Iberia Premium Lounge Velázquez, T4S, Madrid
This Series:
➔ British Airways Club Europe, A319, Heathrow – Frankfurt
➔ Frankfurt: City Guide
➔ LATAM Premium Business, B787, Frankfurt -Madrid
➔ AC Hotel, Cuzco, Madrid
➔ Iberia Premium Lounge Velázquez, T4S, Madrid
➔ Iberia Business Class, Airbus A350, Madrid – Heathrow
As promised in a previous series, I’ll be taking a look at the Iberia lounge at Madrid T4S. Probably one of my most visited lounges, it had a fairly comprehensive upgrade in 2017. In early 2020, the catering changed to Do&Co, meaning the area in which it was a little weak has now also improved.
Location
In the duty free shop, Madrid T4S.
Entry Requirements
OneWorld Business Class ticket or
OneWorld Sapphire or above card
The Lounge
The lounge entrance is a little odd to say the least. It’s right in the middle of the duty free shop as you pass through passport control! I’d imagine a few people might miss this if they’re unfamiliar.
The reception desk is in the centre of the lounge. Beyond this is a number of seats.
The lounge is long and thin – consisting mostly of seating areas. At most, if not all seats are both USB and mains power.
As you head to the left as you enter, there’s a work area, along with an area that’s designated the entertainment zone.
Also in this area are the washrooms.
As you carry on down, you will reach one of two buffet areas. As mentioned, the catering has improved quite a bit since early 2020.
In this area, the tables and chairs are more set up for dining. Again, each area offers a number of power ports nearby.
Beyond this, there’s a further lounge area.
And at the back of this is a more formal dining area, however it’s only open at select times. I’m led to believe it caters for the late night departures to South America, so it’s opens at 21:00+
Heading back in the opposite direction, there are a number of private sleep areas as you pass the reception desk.
Also in this area are a number of showers. Which come in handy when you’ve spent a few hours wandering around Madrid in the middle of the summer!
Carrying on down is the second buffet area. This is essentially a carbon copy of the buffet at the other end of the lounge.
The Bar
As you reach the far end of the lounge, there is a fairly well stocked self serve bar.
Again, a number of seats are provided in this area. In all, this lounge can accommodate 500 guests.
Dotted around at a few points within the lounge are coffee machines. During my visit, I didn’t count the exact number, but from memory I believe there are four in total.
Do&Co Catering
On 1st February 2020, the Iberia Premium Lounge Velázquez began offering catering from Do&Co. This is a HUGE improvement on what was offered previously. In fact, the previous few times I’d visited this lounge, there was no real food on offer at all other than a few biscuits and bar snacks.
While there wasn’t a huge choice of food available, what was offered was of very high quality. Being the first month of the contract, it remains to be seen whether the offerings will be rotated on a regular basis.
During my visit, chicken, fish, rice, mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables and pasta were provided on the hot buffet.
In addition, there was a salad bar and a number of sandwiches on offer.
A new addition to the lounge catering was soup.
The lounge also offers a couple of desserts too. On offer were warm chocolate cake and chocolate mousse. Although this does now mean the tubs of Haagen-Dazs ice cream have now gone, along with the doughnuts.
And finally…
The final mention for this lounge is the views!
Verdict
The Iberia Premium Lounge Velázquez is a generally strong lounge at Madrid T4S. Whilst it wasn’t too bad before the refurbishment, it is now even stronger. The improved catering was very much needed and it’s good to see that Iberia have addressed this.
Further Info:
https://www.iberia.com/gb/iberia-madrid-vip-lounges/velazquez/
