MEL Business Lounge open

[superchris]

It opened about 2 hours ago and seems quite busy.Aisling the barista is doing a fantastic job:mrgreen:

 

[jamesatfish]

Gee - when they said 'late July' they really meant 'LATE July'...

Is it actually finished, or only a half-finished job like Brisbane? (where I noticed they had tradies working at 11:30pm on Sunday night trying to get the new toilets finished, which they still hadn't done by Wednesday morning)

Typical timing though - I've spent a total of about 5 hours in the MEL QP over the last week thanks to various delays and I really would have appreciated the (slightly) nicer food served in the Business lounges to a (slightly) smaller crowd of flyers. On Sunday night with plenty of delays due to weather in SYD there was a line of vultures in the QP hovering over the empty hot food trays, such that as soon as a new plate of warmed-up party pies was delivered it was devoured in no time.

Hopefully the new lounge split goes someway to resolving this problem (at least for those in the Business lounges - I can see the QPs getting busier with smaller areas and less attention as Qantas focus their efforts on the premium of the two lounges.

 

[Batesy]

I was in the SYD business lounge last week. Can anyone tell me where the signature food offer is as I couldnt find it there thats for sure???

 

[jamesatfish]

I was in the SYD business lounge last week. Can anyone tell me where the signature food offer is as I couldnt find it there thats for sure???

Last Saturday afternoon they had some nice italian meatballs (like the ones they put in the Subway sandwiches) at the end of the food area closest to the door. It's in the spot where the coughpy soup would have been in the QP so you might have walked past it. They also had a nice (cold) steak sandwich with caramelised onions where the 'ham and cheese specials' would sit in the QP.

'Signature' food might be taking it a bit far - it's just a little bit nicer (and more readily available) than the food in the QP.

 

[Batesy]

Last Saturday afternoon they had some nice italian meatballs (like the ones they put in the Subway sandwiches) at the end of the food area closest to the door. It's in the spot where the coughpy soup would have been in the QP so you might have walked past it. They also had a nice (cold) steak sandwich with caramelised onions where the 'ham and cheese specials' would sit in the QP.

'Signature' food might be taking it a bit far - it's just a little bit nicer (and more readily available) than the food in the QP.

Yep, I had the meatballs, its just a soup with tiny meatballs in it. Qantas have not delivered on a better lounge, the only real difference is who can and can't access the lounge. I would have thought that a "signature dish menu" (as quoted on the QF website) would have a significant difference to the standard fight for party pies in the QP.

 

[serfty]

Last Saturday afternoon they had some nice italian meatballs (like the ones they put in the Subway sandwiches) at the end of the food area closest to the door. ...

That would actually have been "Italian meatball Soup"; I had some at Noon.

It was very nice ...

 

[jamesatfish]

That would actually have been "Italian meatball Soup"; I had some at Noon.

It was very nice ...

I suppose it was intended to be a soup - I just fished out the meatballs and put them in some bread...

 

[serfty]

I suppose it was intended to be a soup - I just fished out the meatballs and put them in some bread...

I guess that's why it was "in the spot where the coughpy soup would have been".

 

[comint]

Hopefully the new lounge split goes someway to resolving this problem

I have heard (can't verify the accuracy) an estimated daily usage/capacity for the two lounges - 4000 Club/Sapphire & 2000 Business/Emerald.

 

[jamesatfish]

I guess that's why it was "in the spot where the coughpy soup would have been".

I suppose so.

I also suppose that the people who used the business lounge after me might have considered it to be a 'poorly labelled coughpy soup' after I did my bit to remove the meatball part from the soup part.

In my defence, I'm pretty sure the sign just said 'Italian meatballs' as I hadn't even considered it should be eaten as a soup until you pointed that out.

 

[ejb]

Hi all,

I quite enjoyed the food in Syd the other night and they had Goulash and Mash potato which was very nice and quite popular but they kept refilling it.

ejb

 

[Harpoon]

Gold FF members can access the new Business lounges?

 

[Batesy]

Gold FF members can access the new Business lounges?

No only QF plats, J customers and one world emeralds

 

[Tooner]

Spent about 25mins in the new J Lounge in MEL this afternoon. Smells new still, though finished throughout. Opened at 5am apparently. Quick look round and seems nicely done, similar look to SYD. Little section behind the counter has some chairs with foot-stools to sit and watch the planes.

Didn't notice many people being asked for boarding passes though.

Food area small, but not a big crowd. Larger range of food, and were setting up for some hot food as well.

Not too crowded even though there were delays looming.

 

[Flashback]

Went in with Mal on Friday, and it was very crowded, the food was lacklustre, and the poor lady at the door/counter was running around like a chook with its head cut off.

This was around 1.30pm...

 

[dot]

I was in the MEL business lounge this afternoon - the food was identical, but the lounge was noticeably less crowded. I took some photos for those that are interested...

The thing that really stood out to me was the size - I was expecting it to be much smaller...

 

[dot]

Strangely, the photos I embedded in the previous post have fails - here we go again... (all linked to the larger version of the image)

 

[taswegian77]

thanks for the photos dot. it looks like the new J lounge at MEL is along similar lines to the ADE lounge, similar business areas. Hope to try it out soon one day but have done nothing but international travel the past 4-6 months. sort of used to the F lounges in MEL and SYD, it will take an adjustment to use the J lounge, LOL.:mrgreen:

 

[dot]

More photos - this time SYD Business Lounge taken this evening

 

[slewd]

I was in the there (MEL) wed morning, thurs midday and evening (delays) and friday evening and quite liked it. I didnt find the food to be anything special or a world different from that of QP same goes for the service aswell - it wasn't bad just no different from the QP. The fact that it is a 'business lounge' is blatant to see in that the entire crowd were business types.
It seemed quieter though with more walls and petitions seperating areas gave greater privacy than the more open plan QP especially in MEL QP where rest/work/chat is impossible if you sit anywhere near the TV, food, toilets, paths to/from entry and exit doors due to constant foot traffic.
Reminds me alot of the Singapore QP and new ADE QP and similar stylings to MEL and SYD new intl. F lounges - lots of whites, glass marble etc. - hopefully QF sticks with this formula when updating the tiring MEL/SYD dom lounges.
Overall, not bad, hopefully will take some stress off QP at peak hours.