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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.

  • James A says:

    I really like this lounge. It has a nice ambiance and expansive views.

  • flood says:

    Good food too – puts galleries to shame.

  • Paul says:

    I did the MAD FRA run almost two years ago now and thought it was s Terrie experience. I did it from FRA resulting in me spending the night at MAD Hilton which was very good. I liked the IB lounge but found the airport to be vast and confusing and I must say I had s hard tone find the lounge. In my view the air Canada maple leaf lounge in FRA was better and probably one of the best lounges in Europe for a non home based carrier.

  • Court says:

    I really enjoy the 4S lounge. The ambiance, the amount of seats, the view of the apron and the wine!

    I like it so much I’m going to do LHR-MJV/MAD-LHR and get the AVE from Alicante in a couple of months (nothing to do with the 777 😉 )

  • Greenpen says:

    I think this is a superb lounge. It is in Spain so the food times are appropriate although I too have been annoyed at the late appearance of dinner. The food and wine are good and you can get a wine tasting. Nice sandwiches too. Cava in small bottles. I think it is the best J lounge I have been in.

  • Leo says:

    I am also a fan of the Cava in individual bottles. I like the IB lounges at Barajas – agree not winning any design prizes but they work.

  • Lumma says:

    I like this lounge, although I thought the breakfast buffet was a bit nasty. Definitely better than the British Airways lounge that iberia use at JFK on the return flight.

    • Graeme says:

      I’ve done that same journey and agree completely. That place was fairly drab.

  • Lumma says:

    OT But iberia related, does anyone know the best way to raise a complaint with iberia? They’ve completely messed up a recent booking I made and won’t take responsibility for it. The UK phone number just hangs up before speaking to someone and calling the Spanish one always results in them saying they’ll look into it and calling me back and never doing so. I’d like to be able to put it into writing.

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