Review: Vienna Lounge, Vienna (VIE) – My Favourite Priority Pass Lounge Yet?

THE ALVIATOR'S VERDICT Contrary to what you may expect from a Priority Pass lounge, this lounge is worth using a free lounge pass for. It's a great size with good facilities, and the catering is very good for a contract lounge	5.0

After reviewing various Star Alliance lounges across London Heathrow and Zurich Airport, I flew to Vienna on an Austrian A320, and spent an afternoon strolling around a city I’d not been to before. To wrap up the day, I picked up an economy ticket from Vienna to London on British Airways. Aside from the plane being fairly empty, there wasn’t much to report back from the flight, so I won’t be reviewing it here.

However, I had heard good things about the Vienna Lounge, one of the two Priority Pass lounges at Vienna Airport. I figured I’d swing by for a bite to eat. Boy, was I happy I did – this was one of the best Priority Pass lounges I’d visited outside of the U.S. (only secondary to some of the best in the U.S. due to their ultra-competitive credit card landscape and elevated dining), and such a pleasant surprise.

I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to write a review of this beautiful lounge. I won’t be reviewing the British Airways economy flight that I subsequently took home, so this will be my last trip report in this series – I’m really looking forward to publishing my next trip report, though, so stay tuned.

Vienna Lounge Access and Opening Hours

The Vienna Lounge is a contract lounge – it’s operated by the airport, and is open from 4:30 AM to 10 PM. This covers most departures from the airport.

The Vienna Lounge is open to:

• Qatar Airways, British Airways, EVA Air elites and business class passengers, among others (you can find the full list here – Austrian doesn’t have an agreement with this lounge, though they do have their own lounges)
• Priority Pass, DragonKey, LoungeKey cardholders etc.

Alternatively, you can purchase a 3-hour pass at this lounge for €59 (£51.3/HK$545). I visited this lounge with my Priority Pass membership – I’ve used my four free lounge passes for the year already with my AmEx Gold card, so essentially used the lounge at a reduced rate of £24.

Vienna Lounge Location

The Vienna Lounge is located in the Schengen region of Vienna Airport’s Terminal 1 – it’s within a minute’s walk of passport control. I actually made the mistake of thinking that it was in the non-Schengen region, so I headed through passport control, only to realise that this lounge was on the other side – so I sheepishly re-entered the Schengen region (this wasn’t a problem) and headed towards the lounge.

The Vienna Lounge is located just past security and before immigration. There’s fairly clear signage to the lounge (as you’ll see below), and you’ll have to go up a level to visit the lounge.

Vienna Lounge Entrance

There’s a sweeping entryway once you get up there, and I was checked in by a friendly lounge attendant, and told that there wouldn’t be any boarding announcements.

Vienna Lounge Entrance

Vienna Lounge Seating and Atmosphere

The Vienna Lounge is 2,500 sq. m, and I was blown away with the size. The lounge exuded just the right amount of “glitz” for a lounge in Vienna, and had a good sense of place.

Vienna Lounge Seating

There’s a middle section where the food spread is the centrepiece, and the lounge sprawls out from there, with many different seating areas. While I came at quite a busy time for the lounge, it wasn’t difficult to find a seat, which can often be a problem in contract lounges.

Vienna Lounge Seating

Immediately to the left of the entrance is a gorgeous, Viennese café-inspired seating area. This area features a secondary spread with Viennese treats such as sachertorte and apple strudel, which I’ll cover in a second. The lounge just has such a brilliant sense of place, and feels modern and brightly lit as well.

Vienna Lounge Seating

Then hugging the curved windows you’ll find more armchair seating.

Vienna Lounge Seating

There’s a seating area that “shoots off” from the left of the lounge entrance, largely featuring teal armchairs and padded wooden faux leather chairs. Even here, I thought that the little lamp fixtures were quite nice.

Vienna Lounge Seating

There was also quite a variety of seating, such as the high-backed chairs in the photo below.

Vienna Lounge Seating

Then wrapping around the further end of the lounge, there was more seating facing the tarmac, as well as more armchairs.

Vienna Lounge Seating 

Past this corridor was an area of the lounge that was fairly quiet throughout my stay. Here, you could find seating such as high-top counter seating and a few more configurations.

Vienna Lounge Seating

Then near the back corner you’ll find some desks chairs. While I didn’t have much work to finish up during my evening visit, I’m sure I’d love these seats if I had longer – they were so well set-up to get some work done, complete with large desks and privacy partitions as well. I loved the Viennese art references here as well.

Vienna Lounge Seating

Then there are a few other standalone workstations as the hallway bends back around to meet the main section of the lounge.

Vienna Lounge Seating

Not only was the lounge massive, but I also really appreciated the variety of seating, whether you wanted to work, eat, or rest. I also appreciated the sense of place that the lounge had – the colour tones throughout were elegant, and the Viennese café section was particularly eye-catching, and comfortable to sit in as well.

Vienna Lounge Outdoor Terrace

The Vienna Lounge actually features an outdoor section, and it even has views of the tarmac. However, I chose not to spend that much time here.

Wait, Alvin, don’t you love airport terraces? Yeah, I do, though the primary function of this area was as a smoking area. Even if I ignored the cigarette smoke, the tarmac views were also fairly obstructed here. The actual area itself also didn’t feature much in the way of seating, with just a couple of high-top chairs scattered around.

Vienna Lounge Terrace Views

This didn’t hold a candle to my experience earlier that morning at the Swiss lounge in Zurich, though admittedly that’s not a fair comparison.

Vienna Lounge Terrace Views

Vienna Lounge Food and Beverage

I found it quite elegant that there was a large menu placed by the food spread. There’s nothing made-to-order here, though there was a fairly small menu featuring some Viennese highlights, which I appreciated.

Vienna Lounge Menu

The actual food quality itself was high-quality, and I could see items being replaced a couple of times during my one-hour stay. The main dishes available were kalbsbutterschnitzel (veal patty schnitzel), complete with sauce and mashed potatoes garnished with chives. There was also moussaka, beef broth, onion soup, and other condiments.

Vienna Lounge Food Spread

There was also nougatknödel, an Austrian sweet dumpling filled with chocolate and hazelnut filling. I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t have one of these as I was absolutely stuffed, though it sounds and looks delicious at time of writing.

Vienna Lounge Food Spread

Additionally, there were cold items as well, featuring baked goods of many sorts, charcuterie, salad, cheese in a cheese wheel, and more.

Vienna Lounge Food Spread

Despite being quite full, I knew I wouldn’t be having dinner later that evening on my British Airways flight, so decided to have a half-portion of both the moussaka and the veal patty schnitzel. I enjoyed both, though admittedly it wasn’t the lightest meal.

Vienna Lounge Food – Kalbsbutterschnitzel and Moussaka

In terms of drinks, you’ll find a few types of local beer and wine, as well as some spirits, and soft drinks. These were all located in a cooler on a drinks island, and I loved that you could see details of the wines on offer as well.

Vienna Lounge Drinks Area

What I love about the food and drinks available is the sense of place – apart from the moussaka (which was also tasty, and presumably there to give a bit of variety to the regions the cuisine came from), I was very glad to be able to sample some Viennese delights before flying out. The only thing I’d have wished for is perhaps a lighter option, given that quite a few of the main meals were quite heavy.

Sadly the Viennese touch doesn’t extend to the coffee – it’s just machine coffee. There also isn’t a tended bar here.

Vienna Lounge Drinks Area

Another sign of the lounge’s commitment to showcasing the local culture was their Viennese café goods spread, which was located fittingly by the area that was decorated like a Viennese café. Here, you could find items in a fridge such as plum cake, apple strudel, curd cheese strudel, and carrot cake. Other items included chocolate banana sweets, as well as bundt cake.

Vienna Lounge Cafe Area

While this isn’t an amazing food offering on paper (e.g. no made-to-order options, barista coffee, tended bar, etc.), I was so impressed by their commitment to showcasing Viennese culture. Viennese cuisine is so fascinating and varied, and I wouldn’t have expected to see so much of this flair in a Priority Pass lounge.

Admittedly this is dinner, but I couldn’t help but notice how much I preferred this food spread to that of which I experienced at the Swiss hub lounges in Zurich earlier that morning.

Vienna Lounge Shower Rooms

The Vienna Lounge has four shower rooms, and you can use them for free even when visiting on a Priority Pass membership (unlike in the UK). The shower rooms were well-appointed – they weren’t the best ventilated, though I liked the marble finishes. The only major thing missing was a toilet in the shower rooms, and perhaps I would’ve preferred a better set of amenities than a single, tiny hair and body wash combo from Vittore de Conti.

Vienna Lounge Shower

Despite the fact that these are free to use, and that I was visiting over peak hour, I could freely access a shower room without a wait during my time here.

Vienna Lounge Rest and Relax Area

Near the back of the lounge just next to the desks, there’s a rest and relax area, intended for those who want to get some rest in a quieter setting.

Vienna Lounge Rest and Relax Area

There are six daybeds here, though I forgot to check if there were power ports. There’s a ledge for small items, as well as some coat hooks.

Vienna Lounge Rest and Relax Area

There was a window by the last daybed, and the views of the tarmac from here were awesome.

Vienna Lounge View of Tarmac

If you’d like, there are even some books you can pick and read, and you can borrow a pair of reading glasses if you wish. I wonder if these get “borrowed” for an extended period of time by some guests, as it’s not patrolled.

Vienna Lounge Rest and Relax Area Books

Vienna Lounge Kids’ Area

Near the front of the lounge, there’s also a well-equipped kids’ area.

Vienna Lounge Children’s Play Area

Parents can choose to use the relax area in an enclave within this kids’ section if they wish.

Vienna Lounge Children’s Play Area

Vienna Lounge Meeting Room

In terms of other facilities at the Vienna Lounge, there’s a meeting room, which can be booked on the spot. This was free at the time that I visited, though I didn’t know whether to go in or not at the time, since the door was closed (I’ve since started working in an office with the exact same room booking system, so…I now know).

Vienna Lounge Meeting Room

Vienna Lounge Storage

Finally, if you’d like to store your luggage in a secure area, there are storage lockers near the entrance of the lounge that you can use.

Vienna Lounge Lockers

Conclusion: Vienna Lounge

The Vienna Lounge is an awesome Priority Pass lounge, and easily rivals some weaker hub business class lounges out there. The many different seating and relaxing options, commitment to a sense of place (both in the food and decor), and great facilities make this an awesome place to spend some time.

I was very happy to pay £24 to visit this lounge, which was the supplement charge for an extra lounge pass alongside my existing Priority Pass membership. Now, would I pay the full €59 to access this lounge? That depends on what my priorities are. If I’m desperate for a place to rest and eat (especially over a non-peak hour) on a layover I probably would, whereas I’d just maximise my time in the city if I was originating in Vienna. While the lounge has delicious food, there’s not much worth coming out of your way for, especially given that Vienna is all-around an amazing food city.

There are a couple of Priority Pass lounges, particularly in the U.S., which have a-la-carte dining, tended bars, and an overall elevated experience. Outside of that group of lounges, I’d consider this lounge to be the best Priority Pass lounge I’ve been to so far.