Vienna to Istanbul via Tokyo: Turkish Business Class Lounge Istanbul

Introduction
Brussels Airlines Check-in New York JFK
Brussels Airlines Business Class New York to Brussels
Brussels Airlines and SAS Business Class Lounges Brussels
Austrian Business Class Brussels to Vienna
Hotel Imperial Vienna
Austrian Senator Lounge Vienna
Austrian Business Class Vienna to Tokyo Narita
ANA Business Class Lounge Tokyo Narita
Turkish Business Class Tokyo Narita to Istanbul
Park Hyatt Istanbul
Turkish Business Class Lounge Istanbul
LOT Business Class Istanbul to Warsaw
Hotel Bristol Warsaw
LOT Business Class Lounge Warsaw
LOT Business Class Warsaw to Chicago

I arrived at Istanbul Airport at around 3PM after a 40 minute taxi ride from the Park Hyatt. I intentionally arrived a bit early since I was looking forward to visiting the Turkish lounge, which I had heard great things about.

Terminal exterior

Immediately inside the terminal was a security checkpoint where all bags were screened. That queue took about 15 minutes.

First screening checkpoint

Once inside the terminal I tried to find the LOT check-in counter, though the check-in monitor didn’t indicate where LOT check-in was located. So I walked around the terminal once looking for the counter, though couldn’t find it.

Check-in counters

After thinking I was going crazy for not being able to find the counter I went to the information desk, and they informed me they would use counter “C,” though it would only be opening at 3:45PM, which is only 1hr40min before departure. While I realize they only have one flight a day, I do find it rather odd that they open their check-in counter less than two hours before departure.

LOT check-in

So I had a seat for about 25 minutes as I waited for the counter to open. In the meantime a long queue formed at the counter.

Check-in queue

At around 3:50PM two agents showed up to begin the check-in process. There must have been close to 100 people in the queue, though fortunately there was a separate business class queue. When check-in opened and I got in that queue, though I got evil looks from just about everyone, who thought I was cutting the line. But instead of just giving me the evil eye there was a rush of people from the other queue that got right behind me, thinking it would be a good way to cut the line. Oops.

My boarding pass was quickly issued and I cleared security and headed into the secure area. I turned left towards the Turkish lounge, even though my flight was leaving from the other end of the terminal.

Terminal

At the far end of the terminal was the entrance to the Turkish lounge, which had a rather interesting exterior with really high glass panels covered by curtains.

Lounge entrance

Interestingly this lounge has “gates” whereby you can scan your boarding passes to be admitted, which is the first time I’ve ever seen that. Since I was traveling on a partner airline it didn’t work, and an agent needed to manually let me in.

I had heard great things about this lounge, but it was even nicer than I expected. The lounge was massive and the architecture of the lounge was just awesome.

Lounge entrance

Right near the entrance were some lockers for storing your bags, which I thought was a great feature for anyone that may have a long layover and wants to go into the city without taking their bags with them.

Lockers

Right across from the lockers was a billiards table with a library design.

Billiards table

Each section of the lounge had a “dome” of sorts, with plenty of seating, both at tables and on couches.

Lounge seating

There was even a movie theater and kids play area.

Movie theater

Kids play area

The most impressive aspect of the lounge had to be the food and drinks. There were several well stocked bars, with both soft drinks and booze.

Soft drinks

Bar

Much like onboard Turkish, the catering in the lounge is done by DO & CO, so is top notch. The spread is as extensive as I’ve seen in many first class lounges.

Buffet

Lunch

The wifi speed in the lounge was decent, which kind of surprised me given how huge the lounge is. At around 4:50PM I decided to head to gate for my 5:25PM flight.

On the whole this is a phenomenal lounge. I’d say along with the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at London Heathrow this is the best business class lounge in the world, and on par with many top first class lounges.

Posted on March 2nd, 2013 by lucky
Filed under: Travel, Trip Reports, Turkish | 28 Comments »

March 2nd, 2013 at 1:56 pm

Mike B said,

That place looks like a great place to spend time in!
March 2nd, 2013 at 1:56 pm

arthur said,

LOOKS FANTASTIC. LOTS OF FOOD!
March 2nd, 2013 at 2:00 pm

Susan said,

Wow! How impressive! Flying TK Business Class intra-Europe will allow entrance to this lounge?
March 2nd, 2013 at 2:03 pm

lucky said,

@ Susan — Yep, absolutely!
March 2nd, 2013 at 2:16 pm

A. S. said,

@Susan — The only part of the lounge to which short-haul customers don’t have access are the day rooms. Everything else (including showers) are fair game. And very much worth the visit.
March 2nd, 2013 at 2:59 pm

Denis said,

lucky,
If I fly economy on TK, am I allowed to use this lounge if I am Star Gold?
And what about the showers? No pics? I am curious because I will most likely need to use them in my next trip to Asia.
March 2nd, 2013 at 3:05 pm

Scottrick said,

Thanks for sharing. Yours are the first photos I’ve seen that include the ceilings. I’m a bit disappointed, because the arches give an impression that you’re in an old-style coffee lounge or something similiar. Makes it feel very cozy. Then the open ceilings … meh. I’ll try not to look up when I finally get to visit.
March 2nd, 2013 at 3:22 pm

FEV7 said,

Wow – great photos. Quite impressive. Thank you for your review. Makes me want to add that to my list of places to see!
March 2nd, 2013 at 3:47 pm

Hobo13 said,

Anytime I’ve been somewhere before Ben, I’m shocked. Yes awesome lounge. Though we had a 5 am flight (or something insane) to fra so there’s not much going on at 4 am! (though I guess it is good for pics at that hour!)
March 2nd, 2013 at 3:50 pm

Pamela T said,

You’re making me want to transit through IST again so I can once again use this lounge. Never thought I could miss an airline lounge, but this one makes me want to linger on and on and return frequently. Problem is, one can only eat and drink so much!
March 2nd, 2013 at 3:54 pm

Jamison @ Points Summary said,

I’ve been to this lounge last year and every time the flatbread comes out, scores of people just grab plate fulls of them, which is why I can relate to your picture of the empty flatbreads leftovers that nobody wants
March 2nd, 2013 at 4:40 pm

lucky said,

@ Denis — Yep, Star Gold status in economy gets you access to the lounge. I’ve heard the showers are great, though didn’t have a chance to check them out. Sorry!
March 2nd, 2013 at 5:11 pm

Asya said,

Damn, this makes me even more sad that I was transiting through IST a few weeks before they finally opened this lounge. Oh, well, I’ll have to go back.

Btw, speaking of LOT flyers – they have a tendency to just go to the shortest line no matter what the signage is. A few years back I ended up in US Citizens only line at immigration behind a few dozen of them … took HOURS. But I had global entry within a week as a result of that disaster!
March 2nd, 2013 at 7:20 pm

SG said,

I’m assuming all Star alliance would use this lounge? I’m flying out of IST in a couple week on UA in C.
thanks
March 2nd, 2013 at 7:25 pm

lucky said,

@ SG — Yes. Some airlines use contract lounges, but you’d still be entitled to use this lounge if you were in Star Alliance business class or Star Gold on a Star Alliance flight.
March 2nd, 2013 at 7:42 pm

Tom // Sit in first said,

Clearly a top J lounge. The transparent lockers are an interesting setup. Novel, and somewhat security conscious. Re check-in opening time…pax think of an intra-schengen flight analahous to how we think of a domestic flight here. Frankly, I’m surprised by the large early queue.
March 2nd, 2013 at 8:11 pm

wctl said,

Lucky,

Speaking of lounges, any plans to fly first class on CX to try out their newly renovated first class lounge at The Wing? The new cabanas look nice, but unfortunately, no rubber ducks
March 2nd, 2013 at 8:28 pm

lucky said,

@ wctl — I’ve done so much Cathay first that I’m not sure I should do another longhal on them, though hope to have a short hop on them soon that allows me to check it out.
March 2nd, 2013 at 10:03 pm

wwk5d said,

Nice lounge, but not a fan of those domes. They make the lounge look choppy and much smaller than it probably is. I prefer it when loungers are more open and airy.

Still, that food spread looks good.
March 2nd, 2013 at 11:17 pm

Melody said,

Can you pay for entrance into this lounge? I fly economy in August with a long layover and only have Star Silver status!
March 3rd, 2013 at 12:00 am

lucky said,

@ Melody — I don’t believe there’s a way to pay for access to the lounge unfortunately.
March 3rd, 2013 at 6:23 am

Prabir said,

I spent a few hours in this lounge last month. It was phenomenal compared to some of the other lounges I’ve been to. I was very hungry since I had skipped lunch due to my schedule and the food did not disappoint. There was a large variety of food including hot counters with food prepared right there. There were probably a dozen food counter serving everything from Pizza to Pasta to Turkish food. The desserts were awesome as well – a huge selection. The best lounge I’ve been to!
March 3rd, 2013 at 8:27 am

flyer708 said,

I love the layout of the lounge, but two things that stood out against all the raving reviews.
1. one of the concierge was a total b!atch. All I wanted was to take a shower, not with my wife, just on my own, and rather than fitting me into a time slot, she simply said “the showers are busy, you can’t, and brushed me off.”

2. The lounge was CROWDED. And somehow the sound inside the lounge resonates alot, so if you are really thinking of a quiet time, unless you have access to the day room, you are out of luck.

Other than that, I actually enjoyed it alot. Especially later in the evening when the population is small.
March 3rd, 2013 at 12:41 pm

stephan said,

I guess that there is not much wrong with this lounge if the biggest complaints are about the ceiling and arches! Oh boy…
March 4th, 2013 at 2:49 pm

Lisa said,

FYI, the link for this page in your trip report won’t load because it’s got the wrong date (03/03) in the URL.
March 4th, 2013 at 2:56 pm

lucky said,

@ Lisa — Whoops, thanks for the heads up. I went ahead and updated all the links.
March 5th, 2013 at 3:11 pm

Andy said,

@Melody: There is a way to get into the lounge without *G/Biz ticket: The United/US Airways/Air Canada club membership. United has a targeted $0 first year annual fee for the United Club card so you can potentially get it for free
April 8th, 2013 at 3:43 am

cosmoB said,

No clue why everyone seems to rave about this lounge. I have visited it probably a dozen times or so ( mostly late evenings for flights to Asia or early morning coming back) and each and every time it was totally overcrowded. There might have been a good food offer in general, but every time I visited nearly everything was empty or long cues awaiting the arrival of new food items and making them disappear in an instant. I have also never been to any lounge where so many travelers had such a blatant hygiene problem ( pungent sweat smell everywhere) on top of that the toilets are definitely way too small for the size of the lounge. I agree it looks nice but who actually wants to play billiard in a lounge ?