MEL Dom. lounges refurb Completed October 2018

[calmelb]

Indeed that Bulge between Gate 1 and (unused) gate 3 was the QP in the later 90's. I watched the building progress of the 20+ gate area from the upper level.

A bit off topic, but why was Gate 3 not used in Melbourne? Also was the old lounge where those cafes/ restaurants are now?

 

[kermatu]

Well, CBR has a J lounge but goes large chunks of time with no hot food, so it's not unique. And while it may not be a J lounge, I've always found ADL very comfortable, with good staff, and pretty decent food (roast chicken, stew, pasta bakes etc).

 

[JessicaTam]

At least you have a view unlike the international J lounge in MEL.

The MEL int J lounge actually does have windows - they are just blanked out. QF approached MEL airport a couple of years ago to 'un-blank' them but the asking price was too much.

And in other news:

After much investigation the following details are now able to be revealed about the lavatory facilities in the domestic QF lounges:

Qantas Club - there are two toilet areas. The one by the entrance has three female toilets and three showers; the one down the back has eight female toilets and another three unisex showers.
Qantas J lounge has one toilet block with eight female toilets and five unisex showers.

Each shower has a toilet therein.

I will leave it to other intrepid reporters to investigate the male toilet facilities!

 

[Matt_01]

I will leave it to other intrepid reporters to investigate the male toilet facilities!

So you did not even attempt a peek.

On Thursday I had to inform a lovely old lady that she was about to enter the male loo's. Maybe She was an under cover reporter in disguise.

 

[JohnK]

I miss the quality cheese you could get at any time in the Qantas Club (camembert etc). I know you can get a cheese platter in the J lounge (that usually comes out basically frozen), but no luck if in the standard club.

You're right. I do remember the camembert that used to come out with the gherkins, olives etc. Is that a recent enhancement?

 

[JohnK]

Good to see the party pies in SYD again.

 

[hm520]

Visited the MEL Qantas club lounge (pleb, not J). Coffee and bar was essentially the same. Standard lame sandwich station. I did enjoy sitting at the glass looking over people approaching security, but still not as good as looking out at the tarmac.

I think they've certainly devalued the QC by allowing people to buy a pass to visit.

One note I didn't mention before about the BNE J DOM lounge as the service staff. All were young white aussie guys who were prompt with service and happy to stop and have a chat and general good banter, although this may be due to our proximity in age. They even approached me at the table and offered to get me more drinks without prompting.

My favourite lounge experience was the old BNE J lounge when they were doing the 'plates of the day' and a lovely mezze plate came out.

 

[kermatu]

Unless the lounge is jam packed I normally get proactive service in the BNE, PER, SYD and CBR J lounges. Staff know me pretty well in the latter two. Don't recall as frequent proactive service in the old MEL J lounge. There was none on my first visit - the one lady looking after our area was flat out just keeping tables clear, which she did well. Can't see it being a feature here. Am sure if asked the staff would oblige, but not a good use of their time.

 

[BD1959]

Pies and sausage rolls would be better than some of the slop that is served today.

"slop" is precisely my description of some of the hot meal options (can we use the term "options" when there isn't any??), too.

Regards,

BD

 

[93Revisited]

I've been through the new Melbourne business lounge a number of times now. The space is certainly an upgrade on the old lounge with plenty of seating and dining areas, even on busy mornings. Its nice to have the views across the airfield but I guess the regular Qantas lounge won't be as nice as a consequence.

There lack of men's toilet cubicles is already an issue, even in non peak periods, and a minor complaint is the removal of the tissue dispensers.

That brings me to the food and drink - perhaps I'm alone on a desert island but the influence on Neil Perry on the in-flight business class menus and the lounges is not something I applaud. If you love your spice or middle eastern flavours, then enjoy, but if you don't, good luck with the limited choice of offering.

To me, the Perth business lounge wins hands down with the stone pizza oven which is incredibly popular with members. Pizza cut into small squares is so easy to eat and you can choose to nibble or take a full plate if you're hungry I find the new BNE business lounge less enjoyable and the mexican food offering is a bit hit and miss.

I tried the spice bar offering at the Melbourne lounge on a relatively quiet Saturday afternoon. The food choices were a Laska or Wonton soup from the spice bar, or a range of rice and spicy options in the self serve area. These were all a bit old and cold. The non-spice offering was a toasted sandwich or a salad. Not exactly what I was looking for although to be fair, those members dining from the spice bar seemed to be enjoing their meals.

I'll drink the coffee and wait for the plane meal.

 

[RichardMEL]

Please bring back those days. Pies and sausage rolls would be better than some of the slop that is served today.

SYD J dom lounge between about 3-4 would be your sweet spot then

Also ADL QP come to think of it. I've seen sausage rolls/party pies at the bar!

 

[RichardMEL]

had my 3rd or 4th visit yesterday but my first time with the new space opened up. It confused me a bit for a minute but it's generally nice.

Still quite busy around 10am Sunday (I would not call this peak) but found a spot to sit with my coffee and luke warm snags(blah but not a surprise at that time)

I visited the loo a couple of times (hey, coffee! ) and both times a wair queue for the cubicles (luckily? there's a bit of a area quite helpfuly positioned for the queue ) yeah they need to do something about this. Don't know how, but yeah it's not great.

It is a definite improvement for sure, and a good use of the space they had to work with I think but still much room for improvement (eg: the coffee queue was around 5-10min with just one person working the machines, though I have seen two at times)

 

[Silvia]

I was there today from 5-7pm, busy but easily found space.

Totally enjoyed the spice bar and the gin coughtail. Was certainly better than what I got on board.

 

[RooFlyer]

That brings me to the food and drink - perhaps I'm alone on a desert island but the influence on Neil Perry on the in-flight business class menus and the lounges is not something I applaud.

No, that island is pretty crowded! The NP mono-leaf 'salad' is pretty notorious.

 

[GoldCanyon340]

Indeed that Bulge between Gate 1 and (unused) gate 3 was the QP in the later 90's. I watched the building progress of the 20+ gate area from the upper level.

Going back before that I believe it was the old Australian Airlines Flight Deck Club.

 

[serfty]

Going back before that I believe it was the old Australian Airlines Flight Deck Club.

Back then it was a "box" hanging off the north side of the "Qantas" terminal, not a bulge. The Curved extension was added ~1996; by that time it was a QP.

A bit like the old international Business and First Lounges on the international pier; they were partly a box between G1 & G3 - when the lounges were moved to the dungeon at the end, that area became the Gate 1 lounge. That area is now part of the shopping mall trek ....

 

[kookaburra75]

Indeed that Bulge between Gate 1 and (unused) gate 3 was the QP in the later 90's. I watched the building progress of the 20+ gate area from the upper level.

A bit off topic, but why was Gate 3 not used in Melbourne? Also was the old lounge where those cafes/ restaurants are now?

Gate 3 was one of the old "Compass" gates, that Australian Airline/Qantas had to give up to new entrants in the airline business - the other Gate was down near Gate 10 from memory. AA and Ansett had to provide two gates each to new entrants, so for Compass they were located quite a distance apart (making the impractical), and Ansett's efforts were about 1km apart - they just didn't like any competition.

Again, from memory the old, old Qantas Lounge was opposite Gate 1, where the Qantas Meeting Rooms are now.

But back on thread. I tried out the new J lounge yesterday and having the extra space and seats makes a big difference. The only negative from me is not enough working space - the open work benches like Sydney and Brisbane. The counters near the bar and just as you come into the lounger are too narrow and too small. While I'm up to working from a bar, that's not what I want to be doing in a airport lounge - as a lot were yesterday as it was the only space they could work from.

 

[Scott K]

Well, CBR has a J lounge but goes large chunks of time with no hot food, so it's not unique. And while it may not be a J lounge, I've always found ADL very comfortable, with good staff, and pretty decent food (roast chicken, stew, pasta bakes etc).

To be frank, if I die and find myself permanently locked in an airport as my own personal hell, that airport will probably be Canberra airport. The dullest, drollest airport I have every had the misfortune to stand in.

 

[zenyattamondatta]

To be frank, if I die and find myself permanently locked in an airport as my own personal hell, that airport will probably be Canberra airport. The dullest, drollest airport I have every had the misfortune to stand in.

Drollness isn't generally a quality I would mind in airports.

I'm at CBR at least twice a week when not overseas, and reckon it punches above its weight. At the very least, it gets the job done.

 

[kookaburra75]

To be frank, if I die and find myself permanently locked in an airport as my own personal hell, that airport will probably be Canberra airport. The dullest, drollest airport I have every had the misfortune to stand in.

You need to get out more. I can think of a lot of airports that beat Canberra hands down for "dullness & droll-nesses"
Heathrow Terminal 3, Melbourne T3, Coolangatta. Nothing against those places, just their airports