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My review of the Sala Velazquez Iberia VIP Lounge at Madrid Airport

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This is my review of the Sala Velazquez Iberia VIP Lounge at Madrid Barajas Airport.

After two days in Madrid it was time for me to fly to my last destination of this trip: Frankfurt.   That flight, on a LATAM 787 with a flat bed seat, was actually pretty cool – but more on that tomorrow.

I checked in at the LATAM counter at Madrid’s Terminal 4 and was handed a paper invitation for the Sala Velazquez VIP Lounge.  Click on any of the pictures to enlarge:

Madrid airport check in latam

The lounge is at terminal 4S and you have to take a train to the RSU gates.

madrid airport train to gates and latam lounge

Once you arrive take the escalator up, turn left:

madrid airport sala velazquez lounge directions

…. and walk through the Duty Free shop. The entrance to the lounge is on the left.

madrid airport sala velazquez lounge duty free shop

Similar to the Iberia Dali VIP Lounge at Terminal 4 which I reviewed last May, the lounge consists of two identical parts and you can either go to the left or to the right at reception.

For clarity, this lounge can only be accessed by premium or status passengers.  It is not part of Priority Pass or Lounge Club although those schemes have access to five other lounges across the airport.

Next to the reception was a selection of magazines and newspapers:

madrid airport sala velazquez lounge newspapers

The lounge had a very good amount of seats and the fact that it is effectively two lounges in one means that it should rarely be an issue finding a seat.

madrid airport sala velazquez lounge seating 2

There was a separate TV room:

madrid airport sala velazquez lounge TV room

…. and an area with computers.

madrid airport sala velazquez lounge business center

The open bar in the middle of the lounge had a good selection of spirits:

madrid airport sala velazquez lounge bar

The wine bar at the far end is probably the highlight of the Velazquez lounge.   It’s by far the largest selection of wines I’ve ever seen in an airport lounge!

madrid airport sala velazquez lounge wine bar

Breakfast is from 9am, lunch from 2pm and dinner from 9:30pm.  I arrived at the lounge just before lunch (by UK standards, it was already lunchtime) and the Velazquez Cafe still had the breakfast buffet out.  There were cereals, pastries, yoghurt and juices.

madrid airport sala velazquez lounge cafe

At 2pm the lunch buffet was brought out. As well as a good salad buffet there were spanish tortillas and pasta bakes.

madrid airport sala velazquez lounge salads

All in all the lounge looked decent, however I was a bit surprised that this chair had not been replaced:

Iberia Velazquez lounge Madrid Airport

To give you a better impression of what you can expect, here is a short YouTube video of the Sala Velazquez Iberia VIP Lounge Madrid Airport. You can subscribe to our YouTube channel via this page – this is the same link to visit if the video does not automatically appear below.

Conclusion

The Sala Velazquez Iberia VIP Lounge at Madrid Airport is spacious with a good selection of food and drinks.

Let’s be honest.  It isn’t going to win awards for design or style.  That said, I thought it had a welcoming atmosphere and the large window front brightens the room.

You might expect a little more in terms of flair for the ‘home’ lounge of a global airline, but the average HFP reader won’t be passing through there every week.  You’ll get a seat, you won’t go thirsty and you won’t go hungry.


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Comments (19)

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

  • BlackBerryAddict says:

    Can’t but agree with my fellow posters about this nice lounge – It’s probably the one I frequent most after LHR and LGW. In fact – due there next week on the way to/from Lima. Spacious, and never seen it really busy. Great views as well.

    I especially like the seemingly interminable supply of little Häagen-Dazs ice cream tubs 🙂

  • DS says:

    There’s also a pre-flight dining room there.

  • Thomas says:

    Slight OT but still MAD and LATAM related.

    Were you able to use Fast Track at MAD when on LATAM Business and (assuming) having status with a oneworld airline. Was denied access and treated very badly by security staff on fast track on the 4th Feb when on the same route.

    • signol says:

      I was denied last year. No biggie as the main security was very quiet at the time.

  • james says:

    That chair would be more at home in the Heathrow Concorde Room…

  • C77 says:

    Nice report. Looming forward to my visit here in April. No mention of your cough on this one so assuming your bubonic plague symptoms had left you by this point 😉

  • signol says:

    This is probably my favourite lounge in Europe (not that I have a massive selection!), visiting again in April before an overnight JNB. There are also showers, on production of a boarding pass as collateral.

  • NFH says:

    I agree that this is one of the best lounges in the world. The food is particularly good and I’ve never seen such an impressive selection of wines. Unfortunately BA’s MAD-LCY flights were moved from T4S to T4 so I couldn’t use it any more, and now the route is being dropped altogether. The equivalent lounge in T4 isn’t nearly as good – very crowded with inferior food.

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.