Review Overview

THE ALVIATOR'S VERDICT

This is a very middling offering for an airline lounge, and lacks personality. At least it has all the basics, including readily available showers, WiFi, a range of seating, and an adequate food selection.

3.5

Lufthansa operates a whopping six departures lounges for business class passengers at Frankfurt Airport. I’ve checked out their lounges by their A gates and their Z gates, but stopped by their lounge adjacent to gates B24-B28 ahead of a flight from Frankfurt to London City Airport.

I’m only briefly reviewing this lounge, as I ran into issues with photography. I thought I’d wrote the post up anyway to detail what the lounge offers, as well as my general thoughts on Lufthansa’s lounges.

Lufthansa Business Lounge B Frankfurt Access

The Lufthansa Business Lounge B-West (which I visited) is open from 6 AM to 10 PM daily, and open to the following passengers:

Passengers flying Lufthansa or Star Alliance business class (no guests)
HON Circle, Senator, Star Gold and First Class passengers (all of these passengers have separate, superior lounges)

Lufthansa Business Lounge B Frankfurt Location

The Lufthansa Business Lounges are located by gates B24, Z50, A13, C14 (a new grab-and-go concept called the Bistro), B44, and A26. This particular lounge was the one located by gate B24, located past immigration, and signage to the lounge throughout the airport terminal was very clear.

I was promptly admitted entry after showing my mobile boarding pass, and made my way up a spiral staircase towards Lufthansa’s signature yellow lounge doors.

Staircase to Lufthansa Business Lounge B

Lufthansa Business Lounge B Frankfurt Seating

This particular Lufthansa lounge was shaped as a long room that took on the curvature of the airport terminal, making it seem more private and giving a “more-around-the-corner” feel. The lounge “loops round”, so if you walk the length of the lounge, you’ll end up at a hallway that brings you back to where you started.

I did note the wealth of seating options, including bench seating, high-backed and low-backed armchairs, standard chairs, and high-top seating. Benches with very high backs helped break up the seating area into a few sections, giving a more private feel.

Lufthansa Business Lounge B Frankfurt Airport

To one end of the lounge was a business area, with a few office cubicles with office chairs, as well as some high-top seating. I didn’t see anyone using it over the course of my stay.

Lufthansa Business Lounge B Frankfurt Airport Office Seating

I settled down by one of the armchairs to get some work done, and appreciated the large bucket seats across from me, which looked comfortable as well.

Lufthansa Business Lounge B Frankfurt Airport Armchair Seating

The lounge is littered with power ports, though unfortunately they’re all Type F power ports – you’ll need a power adapter if you don’t have a Type F charger. Typically I’d say this would be fine, though I’d expected universal power ports from Lufthansa, an airline that handles connecting traffic from all over the world (thankfully in this case I had a power adapter on me). Is it just me, or should universal power ports be the norm at all airports, given the nature of air travel?

I was initially excited to see the option to wireless charge, though unfortunately I couldn’t get the power port next to me to work.

Lufthansa Business Lounge B Frankfurt Airport Wireless Charging

Another gripe that has nothing to do with Lufthansa’s design of the lounge – the lounge has plenty of natural light, though it’s obstructed by the terminal, so there isn’t much in the way of tarmac views. In addition, the decor of the lounge was very much in line with every other Lufthansa lounge out there, which is pleasant, though not noteworthy.

The lounge was fairly busy during my 2 PM visit, though I didn’t have an issue finding somewhere to sit.

Lufthansa Business Lounge B Frankfurt Food and Beverages

Unfortunately halfway throughout photographing the food and beverage selection at this lounge I was told by some lounge staff that taking photos was “not allowed” (I’d appreciate an indication of where that is in the rulebook), though there was a standard buffet of hot food items, machine coffee, tea, and a selection of cakes. I liked that there was German beer (Erdinger/Beck’s) on draft, though didn’t entertain myself this time round, given that it was the afternoon, and I was tired after a day of travelling.

Lufthansa Business Lounge B Frankfurt Airport Food and Beverages

I wouldn’t call the food selection a highlight of any Lufthansa lounge, and you won’t find a la carte dining here, or even barista coffee.

Lufthansa Business Lounge B Frankfurt WiFi

After getting told off by catering staff for taking photos, I relented to my armchair to get some work done. Thankfully this was less of an issue, as the lounge’s WiFi was easy to connect to, and fast – I measured speeds of 60 Mbps down and 81 Mbps up, with a ping of 22 ms.

Lufthansa Business Lounge B Frankfurt Shower Rooms

I didn’t visit a shower room in this lounge, though I did take a peek and see that some were free during my visit. I’ve visited shower rooms in Lufthansa lounges before, and they all look pretty much the same – below is a picture I took of the shower room from their Welcome (Arrivals) lounge, also at Frankfurt Airport.

Lufthansa Lounges Frankfurt Shower Rooms

Lufthansa Business Lounge B Frankfurt Other Facilities

Aside from the working area, food and beverages, WiFi, and showers, the lounge also features a communal sleeping room with daybeds, which I didn’t have a chance to check out during this stay. Below is a picture of the (similar) sleeping room at their Concourse Z lounge, which I visited a few years ago.

Lufthansa Concourse Z Lounge Sleeping Room

Lufthansa Business Lounge B Frankfurt Service

Lufthansa is facing a serious staffing shortage at the moment, and the only lounge attendants available were those manning the reception, as well as catering staff. Somehow I still managed to be stopped from taking photos, though otherwise I didn’t really interact with them over the course of my stay.

Conclusion: Lufthansa Business Lounge B Frankfurt

Lufthansa’s lounges at Frankfurt Airport are seriously unremarkable, and there’s absolutely nothing that sets them apart. That being said, I don’t necessarily think that’s too bad of a thing, as the lounge hits a good few of the basics: there’s ample seating in various forms, good WiFi, daybeds are available, and you’ll always find a comfortable place to sit, which is more than I can say about some airlines’ lounges (*ahem* Qatar Airways).

The one low-hanging fruit for improvement is the food and beverage selection (no pun intended), which really is unremarkable. Obviously I didn’t get the opportunity to photograph the food spread, though the selection was boring, and there weren’t specialty drinks or barista coffee of any sort. Not every airline has the capital to invest in lounges with random quirks such as a bar with loads of cocktails, an a-la-carte dining selection, or a game room, though at least hot pretzel bread or barista coffee would suffice, in my opinion.

In the case of this lounge, I actually preferred the Air Canada lounge located in the same concourse.

Review: Lufthansa Business Lounge B, Frankfurt (FRA)