It was time to leave after an amazing five nights at Les Airelles Courchevel. We flew from Switzerland to New York in the SWISS A 220 business class and then from Singapore to New York in the A380 Suites.
Ahead of our flight to Frankfurt, I wanted to review the SWISS Senator Lounge in Switzerland.
We arrived at the airport early so we could leave a bit of a buffer since it was a long drive from Courchevel. It is not a small airport, but it is not one of the European mega-hubs.
The check-in hall was empty as we arrived, and we quickly spotted the SWISS check-in counters, which we had to visit due to a checked bag.
We could check-in at the first class desk since I have Star Alliance Gold status. It's not like there was a line at the business class counter, but I've always found it interesting how Star Alliance Gold members are put in first class.
We headed toward security with boarding passes in hand. There was no line at the security checkpoint for premium passengers.
We had about an hour to kill at the SWISS Senator Lounge.
You can find the Senator Lounge at the level of CMD if you go up a level. You can either take the stairs or escalators if you turn left or right.
There are several lounges, a meditation room, and plenty of public seating on the second level.
The SWISS Lounge is open all day.
The lounge access between elite members and business class passengers is an interesting distinction.
My Star Alliance Gold status, which I earned through a recent Singapore KrisFlyer promotion, allowed us to use the Senator Lounge. Business Lounges are thought to be a bit better than Senator Lounges.
The Senator Lounge is small. It has a total of 226 square meters and seating for 62 people. It wasn't too crowded when we visited, and I could see it being packed when business travel resumed.
There was a shaped seating area with leather couches inside the lounge entrance.
There was a long leather bench. I couldn't get a good picture of the sitting area with a dozen chairs facing one another, as there were people seated there for the duration of our visit.
Dining tables and high-top seating were part of the lounge.
The stools were not particularly comfortable. The lounge doesn't have much in the way of views, as it just looks over the roof of the terminal.
There were a number of dining tables that could seat a couple of people.
The lounge doesn't have any workstations, which is unusual since that is a standard lounge feature. With how small the lounge is, that wasn't a priority.
The buffet was close to the entrance to the lounge.
It had a lot of hot dishes, such as pumpkin soup, fresh fruit, and bread.
There was a small selection of fresh desserts and some snacks in containers that you could help yourself to.
The lounge had a coffee machine, tea, soft drinks, water, beer, wine, and liquor. The alcohol selection didn't seem to me to be high end.
The lounge had cafeteria-style trays on which you could place food, which was kind of practical since it can be hard to figure out the right way to transport several small dishes.
The SWISS Senator Lounge doesn't have a bathroom. You need to use the toilets in the terminal.
You should leave plenty of time to get to your gate at the airport since it can take quite a while from the lounge and security checkpoint. If you're not a fast walker, it was a good 10 minute walk from gate D25 to where we were.
I can't say that the airport is inspiring.
The SWISS Senator Lounge is a good place to hang out if you are at the airport. The lounge is small and doesn't have a bathroom. The food selection was good.
I was a bit more critical of the senator lounge when I reviewed it. Why? I think it's fair to compare the lounge experience of other major European airport hubs because of the fact that Frankfurt is a major intercontinental connecting hub.
SWISS only has regional flights from the airport in the case of New York. It's fair to make a distinction there.
I think this lounge is mostly average, though I will still give it 2.5 stars. I think that the fact that it doesn't have a bathroom deserves some sort of deduction.
What was your experience at the SWISS Lounge?
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