Lounge Reviews

Before flying out to Auckland the other morning, I planned to head to Sydney airport early as this would be a fantastic opportunity to review the relatively new American Express lounge which has entirely changed location in the airport and has increased in size dramatically.

I arrived just after 6:00 am and the doors were still shut at that time. About 10 minutes later, the doors were opened, and I was welcomed in. This meant I was able to get much better photos without people being in them, and it better shows the lounge. The new facility is located under the Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines lounges, as well as next to the Emirates lounge.

 

 

 

Just like all of the other Amex lounges, it features a very fresh looking wall display with all different types of plants, similar to what you’ll find in the Qantas first class lounge in Sydney.

 

Below are all of the cards that qualify for access, it also lists how many guests have complimentary entry as well as the prices for adding extra guests for an additional fee. One adult will cost you $55 while a child’s entry will cost you $35.

 

The lounge features a great bar which serves coffee as well as other beverages later in the day. There’s also quite a good selection of beers on tap.

Here are the beer options, the lounge also serves spirits which are found in the back of the photo but are hidden by the beer logos.

Pictured below is the main dining area where you’ll find a heap of booth style areas.

 

 

The menu for coffee was pretty impressive, and if you didn’t feel like any caffeine, they have a few other drink items to choose from as well.

The main eating area has a heap of these booths which could comfortably fit four people.

The lounge has very much of the same items that the old facility did but what is on offer is pretty standard as far as Amex lounges go.

The lounge has a decent selection of cold items like fruits, cereals, yogurts, cheeses, meats as well as a variety of chilled juices.

If you’re opting for hotter food, there are standard items like sausages, bacon, scrambled eggs and potatoes.

The lounge also has one of the very popular pancake machines. Still, during my visit, I overheard one of the staff members say it’s not working due to there being too many electrical appliances already plugged in and in use, Interesting. Hopefully, that’s something that gets rectified soon as I imagine it couldn’t be too much of an issue to fix.

To the right when you walk in, this is where you’ll find the main seating area’s.

On the left is where you’ll find a soft drink fountain as well as some chilled and sparkling water.

 

 

The lounge is well spread out, and I like how much space they’ve had to play with, it’s quite a substantial upgrade, and I was really impressed. The lounge usually gets quite busy mid-morning, but during my visit, there were probably about five other guests in the space.

They’ve used the wall space well and made good use of them by adding some nook seating areas.

There are also a lot of chairs which are more suited for solo travellers. These seats also have footrests, and each seat has a side table which is fitted with a power outlet and USB port.

The tables also contained copies of the Financial Review.

Wifi cards were also present on most of the tables.

As you can see, here are the power points with the USB port.

I’m a fan of this interesting seating and think it gives the lounge some nice character to match that garden wall that’s at the front entrance of the lounge.

The random tree on top of the round seating is also a nice touch. I’m always a fan of some greenery in lounges and especially airports.

 

On the right side, there’s a heap of these style of seats, and they also have power outlets which you’ll find underneath you if you’re sitting at the wall.

Overall

The new lounge is a clearly visible upgrade and I think they’ve done a great job with the space. I remember the old lounge use to fill up pretty quickly about 9/10 am but I don’t see that being an issue with this new space. The staff were also chatty and nice to talk to which is always a plus.

As far as comparing it to other lounges in Sydney, I would again choose this lounge over the Qantas business lounge as I think it’s quieter and nowhere near as aged.

Have you visited the new American Express Sydney Lounge?