Location: International Terminal – Airside, right after Duty Free
Hours: Daily, 2:30pm until last departure
Access: Emirates First & Business passengers, Skywards Gold members
Amenities: Dedicated business centre and wireless LAN access, Wi-Fi, large flat-screen TVs, bathrooms with shower facilities, extensive selection of international newspapers and magazines, massage chair.
General Impression: This lounge is a replacement for the original Emirates Auckland location which closed in 2011. It’s widely regarded as being an enormous improvement simply by virtue of its more generous size. The previous lounge was frequently over-crowded and not the place to be if relaxation was your goal. Those days are gone and this one is a pleasure to visit with larger dining area, many more seats, a bigger business centre and more showers. The décor is very Dubai-like with plenty of tan leather, gold accents and expensive looking artwork on the walls. Staff are excellent also, generally very helpful and happy to do so.
Food: As a lounge that serves both First & Business passengers, who are more than likely about to board a long-haul flight, the food selection here is pretty good. On any given day there is a wide selection of hot dishes such as lamb tagine, penne with walnuts and cheese, noodles, salmon and sausage rolls. There is also soup (the variety changes daily) with garlic bread and the standard Emirates fridge stocked with salads, sandwiches and desserts.
Bar: The main attraction for many people there are two bars in the lounge stocked with a good selection of Kiwi wines, spirits and happily, the champagne is Veuve Cliquot. Tea, coffee and soft drinks are available as usual although a coffee-barista would be appreciated over the self-serve machine.
Bathrooms: Worth mentioning as there’s two showers each for ladies and gents, and they’re supplied with a decent array of amenities – bath robes, towels, hairdryers, toothbrushes and razors.
Business Centre: There are eight desktop PC’s with super-speedy internet connection, and free Wi-Fi access for your laptop (just need to grab the password from reception). There are few power outlets here if you need but it’s probably time for Emirates to add more around the lounge in general.
One other nice touch we particularly like in this lounge – Auckland can be very busy at boarding time and a bit of a zoo frankly. Lounge staff will wait until boarding for your flight is almost complete before calling you and it’s perfectly timed to allow you time to walk to your flight without panic, while still giving you an extra twenty minutes to enjoy the lounge and avoid the crush at the gate.
