During a trip to the most powerful emirate of the UAE, I had the opportunity to discover the new SkyTeam lounge in Terminal 1, in the newly inaugurated Pier D.

A terminal 1 in full redesign

Dubai International inaugurated the new boarding pier in Terminal 1 of its airport last April. Although the latter is still in its infancy, its architecture, comparable to that of the piers in Terminal 3, is superb and functional.

Nevertheless, it is the whole terminal 1 which must now be redesigned. Now that the boarding part has been dealt with, the check-in, immigration and security part must now be renovated to raise the quality standards and realign them with the Emirates terminals.
Indeed, terminal 1 (as well as terminal 2, for that matter) is a bit old-fashioned: the check-in area is very cluttered, the signage unclear.
The organization of the operations concentrated in the evening does not help, but the immigration formalities are a nightmare, and combined with the security checks, they can take 60 to 75 minutes, which is quite an achievement for such a modern airport and such an open country as the United Arab Emirates.

A rather classic SkyTeam lounge

All of the lounges on boarding pier D are located in the same place, on the mezzanine of the general boarding room.
The SkyTeam lounge is located right in the center of this mezzanine.

Lufthansa and British Airways have their own lounge here, and two other lounges are available, one of which is close to the new bonded hotel, and which welcomes first class passengers from all airlines operating from DXB with such a cabin.

The decoration of this lounge is identical to that of the lounges in London Heathrow or Hong Kong, with light and woody tones.


Large quantities of international press are available. There is no mention here that the press cannot be carried in the cabin.


A work area with computers and printers is available. The presence of printers is too rare not to be mentioned. It meets a real need for business travelers who travel to countries where paper confirmations are sometimes required for travel or by police/immigration authorities.


Family areas are also available, keeping the rest of the lounge quiet. An excellent idea that is not present enough, and yet the need for it is recurrent, especially during vacation periods like the present.


A mediocre catering offer despite the intention

Dubai is a city full of expatriates from all continents, with a necessarily very international cuisine: one could therefore expect the best in a show such as this one, with unifying intentions since it brings together all the SkyTeam airlines under the same banner: it is not so.

While the bites look appetizing, they are actually quite bland.


The salads are quite fresh.


The hot dishes are quite basic, but inevitably undateable because most of them are in sauce.




The fish and chips is a disaster, inevitably waterlogged, and the doughnuts all soft.

As for the desserts, it is desolation, with cakes packed like a sweet and sour on Air France…


As far as drinks are concerned, the lounge is very well equipped, with a nice espresso machine and plenty of well-struck softs.


As far as spirits are concerned, the lounge is also well endowed, with mid-range liqueurs and spirits, wines in the same vein, but, unfortunately, no champagne.


Note the successful highlighting of the bar, in self-service.

Showers are available, but not very pleasant to use

Like all international lounges, DXB’s SkyTeam lounge is equipped with showers, available on request from the staff.


While the initiative is commendable, the proposed showers are poorly designed.
First of all, there is no toilet inside, which can be annoying in certain circumstances, which would require getting out of the shower, getting dressed and going back in.
Secondly, the drainage is poor, so that water stagnates at the back of the shower tray.

Conclusion

A lounge that keeps its promise: in line with other SkyTeam lounges…
If, in terms of decoration, it is rather pleasing, it is quite the opposite in terms of catering.
A few small quality efforts and everything will be perfect… Except the showers, where a real design problem prevents optimal use.