The House lounge in Sydney, open to Priority Pass cardholders, offers a decent setting and pretty good service for a lounge that isn’t dependent on an airline.
The House was the last lounge in Sydney’s international terminal that was accessible to me and that I hadn’t yet tried out. So I gave myself a little time to get there before boarding my flight to Tokyo, and left the Air New Zealand lounge a little earlier than planned to take advantage of it. A good idea, as it turned out to be right in front of my boarding gate.
You’ll find a summary of articles about this trip to Australia at the bottom of the page.
Lounge location
Once through security, the lounge is almost at the end of the terminal on your right. It’s quite a long walk to get there, but it’s a little closer than the Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines or Amex lounges, which are at the far end of the terminal. It’s in the basement.
To evaluate its location, I would make the same remark as for the Air New Zealand lounge: if your boarding gate is in this part of the terminal, it’s perfect; if it’s in the other part, you’ll have to cross the whole terminal to reach it.
Access to the lounge
The lounge is accessible to Priority Pass and Lounge Key cardholders, or for a fee of AUD$82.5 (€50).
Disposition et design
It consists of a single room separated into several zones by partitions.
In the center, the buffet and tables for dining.
Same on the side with other tables.
And then a more lounging area.
Not an exceptionally large lounge, and I wonder what it’s like at peak times.
As for the design, I think the photos enhance it more than the visual impression I had. Not ugly but not exciting either, the photos make it a little warmer than the perception I had of it.
Catering
The cold offer consists of salads…not really that exciting.
The hot offer consists of lamb, pasta, rice and soup. Not bad, especially the lamb.
As for the sweet stuff, you’ll have to make do with these few cakes…not very fancy.
And finally, as far as drinks are concerned, there’s nothing self-service but a bar where you can place your order.
Not really convenient: as much as I can understand the presence of a bar for spirits, which also gives a slightly more premium service, it’s counterproductive when it concerns all drinks. It clogs up the bar where there are only one or two waitresses to serve you a simple glass of water, which is a shame.
Facilities
The lounge has toilet and shower facilities. On the other hand, given the unacceptable state in which I found them, I don’t really fancy them.
Atmosphere
Quite noisy and certainly not relaxing.
Bottom line
It’s a decent lounge for travelers who don’t have access to airline lounges, and it’s doing pretty well for a lounge of this type, given that they’re generally far inferior in quality to airline lounges.
But an effort could be made on the buffet and especially on the maintenance of the toilets.
The articles about this trip to Australia
Articles similaires
Air New Zealand lounge in Sydney : really good
Singapore Airlines Silverkris lounge in Sydney: classicism and quality
