Turkish Airlines' VIP lounges at Istanbul airport are (arguably) the best around

This is a review of the two official lounges of Turkish Airlines present in the new, and beautiful, airport in Istanbul.

I only do one review because. the two lounges are mirrored, where one ends the other begins and the only difference is that one Is dedicated exclusively to business class passengers, regardless of the status held.

The second is named after the Miles&Smiles loyalty program and is open to Gold or higher status holders in the TK program or one of the Star Alliance companies.

Location

The two lounges are located on the floor above the duty free and restaurant areas in the main body of the airport.

Coming from the security checkpoint, the first one you meet is the Miles&Smiles one, it is on the left.

It is very well signposted and is on the opposite side of the SkyTeam alliance lounge and the IGA Lounge, the lounge open to cardholders such as Priority Pass and the like.

Both lounges have reception access via an escalator manned by an attendant who tells passengers which lounge is most suitable, based on the ticket held.

Access

As mentioned, the business lounge is only available to passengers traveling in business with Turkish and the other Star Alliance airlines. By the staff's own admission, it is the better of the two, probably because it is less crowded.

The Miles&Smiles lounge, on the other hand, is accessible to those who do not fly business but have Gold status in the loyalty program of Turkish Airlines, partner carriers and Star Alliance airlines.

The halls

The lounges are truly identical in decor and amenities. Only the one for business class passengers is slightly larger.

As soon as you pass the turnstiles in both halls there is an automatic piano playing by itself.

The decor is beautiful and elegant, there are many references to the colors and styles of Turkish architecture. As well as maximum attention to the religious needs of guests. Whether in terms of halal or non-halal gastronomic products, down to the bathrooms dedicated to people of the Muslim faith. And since it is known that Turks love to smoke, there are present  Various smoking areas.

The seating is of all kinds, very nice even the covered part: more like being in the reading room of a 5-star hotel than in an airport lounge.

Food & Beverage

In this respect I must point out that I went through the worst hours. The first time it was 11 p.m. and the dinner service had already finished, the second time I arrived at 5 a.m. and the breakfast service was being set up.

This I must say is a flaw, especially since the Istanbul airport lives h24, with passengers arriving in the middle of the night but due to the time difference being in the middle of the day and vice versa. Okay to offer reduced service outside of the canonical hours, but to reduce service so much is definitely not premium airline-like, especially when compared to the Middle Eastern competitors.

In the central part there are two kiosks with open kitchen and the cold buffet, in the central plaza there are two more stations for hot food preparation.

During my overnight visit to the business lounge, the islands were closed, the buffet offered single-serving products while toast, the only hot product available, was being heated at the center counter.

When I stopped by in the early morning hours the situation was not much different, the buffet was the same as the night version, plus croissants and little else were offered.

While the hot food islands started working after 6 a.m., by which time it was time for me to board for my flight to Italy. Very beautiful and scenic, but tremendously slow when it is time to serve hordes of hungry passengers.

Scattered around the lounge are then the hot drink islands, here Turkish offers h24 Turkish coffee as well as international drinks.

Services

It is in the services that Turkish has been at its best, and that make these lounges probably the best (or nearly the best) in the world. And I haven't even had time to discover them all.

In the most prestigious one there is an art gallery that holds rotating exhibitions with different themes, which can be visited h24.

There are lockers, of various sizes, to store one's luggage and not have to move your trolley up and down the lounge all the time.

There is a corner to work in, with computers and printers available to passengers.

There is, of course, free wi-fi, but you must have a login and password to use it. To get credentials you have to scan your ticket at the special totems scattered around the lounges.

Private Suites

The business lounge also offers a specific category of passengers access to real private rooms, inside the lounge. These are rooms equipped with a bed and located in an area of the lounge away from the noise. It looks like a real hotel room. In order to use one of these suites, you have to go to the concierge and you must meet all three of the following conditions:

1. Travel business class with Turkish (not on a Star Alliance partner), with paid ticket or award
2. Having a connecting flight that leaves no earlier than four and more than nine hours
3. At least one of your flights (inbound or outbound) must be at least eight hours long

If you meet these three requirements you will then be able to use, free of charge, these rooms. This was not my case because I was always in "short" connection. I did not even have time to try the showers, although I have read that they are among the best in lounges around the world.

If you do not fall into this type of passenger, there is still a second area, where there are armchairs/bed accessible by all passengers.

The lounge then offers a children's area, prayer rooms, free ironing service for passengers on daytime flights, and an area where massages are given: it's not a spa like in Air France, but if you have time and there's no queue a 10-minute neck massage relaxes you just enough before you take off again.

In conclusion

Next time I will try to have more time to visit these lounges and take advantage of all the facilities there, in general, however, I remain convinced that this airport and these lounges can bring Turkish into real competition with carriers like Qatar, Emirates and the like. Now, however, we need the next step in terms of the quality of the fleet.

This is just one of many reviews you can read on our site. Every Wednesday we publish a review of a lounge airport, while every Friday you can read the review of one of our flights or a hotel where we stayed.