My review of Iberia’s refurbished Velazquez lounge at Madrid Terminal 4S

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This is my review of the refurbished Iberia Velazquez lounge in Madrid Terminal 4S.

Iberia is in the process of refurbishing its two main lounges in Madrid. The Velazquez lounge in 4S, which is where you will often end up if flying British Airways, has now been completed as you will see below. The second lounge, Dali, closed on 30th July and is due to re-open in late October.

Iberia is – justifiably – pleased with what it has achieved with the new Valazquez lounge and has created a special page on its website which you will find here. The photos are far better than mine.

This is now one of the best oneworld lounges in Europe, and is a fitting flagship for Iberia at its home airport. I have issues over the use of space but overall I was impressed. I often think that IAG does not get enough credit for its turnaround of Iberia.

Anyone who has been to the modern Terminal 4 at Madrid knows that it is, basically, a monument to the folly of giving a famous architect (Richard Rogers in this case) all the space in the world to play with. The distances you need to cover are huge. In places there are signs indicating a 30 minute walk to your gate.

If you don’t know Madrid, there is a train stop at the town of Barajas between the stops for Terminals 1/2/3 and Terminal 4. That’s how far apart they are. The 4S satellite is also a fair trot from T4 itself – maps show it is almost as far away from T4 as it is from T1/2/3. If I had to travel through here every week it would drive me mad although I would end up 5kg lighter.

Once you’ve made it across to T4S, the entrance to the lounge is weird – it is literally in the middle of the duty free shop. Not just the duty free area …. the actual walk-through shop itself. Look at the reflection in the sign. It is easy to miss, which is saying something given that the entrance looks like this:

The new look is immediately apparent via this funky luggage storage area:

The Velazquez lounge is VERY long and very narrow. The upside is that you have a very long glass wall overlooking the tarmac. The downside is that it is a heck of a long walk from end to end.

Iberia deals with this by putting the reception desk – behind the red magazine and newspaper rack in the first image – in the centre. You have a choice of whether you go left or right, and in general most of the facilities are duplicated in both halves.

If you turn right, there are two unique areas which are not on the other side. The first is a kids area. This is not a separate room and it is not sound proofed:

Walk down to the end and the lounge gains a bit of extra width as it wraps around the corner. Iberia has used this to put in place a rather smart bar. It was operating as self service when I was there despite the traditional bar counter look.

What did impress me was the food, given that it was late afternoon. There was lots and lots of it, with plenty of options:

and

including this sushi wheel:

Here is a typical pair of seats. You’ll see that everything is new and you have power sockets built into every table in sight:

The magazine and newspaper area was a major letdown in terms of English language titles, apart from the FT, but it does look funky.

I wasn’t in the Velazquez lounge for long enough to get a proper grasp of, for example, the quality of alcohol available. The lounge website talks of a la carte table dining which I didn’t see in operation, so it is either not operating yet, is hidden away in a separate area or only operates at certain hours.

My biggest problem with the lounge is the same problem I had before it was refurbished – it has the unfortunate feel of being an airport terminal itself. If it was broken down into smaller zones with more variance in carpeting and seating then it might feel more intimate. Because it feels like you’re in the main terminal (albeit with free food and drink and far posher seating!) I didn’t get the same feeling of relaxation.

This is just a personal quirk though. If you are heading to Madrid and you qualify for lounge access via your British Airways status or having a Club Europe / Business Class ticket, I recommend making enough time in your day to spend an hour at the new Velazquez lounge. Remember to give yourself at least 30 minutes to get from the entrance to Terminal 4 to the lounge, given that you need to get over to the satellite.

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

DS says:

9 Aug9 August 06:50

“a la carte table dining which I didn’t see in operation” isn’t that the pre-flight dining?
used to be open very limited hours, the door was next to the buffet (not the buffet that was next to wine bar, but the one that was in the opposite direction).
Adam J says:

9 Aug9 August 06:59

Can you get n with a priority pass?
- Peter K says:
  
  9 Aug9 August 07:06
  
  ???? good one ????
- Frenzie says:
  
  9 Aug9 August 08:33
  
  Um…obviously no.
- Rob says:
  
  9 Aug9 August 09:19
  
  No
Andrew says:

9 Aug9 August 07:16

Unfortunately it seems IB flights to the UK depart from the main terminal – so you are limited to the inferior lounge just behind security. Unless it’s possible to go to the satalite and return?
- Mr(s) Entitled says:
  
  9 Aug9 August 07:24
  
  Is that this one:
  
  “The second lounge, Dali, closed on 30th July and is due to re-open in late October.”
- John says:
  
  9 Aug9 August 09:22
  
  From what I remember of MAD, the lounges are in Schengen and the flights to London / Dublin etc depart from the very ends of the long terminal with passport control just before
  - fivebobbill says:
    
    9 Aug9 August 09:38
    
    Priority Pass option:
    
    Neptuno Lounge
    Madrid Adolfo Suarez-Barajas (Terminal 4 (Satellite))
    
    Opening Hours
    24 hours daily.
    
    Location
    Airside – the lounge is located on the 2nd Floor (yellow sector). The glass door indicates the entrance to the lounge. Non-Schengen flights only
- fivebobbill says:
  
  9 Aug9 August 09:34
  
  Departing 4S to LHR in Sept…
  
  BA7058
  Iberia | Business | Confirmed
  18 Sep 2018
  15:55
  Madrid
  Terminal 4S
  
  18 Sep 2018
  17:20
  Heathrow (London)
  Terminal 5
  - Rob says:
    
    9 Aug9 August 11:14
    
    The flights which use long-haul aircraft use 4S. And these are the ones you should be booking on!
- AndyR says:
  
  9 Aug9 August 10:41
  
  Depends which flight. If it is a widebody aircraft then IB use T4S so you can access the lounge in this review.
- Lady London says:
  
  9 Aug9 August 20:47
  
  That’s their revenge for Brexit.
KBuffett says:

9 Aug9 August 07:17

Thanks for this Rob, will check it out.
I will be in Madrid for a few days in October. Can anyone recommend a good hotel that’s not too far by taxi to travel to IFEMA?
I’m Marriot Platinum, and all the other Amex Plat statuses?
- John says:
  
  9 Aug9 August 09:30
  
  The airport Hilton looks like the closest chain hotel, read flyertalk thread for an idea of what to ask for
  - DaveF says:
    
    10 Aug10 August 10:37
    
    Stayed there a few years ago. It’s a nice hotel but had nightmares with room key and lounge access (because of room key). 10 min free hotel shuttle ride away but once your there you’re stranded behind the motorway.
    If you want something other than hotel food you can walk through the housing estate across the motorway bridge and there’s a shopping centre with a great food court (proper restaurants) on the other side. It’s a about 20 mins walk.
- mike says:
  
  9 Aug9 August 10:08
  
  in that case you wont be Marriott platinum any more in October, just to warn you. by then you will be gold.
  - Genghis says:
    
    9 Aug9 August 10:15
    
    Only get Gold currently from Plat (via SPG). That person will still be Gold in a couple of weeks. Difference is that Gold actually means something currently whereas in a couple of weeks won’t get you much.
    - mike says:
      
      9 Aug9 August 11:20
      
      correct, assumed he meant gold.
David Williams says:

9 Aug9 August 07:23

A la carte dining = pre flight dining. It’s to the left as you enter, all the way down and around the corner. The mirror image position to the wine bar on the right. Only opens at 9pm and only for long haul business customers on the (mainly South American) red eyes.
- Genghis says:
  
  9 Aug9 August 07:46
  
  The South America flights seem a bit too long to be red eyes, for me anyway.
  - David says:
    
    9 Aug9 August 07:53
    
    I thought a “red-eye” was just an overnight flight. Is there a formal definition?
    - Genghis says:
      
      9 Aug9 August 07:57
      
      I thought “too short to get a good sleep” and hence having red eyes? Eg NYC-LON, LON-TLV, LON-DXB but not LON-HKG?
    - Chris says:
      
      9 Aug9 August 07:59
      
      It’s one after which you arrive red eyed, owing to not sleeping properly.
      
      On a sufficiently long flight, I would imagine most people sleep – I would try to and it appears Genghis would be similarly minded
    - Chris says:
      
      9 Aug9 August 08:02
      
      Think BOS-LHR in F. Only a lunatic would forgo dinner and scotch, (though almost the entire rest of the cabin apparently disagreed) leaving next to no time for sleep.
      
      Red eyes indeed
      - Rob says:
        
        9 Aug9 August 09:17
        
        I am doing this next month and will be forgoing everything as I have a long slate of Sat family jobs the second I get home!
    - Catalan says:
      
      9 Aug9 August 08:04
      
      A red eye flight usually means an overnight long haul flight which is actually too short on which to get a decent amount of sleep. Hence ‘red eyes’.
    - John says:
      
      9 Aug9 August 09:24
      
      If they were the same thing then why would you not just say “overnight flight”?
    - Bagoly says:
      
      9 Aug9 August 09:27
      
      Perhaps for the general public, “red-eye” is any overnight flight.
      But when flying with a flat bed, it’s only flight under 7 hours where sleep is a problem!
    - David says:
      
      9 Aug9 August 12:49
      
      In which case, I’d say any overnight flight in Y or W is a red-eye, given I can never sleep more than about an hour on those…
    - Lady London says:
      
      9 Aug9 August 20:52
      
      Haha @letterbox burka you do seem to know that one in great detail, don’t you 🙂
- Rob says:
  
  9 Aug9 August 09:18
  
  Thanks. Didn’t think I was going mad.
Crafty says:

9 Aug9 August 08:09

OT (no bits): I find myself 450 points short of a Marriott TP and, if Amex fails to transfer my SPG points tomorrow as they’ve told me they will fail to do, that leaves me a bit stuffed. On principle I don’t fancy buying more Starpoints for $17.50. Are there any nifty tricks by which I can earn small numbers of points immediately?
- Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:
  
  9 Aug9 August 08:26
  
  Have you picked up the points for connecting to social media?
  
  https://mrpoints.chirpify.com/rewardspoints/register
  - Crafty says:
    
    10 Aug10 August 08:24
    
    Thought you’d bailed me out there, but none of the registrations work for me; they keep returning “Please enter a value”, suggesting my Marriott number is wrong. Thanks anyway.
Chris says:

9 Aug9 August 08:14

The play area is a little uninspired I thought – but then since those seats all spin, I learned that to a child’s eye the entire place is fun so no matter.

Tiny cups though, need to make tea three at a time..
Caro says:

9 Aug9 August 08:33

I’ve used the Madrid Lounge quite a few times – mainly connecting to AGP or London in the other direction. A few points from me – you maybe didn’t see the lovely resting pods where you can get a kip if you need to (don’t forget to set your alarm) and the shower/loo cubicles are excellent and put the T5 ones to shame although are not as fancy and slick as say those you’ll find in say the Qatar lounges or the new shower suites at T3 from Qantas and CX.

The thing I find irritating is the hot food is always barely luke warm, but if you can find a member of staff they will always oblige a request to heat up your plate! Nice Sushi – that was not there last time I was! Drinks are of a decent quality and you’ll have a choice of 3 or 4 reds and whites. But they are not on a par with the T5 F lounge. Bubbles are Cava (obviously) and served in mini-bottles but has always been semi-sec so I will only stick it in orange juice if before lunch!
- Caro says:
  
  9 Aug9 August 08:35
  
  Forgot to add that the widebodied planes connect to T4S so you get to use this lounge if for example you are flying from IBZ to London Via Madrid on either the BA 777 or the IB A340/A350 …