In the first-class lounge, a new barista coffee station and cocktail bar is backed by 119 Lalique crystals across the wall representing the airline’s signature batik motif with flowers native to Singapore. Enormous shower rooms and bathrooms stock Lalique and Como Shambhala toiletries. Day-use rooms, available in two-hour increments, offer relaxing Temper Zero Gravity beds and Poltrona Frau leather chairs with yoga mats and essential oils from Como Shambhala.
Most exclusive, however, is the Private Room reserved for the airline’s first-class fliers. With space for only 78 people, the lounge is a serene setting with high-end table service (Wagyu satay skewers anyone?), glassed-in phone booths, and top-shelf pours from dozens of spirits, wine, and Champagne labels.
Credit card lounges are trending
Stateside, James Beard Award finalist Chef Gregory Collier takes the culinary helm as executive chef for Charlotte’s Centurion Lounge, bringing his signature Southern-inspired fare, soon to be found at one of his four new restaurants in town.
Houston’s Centurion Lounge at George Bush Intercontinental Airport has opened a new wellness room in partnership with meditation and relaxation-app Calm. While kicking back in lounge chairs, members can listen to free Calm content and sip drinks from a refreshment cart loaded with immune-boosting drinks, blended juices, coconut water, and tea. Centurion Lounges, accessible to those with select AmEx cards, are on a roll with a 26,000 square-foot facility also in the works for Atlanta with a planned opening next year.
Chase Sapphire wants in on the lounge action, too. The card issuer announced that it will begin opening its own brand of lounges, with nine airports already on the books including Boston, New York LaGuardia, Phoenix, and San Diego among others. The lounges will be open to all travelers with a Priority Pass lounge membership, which is a free perk of many premium travel credit cards or can be purchased on its own starting at $99 per year.
Capital One’s celebrated lounge at Dallas/Fort Worth, its first ever, will soon be followed by new facilities at Denver and Washington Dulles airports to the delight of its own credit cardholders, some of whom are allowed complimentary access. All other travelers are allowed to buy access for $65 per visit.
Bigger and better lounges here and abroad
Air France’s first-class La Première lounge in Paris Charles de Gaulle has a new pampering partnership with Sisley-Paris. Half-hour facials focusing on skin hydration and tightening are complimentary for all passengers in the lounge.