| THE ALVIATOR'S VERDICT Dublin Airport's brand-new Phoenix lounge is on the better end of contract lounges, though really doesn't live up to the hype it's received | 4.0 |
Every once in a while I come across a contract lounge that is better than many airline hub lounges. For example, the Vienna Lounge was extremely pleasantly surprising, and I was quick to call it my favourite Priority Pass lounge in Europe. So when The Phoenix Lounge in Dublin opened with much local fanfare last month, I was hopeful that it’d join the ranks and be a cutting-edge contract lounge. It hasn’t even joined the Priority Pass network, unlike virtually any other non-airline affiliated contract lounge out there (to be fair, there are other airport-run lounges at Dublin Airport that also aren’t part of the Priority Pass network) – suggesting that it’s trying to position itself as a premium, non-free for all lounge.
I’m not just trying to market my post here – at a networking event I attended, multiple friends asked whether they should purchase Phoenix Lounge passes before their next holiday. I’ve also never ever seen a queue outside a contract lounge with people waiting to pay to get in at 4:05 AM in the morning (I’ve definitely seen it later in the day, though at 4 AM is a first for me, especially when the first flights don’t leave until 5:30 AM in the morning). By 4:30 AM, there was a waitlist to even enter the lounge, and a queue of people waiting for others to leave.
Sadly the lounge didn’t live up to the hype, and just struck me as a good contract lounge at best. I mean, the lounge decor was good, and there were plenty of spare seats, so it’s still worth dropping by if you have access anyway. However, calling it a “first-class airport experience” (as Dublin Airport has been advertising it so far) would be like calling Cathay Pacific’s refreshed regional business class a “world-class experience”.
The Phoenix Lounge Dublin Access and Opening Hours
The Phoenix Lounge Dublin is open from 4 AM until 9 PM every day. Access is open to anyone holding a DragonPass membership (but crucially, not Priority Pass).
The following airlines offer access for their elite and premium passengers: Aegean, airBaltic, Air Canada, Air France, Croatia Airlines, Finnair, Hainan Airlines, Icelandair, KLM, Lufthansa, Lufthansa City, Luxair, SWISS, TAP Air Portugal, Turkish Airlines, WestJet, and Widerøe. Note that British Airways isn’t part of the list – passengers are invited to use the Liffey lounge.
You can also purchase two hours’ worth of access for 39 EUR (£33.7/HK$354). I was skeptical whether it was worth it, though ended up paying to enter the lounge, so I could write this review.
The Phoenix Lounge Dublin Location and Entrance
The Phoenix Lounge Dublin is located right after security in Terminal 1. You can head through security in Terminal 1 regardless of the airline you’re flying (even if it’s listed to fly out of Terminal 2 – I was flying British Airways, which flies out of Terminal 2), and you can walk airside between terminals very easily.
The Phoenix Lounge’s entrance is located between the two security piers, so just head back towards the “middle” (turn left if you were on the right side, and turn right if you were on the right side). You’ll see a lift entrance, as well as some stairs.
The Phoenix Lounge Dublin Entrance
There’s also a separate entrance after you exit transit security, which leads to the same reception desk. (In other news, I do like how Dublin Airport has gone for some spiffy consistent branding across their lounges.)
The Phoenix Lounge Dublin Entrance After Transit
I was planning to get to the lounge by opening time (so I could get good pictures for the review before it filled up), and arrived literally a minute after 4 AM, after my bag went through secondary screening at security. I kid you not – there was a line of around 10-15 people waiting to enter the lounge a minute after it opened.
It’s true that many of these are airline passengers (Lufthansa, TAP, Turkish, and Air France are among airlines that use this lounge and have flights leaving at around 6 AM), though most passengers in the queue showed the receptionist a booking email of sorts, suggesting that they had outright purchased a pass to the lounge.
The Phoenix Lounge Dublin Seating and Atmosphere
The Phoenix Lounge Dublin is one L-shaped room with multiple partitions. I actually like the lounge as far as contract lounges go – I’ve got to give it credit for having good decor and seating, as it’s definitely above average for a contract lounge both in size and seating variety. It’s just not something worth arriving early for, and certainly not worth a £33 entry fee.
The seating area closest the entrance featured sets of armchairs facing each other, with coffee tables and power ports.
The Phoenix Lounge Dublin Outside Area
Then the area beyond the partition had some more restaurant-style seating, as it was next to the food spread (which I’ll talk more about later).
The Phoenix Lounge Dublin Food Spread and Seating
By this corner there was more seating, including eccentric stools facing a TV.
The Phoenix Lounge Dublin Seating
By the back of the lounge there was an extension of restaurant seating, featuring benches and tables (the lounge doesn’t have any tarmac views, but rather either faces the carpark on the outer edge, or the security queue on the inner edge).
The Phoenix Lounge Dublin Corridor Seating
Then the lounge opened up to another area, which in this case was my preferred area to sit. Here, there were some benches and chairs, more restaurant-style seating, and some circular tables as well. This was also where the bar was located.
The Phoenix Lounge Dublin Bar Area Seating
There were also some high-backed chairs facing outside. I can see this area being really attractive if it was facing the tarmac, though don’t see the appeal as much when it faces the interior of the terminal (especially when it looks right down onto the security queue). That’s not an “ideal space to unwind” for me.
The Phoenix Lounge Dublin Bar Area Seating
Ahh, I can’t wait to begin my holiday – I love watching the security line get longer! …said no one ever. You could even see the transit security lanes in the distance, which are located one level up from the main concourse (and yep, that’s how long the queue is at 4 AM at Dublin Airport – to be fair, I otherwise found the airport to be quite efficient).
The Phoenix Lounge Dublin Views
Then to the back of the lounge was another space that was originally roped off, though was quickly opened up for use as the lounge filled up within the first 15 minutes of opening. This area was more of a work area – it featured more armchairs with coffee tables, though also featured workstations, both in a communal setting and in workbenches facing towards the exterior of the lounge. This area didn’t get very crowded at all during my stay, and I enjoyed getting some work done here.
In the middle of the room was a curtain, which served no other purpose than being a partition between spaces.
The Phoenix Lounge Dublin Work Area Seating
Once again there were some chairs facing out. In this case the chairs faced the carpark, which I guess is a little better than facing security, though don’t expect any tarmac views from this lounge.
The Phoenix Lounge Dublin Work Area Seating
There were also 24 private individual work cubicles in this space. While there’s not many seating areas designed for relaxing, I do like that there’s a variety of seating at this lounge.
The Phoenix Lounge Dublin Work Area Seating
WiFi and USB (including USB-C) power ports were readily available throughout the lounge.
The lounge conducted boarding calls for all airlines that send their passengers to this lounge, so they were quite frequent especially as flights began boarding from 5 AM. WiFi at the lounge was very fast, which I appreciated – it measured 80.7 Mbps down and 103 Mbps up.
To the lounge’s credit, the lounge is larger than your typical contract lounge, and there’s a lot of seating with some variety. However, I would’ve wanted to see some relax options as well, such as sofas or daybeds. The seating is the lounge’s strongest point, and it’s a decent place to get some work done – I just think that the marketing team did a spectacular job hyping the lounge up a bit more than it was worth.
The Phoenix Lounge Dublin Food and Beverage
The Phoenix Lounge features a food spread, and it’s located by the entrance.
The Phoenix Lounge Dublin Food Spread Area
The food available at the buffet was as follows:
The Phoenix Lounge Dublin Breakfast Menu
I mean, it was a decently executed food spread – not more so than at other contract lounges I’ve been to across the UK or Ireland. It struck me as a bit like a Plaza Premium lounge experience. Hot options included the typical breakfast spread such as scrambled eggs and (soggy) bacon, with the addition of black and white pudding.
The Phoenix Lounge Dublin Irish Breakfast Spread
The cold options looked more enticing, including granola, cheese, yoghurt, and some fruit compote.
The Phoenix Lounge Dublin Food Spread
Then there was apple juice, orange juice, and cranberry juice.
The Phoenix Lounge Dublin Drinks Spread
There was a tasty selection of pastries available here as well, and they were abundant. With this amount of pastries put out at once I’d assume it sits out for a while, so would probably look less appealing later in the day.
The Phoenix Lounge Dublin Food Spread
There were some bread rolls available at the back of the food spread area as well.
The Phoenix Lounge Dublin Food Spread
The food spread was decently executed, but nothing special – not bad, but certainly nothing worth going out of your way for.
The Phoenix Lounge Dublin Bar
One of the elements The Phoenix Lounge advertises is their tended bar, which is located further back from the food spread area.
The Phoenix Lounge Dublin Bar
While the lounge does draught beer and some spirits (including Guinness on tap), cocktails and premium spirits cost extra, much like what you’d expect at a Priority Pass lounge.
The Phoenix Lounge Dublin Premium Cocktail Selection
I know that the food menu above showed the origin of the coffee provided (which usually suggests barista coffee), though that simply described the coffee that was loaded into the machine. The machine coffee available here was okay at best.
So yeah, I don’t actually find the tended bar to be much of a value add, especially when so many items are chargeable.
The Phoenix Lounge Dublin Showers
On the plus side, The Phoenix Lounge does feature a single shower suite, which comes included with your booking (assuming it’s available). This is especially great compared to most contract lounges in the UK, where you’ll have to pay extra to use the shower facilities.
I asked to use the shower suite a few minutes after the lounge opened, and at this point it was readily available. The room featured a walk-in shower with a sliding door (and good water pressure), though no toilet.
The Phoenix Lounge Dublin Shower Room
The shower suite featured toiletries from Irish brand The Handmade Soap Company.
The Phoenix Lounge Dublin Shower Toiletries
When I asked a lounge attendant to use the shower, I wasn’t given a towel or anything – just pointed towards the unlocked shower door, then walked away. I simply found a clean folded towel inside the drawer under the sink, and was just careful not to slip in absence of a bath mat.
Conclusion: The Phoenix Lounge Dublin
I’m not meaning to write a review that bashes The Phoenix Lounge, or Dublin Airport (the authority which runs the lounge), for that matter. In a way, they’re the ones that did a fantastic job. The lounge is above average for a contract lounge (though not impressive) with a good size and plentiful seating, the shower facility is good, and there’s a decent selection of food and beverage, even though everything outside of bog-standard beer and spirits at the tended bar is only available for an extra fee. The marketing team did a fantastic job bringing the modern design and some of the improved elements to light.
However, I’ve got to be honest and evaluate the experience I actually received from a passenger perspective. The Phoenix Lounge isn’t to the calibre of the Vienna Lounge or other leading contract lounges in Europe, or to the level of an airline-operated lounge. In fact, it didn’t feel much different from an experience I’d have at a (perhaps less crowded) Plaza Premium lounge, which isn’t renowned for being worth arriving early at the airport for. It certainly isn’t suddenly worth 39 EUR/£33 extra to access, especially since it isn’t part of the Priority Pass network.
What do you think of The Phoenix Lounge Dublin?
