'The Lounge' ADL

[serfty]

...
In doing so I went and had a look at 'The Lounge' and I have to say it was quite a pleasant experience. A very good and open setup with an adequate supply of good food. ...

There should be plenty of room at MEL; it's located on an ex Golden Wing site.

Do velocity Gold get anytime access?

 

[markis10]

As with most of the DJ lounges, it's the old GW lounge space, in MEL it is roomy and offers good views however it's a PITA that its located before the screening point, given the terminal layout it would take a lot of rework to change that.

The feedback on ADL hopefully gets back to management, having a poor lounge when you have so few is not good thing, I would like to see more lounges but not if they are not looked after.

 

[straitman]

There should be plenty of room at MEL; it's located on an ex Golden Wing site.

Do velocity Gold get anytime access?

Gold get same day access when travelling DJ. (Before and after flights)

Priority Pass get access also get same day access (before and after also) when travelling with any airlines to/from MEL. They let me in as an extra as I am flying today and were very relaxed about it all.

 

[openseat]

While I agree that the Lounge in ADL needs some freshening up, you make it sound much worse than it is. I have found it always quiet, with reasonable food selection and the staff are friendly and always get anything you ask for.
It is certainly much better than many other lounge experiences, like the overcrowded and dirty QP in MEL, not to mention the great rush for food at any QP around meal times.

 

[NM]

Sounds like a pretty sad selection of beers!

With Fat Yak and Coopers Pale Ale, what more could anyone want?

 

[yohy?!]

While I agree that the Lounge in ADL needs some freshening up, you make it sound much worse than it is. I have found it always quiet, with reasonable food selection and the staff are friendly and always get anything you ask for.
It is certainly much better than many other lounge experiences, like the overcrowded and dirty QP in MEL, not to mention the great rush for food at any QP around meal times.

I would suggest that you compare the ADL lounge to either the SYD or MEL DJ ones (as I have done, not to QF) - their facilities, staff and food and drink were of a much higher standard.

Visiting as a Priority Pass member whereby I paid for access the lounge it was simply not acceptable.

All of the food items I tried (soy crisps, olives, sundried tomatos, tzatiki dip, cucumber) were old and stale.

While the staff were friendly enough they were disinterested and almost caused me to miss my flight by not announcing the boarding time.

I was also particularly unimpressed with the fact they allowed an off-duty staffmember/staffmember's relative to use the facilities and cause disruption.

I'm not a QP member or QF Gold status or higher (yet) and I've only been to the SYD QP and Dom J lounges before - they are the standard with which DJ must compete with for business travellers otherwise they are wasting their time really...

 

[Virgin Australia]

-Ottomans in the tv area are covered in gross black marks
-Carpets marked with red wine stains (big ones that have not been attempted at being removed).
-Squashed, unusable bread at the buffet (wtf)?
-Sundried tomatoes appear to have gone off (rancid black pieces in them)
-Warm wine on offer that tastes days old

Hi yohy,
That's certainly not a post we enjoy reading.
I can tell you that today we have forwarded on to the contact who oversees the quality control of the food in our Lounges, with a look to having this addressed asap. This is not the quality or standard that that we want our Lounges to portray.

In regards to the cleaning, I can tell you that the ottomans and carpet have all had several attempts to be steam cleaned but as this lounge is 4 years old it would appear that the stains are permanent. We will look to have this area replaced in the near future.

As far as the discussion about alcohol in the Lounge, can I ask for feedback as to what everyone's expectations are?
Is it the quality or the range of alcohol that affects your satisfaction level?

Might be one for a separate thread?

 

[markis10]

As far as the discussion about alcohol in the Lounge, can I ask for feedback as to what everyone's expectations are?
Is it the quality or the range of alcohol that affects your satisfaction level?

Might be one for a separate thread?

Good idea, I have started a separate thread on the "refreshments" feedback for this purpose as there was also some comments on the non alcoholic options available.

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....hat-refreshments-do-you-26395.html#post373532

 

[drron]

Somewhat OT but worth sharing.

We stayed at Melbourne airport Hilton last night and I took the obligatory wander to the terminal. Rather than going to the Qantas end (as usual) I went to the Virgin Blue end and had a look around.

In doing so I went and had a look at 'The Lounge' and I have to say it was quite a pleasant experience. A very good and open setup with an adequate supply of good food.

The bar was well stocked with enough booze for several FT AGM's and the staff were very friendly.

The only down side was one guy wearing a pair of shorts that rivaled drron's golf shorts :!:
Airside Rd, Melbourne Airport VIC 3045, Australia




Sent from my iPhone using AFF Mobile

So the upper class in crowd use it do they?

 

[Justinf]

With Fat Yak and Coopers Pale Ale, what more could anyone want?

I have never seen Coopers in any of the Lounges. Only CUB beers.

 

[medhead]

Had my first The Lounge experience in ADL this morning. I seriously had to search hard to see any stains on the carpet, only notice a couple of funny marks right in a main walkway. Couldn't see and stains on seats. Once the staff offer to provide table service with my real expresso based coffee, made with steam and all, those minor details paled into insignificance.

My good experience was further enhanced when DJ actually had priority boarding for gold velocity, unlike the competition.

 

[Oneworldplus2]

I’m not familiar with that acronym sorry :?:

Or, as they say in other parts of Australia (more along the lines of WA FIFO....)

Cashed Up Bogan's

 

[davy57]

As a frequest visitor to the Melbourne and Sydney lounges, personally I think they are overated.

Soup, cold ham, cheese, soup, cold ham, cheese.........blah blah blah.

Big deal.

 

[yohy?!]

Had my first The Lounge experience in ADL this morning. I seriously had to search hard to see any stains on the carpet, only notice a couple of funny marks right in a main walkway. Couldn't see and stains on seats. Once the staff offer to provide table service with my real expresso based coffee, made with steam and all, those minor details paled into insignificance.

My good experience was further enhanced when DJ actually had priority boarding for gold velocity, unlike the competition.

Check out the TV seating area next time

 

[medhead]

'The Lounge' ADL = Yuck!

Check out the TV seating area next time

No I didn't look there. Best to avoid I think.

Really priority boarding that actually happens is a big thing for me.

 

[samh004]

This is a bit OT, but what’s the best way of checking-in as a Velocity Gold. I note on QF you can preselect a long way in advance, but you can’t :?: on DJ, so should I checkin for my flight 24 hours before and grab the best seat, or wait till I get to the airport and see what they "give" me?

Should I try move further up in The Lounge if I don’t like where I am, like I have done on QF, or does that not happen?

 

[notzac]

This is a bit OT, but what’s the best way of checking-in as a Velocity Gold. I note on QF you can preselect a long way in advance, but you can’t :?: on DJ, so should I checkin for my flight 24 hours before and grab the best seat, or wait till I get to the airport and see what they "give" me?

Should I try move further up in The Lounge if I don’t like where I am, like I have done on QF, or does that not happen?

Check in opens 24 hours before. I normally have reasonable success in getting a decent seat, however the staff at the lounge have been more than happy to find me something better if OLCI doesn't come up with the goods.

 

[samh004]

Check in opens 24 hours before. I normally have reasonable success in getting a decent seat, however the staff at the lounge have been more than happy to find me something better if OLCI doesn't come up with the goods.

Thanks, I’ll try that next week.

Not that I expect such, but what are the upgrade odds while I’m here?

 

[adl73x]

I'm sorry to hear reports that the ADL lounge is letting people down. I used it regularly when it was first opened 4 years ago and it was brilliant. Refreshing decor, pleasant staff, soup and risotto for hot food choices that were always available, coffee made to order - some things the QF lounge in ADL doesn't have even now.

On the strength of that Lounge in what used to be my home port, I have maintained a Lounge membership ever since. (I now also have a Priority Pass and a recently matched Velocity Gold, so it's a bit redundant). I used the Priority Pass to the BNE DJ Lounge on Saturday. With 7 hours to wait for an Involuntary Reroute to HKG via MEL on QF, I spent most of the wait in the DJ Lounge and it too was excellent. The half hour I spent in the BNE QF Business Lounge immediately before the flight confirmed I'd chosen wisely.

 

[serfty]

Given it's 8 days since "Virgin Blue" posted here they were aware of the issues raised by this thread, it's not surprising service has improved somewhat.

I would have expected some vigorous queries to have been made of ADL Lounge management in relation to this during the last week or so.

Guessing the service staff have been made aware as well.:-|