since there's never much of aline. Longest I had to wait for was a minute. At the lounge, the dragons point...
@MarkP: Yes, I never had an issue with this (German Passport, I figure it will be the same for any Schengen passport). Sometimes I am being asked where I am going and I just say "the lounge" - has never been a problem. Schengen passport also ensures that you can calculate the way back since there's never much of aline. Longest I had to wait for was a minute. At the lounge, the dragons point out that your flight is departing in terminal A or B, well, thanks for the reminder. Also never had an issue there.
I still have to laugh at the idea of BEDS in an airline lounge.... bring the mile high club to the lounge! Or heaven forbid....people doing things in bed in front of the windows of the live apron
@Thorns - I agree these new lounges are beautiful, but I only go when I've got an international departure.... how do you manage to use the E Terminal lounge for intra-European flights? Through customs and back??
All of the new Swiss lounges in Terminal E are really great. I go there every week for my intra-europe flight. This really sets it apart from other airlines at Zurich. A regular selection of 2-3 (almost freshly) cooked meal options in the *S lounge, imagine that!
Have you ever tried Citizen M at Schiphol?
If you're M&M SEN you have access to Swiss 1st awards. I enjoyed the new first lounge recently at ZRH, much better then their other first lounge at ZRH. I even have to say it was better then the FCT at FRA aside from the transport and bathrooms IMO
I never developed same enthusiasm for airliners vs military aircraft. Since you seem to go through Switzerland quite a bit, I would recommend visiting Meiringen. It is the site of a major airbase of Swiss air force. The village road actually criss-cross the base, so sometimes you go stop on traffic lights to wait for a fighter jet (or two) to pass by. The town is also famous for the site of the 'death' of...
I never developed same enthusiasm for airliners vs military aircraft. Since you seem to go through Switzerland quite a bit, I would recommend visiting Meiringen. It is the site of a major airbase of Swiss air force. The village road actually criss-cross the base, so sometimes you go stop on traffic lights to wait for a fighter jet (or two) to pass by. The town is also famous for the site of the 'death' of Sherlock Holmes, so finding hotels is not difficult. It is also on the Brunig Pass rail line from Lucerne, with outstanding Alpine scenery, and not too far from Zurich.
Yeah I was gonna say. Turkish has hotel style rooms in their Istanbul lounge. They are fairly simple as least the last time I used one but they do the job. And they are a lifesaver on long layovers.
Challenge with your idea of using a connecting on LH is that this lounge is in pier E, which is for non-Schengen flights.
Turkish Airlines has bedrooms in the Istanbul lounge for Elite Plus members / Business Class travelers with transit times between 7 and 11 hours or something arbitrary like that.