On Monday night I spent about eight hours at the new Istanbul Airport, which just officially opened this past Saturday. I’ve already written a detailed review of the new airport, which is both beautiful and poorly designed. In this post I wanted to share an in-depth review of the new flagship Turkish Airlines lounge at the airport.
Turkish Airlines Lounges at the new Istanbul Airport
While Turkish Airlines had a single mega-lounge at Ataturk Airport (which was generally well regarded), the new airport has a few lounges.
Currently two international lounges are open:
- The Turkish Business Lounge is open to all Turkish Airlines business class and Star Alliance business class passengers; the entrance to the lounge is located near gate E1, and no guests are allowed
- The Turkish Miles & Smiles Lounge is open to Miles & Smiles Elite and Elite Plus customers, as well as all Star Alliance Gold members; the entrance to the lounge is located near gate C1, and each person is allowed one guest
Then there are a couple more lounges that should open in the future, but we don’t have an exact timeline for that:
- The Turkish Arrivals Lounge, though we don’t yet know what exactly the entry requirements will be (I assume business class passengers will have access, but I’m not sure if there will be a minimum flight length)
- The Turkish Exclusive Lounge, which we know that Miles & Smiles Elite Plus members traveling in business class will have access to; it’s likely other people will get access to the lounge as well, though the requirements haven’t yet been published (some of the lounge signage put a Star Alliance Gold logo next to this lounge)
Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul access & hours
The Turkish Airlines Business Lounge is open to all Star Alliance business class passengers.
The lounge is open 24/7, given that Turkish Airlines has flights almost all hours of the day (I’d note that with their current schedule they have a gap from about 2:30AM until 5:30AM, so that’s the time you’ll find the lounge the quietest).
Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul location
The Turkish Airlines Business Lounge is located near gate E1, which is near the center of the massive terminal of the new Istanbul Airport. Just follow the signage towards the E gates, and as you approach you’ll see the entrance to the lounge.
Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul signage
The lounge is up a level from the main concourse and you can access it either via an escalator or elevator. There’s someone on the concourse level who will typically check your eligibility to enter the lounge, though when you get up to the lounge level you’ll formally be admitted entry.
Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul escalator
There’s a reception desk on the lounge level ahead of the entrance, should you need any help with your travels.
Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul reception
Then there are gates you enter to get into the lounge. You just scan your boarding pass and the gate opens.
Turkish Airlines Lounge New Istanbul Airport entry
Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul layout
Once inside the lounge, you’ll be facing a massive TV screen, showing a bunch of scenery of Istanbul, and scenes from Turkish’s recent short film.
Turkish Airlines Lounge New Istanbul Airport entrance
Just inside and to the left are some storage lockers. This means you don’t have to worry about your belongings being stolen while you roam around the lounge.
Turkish Airlines Lounge New Istanbul Airport entrance
Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul storage lockers
Also near the entrance to the lounge are wifi kiosks. You have to scan your boarding pass, and then you’ll get a receipt with a username and password to access the wifi.
Unfortunately this lounge has exactly the same issues as the old Turkish Lounge at Ataturk Airport — wifi is so slow that it’s useless. I don’t understand how they’re still getting this wrong, especially since this is true even when the lounge is empty. I ended up just tethering off my phone.
Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul wifi kiosks
Inside the lounge and to the left is some seating, consisting mostly of white leather chairs. These seats look very similar to what they had in the lounge at the old airport, so I’m not sure if they transported them over, or if they just ordered the same ones.
Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul seating
Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul seating
There’s also a small business center here, consisting of a shared workstation with some computers.
Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul seating
The main part of the lounge is inside and to the right. I immediately noticed that the lounge is smaller than the old one at Ataturk Airport, which makes sense I guess, since this airport has multiple lounges.
Just inside the entrance and to the right is a self playing piano.
Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul seating
Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul piano
Along the walls of both sides of the lounge are dozens of dining tables that seat two people each.
Turkish Business Lounge New Istanbul Airport seating
Turkish Business Lounge New Istanbul Airport seating
The furniture was fine, though didn’t exactly feel fresh or modern.
Turkish Business Lounge New Istanbul Airport seating
I did, however, love the way they set up the center part of the lounge. It had dining tables as well as an open kitchen concept, so they really did a good job adding some flair to the lounge with this.
Turkish Business Lounge New Istanbul Airport seating
Turkish Business Lounge New Istanbul Airport seating
Turkish Business Lounge New Istanbul Airport food station
Turkish Business Lounge New Istanbul Airport seating
Deeper into the lounge there’s a TV viewing area over on the left. Unlike in the previous lounge it’s not a separate room, but rather is just off the main part of the lounge.
Turkish Business Lounge TV area Istanbul New Airport
Then deeper into the lounge there’s even more seating. First there are more white leather chairs.
Turkish Business Lounge Istanbul New Airport seating
Then there are also some dining tables.
Turkish Business Lounge seating Istanbul New Airport
Turkish Business Lounge seating Istanbul New Airport
Turkish Business Lounge seating Istanbul New Airport
Surprisingly enough, that’s it for the main part of the lounge. I was just so used to Turkish’s old lounge being massive, so by comparison this was smaller (but still big in absolute terms).
Along the side of the lounge there was some more seating. The lounge overlooks the terminal, and opens up into it, so you do hear a lot of noise from the terminal.
Turkish Business Lounge Istanbul New Airport seating
Also along this side of the lounge are about a dozen daybeds. They’re just separated from one another by curtains, and are pretty basic. While I was in the lounge every single one was taken, so I wasn’t able to get pictures.
Turkish Lounge daybeds Istanbul New Airport
They also had a few private conference rooms, though it seemed like they weren’t quite ready yet.
Turkish Lounge meeting rooms Istanbul New Airport
Then along the other side of the lounge is some seating in a darker room. This is cozy, and a nice change from the rest of the lounge.
Turkish Lounge seating Istanbul New Airport
Turkish Lounge seating Istanbul New Airport
Turkish Lounge seating Istanbul New Airport
Turkish Lounge seating Istanbul New Airport
Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul amenities
As you’d expect from Turkish, the lounge had some other unique amenities. This included a golf simulator.
Turkish Lounge golf simulator Istanbul New Airport
Then there was an area with video games.
Turkish Lounge video game zone Istanbul New Airport
There was a model set of sorts, showing a combination of the airport and the city, or something.
Turkish Lounge model set Istanbul New Airport
Then there was a really cute play area for kids, including an awesome plane model you could play in.
Turkish Lounge play area for kids Istanbul New Airport
Turkish Lounge play area for kids Istanbul New Airport
Turkish Lounge play area for kids Istanbul New Airport
Turkish Lounge play area for kids Istanbul New Airport
Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul food & drinks
Turkish Airlines is known for the spectacular food in their lounges, and this lounge is no exception.
Turkish does a great job spreading out the food selection in the lounge. Usually, people like to sit near the buffet, so by putting food all over the lounge, they avoid that usual crowding problem.
The food selection included a mix of self-serve buffets, live cooking stations where you could custom order, and open kitchens where dishes were being prepared, and you could serve yourself.
Turkish Lounge food area Istanbul
There was a huge variety of salads and spreads.
Turkish Business Lounge food
Turkish Business Lounge food
Turkish Business Lounge food
Turkish Business Lounge food
Turkish Business Lounge food
Then there were grills, where you could have some meat and sides prepared to your liking.
Turkish Business Lounge live cooking station
Turkish Business Lounge soup
Turkish Business Lounge food
Then there were a variety of soups, and all kinds of other hot dishes.
Turkish Business Lounge food
Turkish Business Lounge food
Turkish Business Lounge food
Turkish Business Lounge food
Turkish Business Lounge food
Their dessert selection is also consistently to die for, with a huge variety of cakes and Turkish desserts.
Turkish Lounge buffet Istanbul
Turkish Lounge dessert selection Istanbul
Turkish Lounge dessert selection Istanbul
As far as drinks go, there are a couple of stations with self serve liquor.
Turkish Business Lounge liquor
Then there are huge fridges with a variety of soft drinks, juice, and water.
Turkish Business Lounge drinks
Turkish Business Lounge drinks]
Then there are about half a dozen tea and coffee stations throughout the lounge, and you can even have a custom made espresso, cappuccino, latte, etc.
Turkish Business Lounge coffee station
I had a latte, which was excellent.
Turkish Lounge latte Istanbul
Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul bathrooms, showers, and more
This lounge gets very busy, though, despite that, the bathrooms are well maintained.
Turkish Lounge bathrooms Istanbul
One of the problems with the lounge at the old airport was that they had a very limited number of showers, though the new lounge seems to have a lot more, so that’s less of an issue.
Turkish Business Lounge showers
I’m guessing there’s also some sort of ironing service, though I’m not exactly sure…
Turkish Lounge ironing service Istanbul
Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul sleeping rooms
Now let’s get to what’s possibly the best part of the lounge — the private suites. When you enter the lounge and go left you’ll see a desk for private suites.
Turkish Business Lounge private suites
Here select eligible passengers can receive a free bedroom for their layover. There are some restrictions to be aware of, though:
- This is only valid for those traveling in Turkish business class (and not those on Star Alliance partners), though award tickets do qualify
- This is only available to those who have a connection between four and nine hours
- At least one of your flights (either arriving or departing) needs to be at least eight hours
If you meet those conditions, you can get a bedroom on a first come, first served basis. Note that this is different than the free stopover hotel program that Turkish offers to business class passengers who have connections of more than nine hours (where you’ll be offered an actual hotel room).
In order to be eligible for the stopover hotel you need to be on an itinerary where the next available connection is over nine hours, so you can’t intentionally choose a long layover to take advantage of that (meanwhile for the sleeping room, you’re still eligible if you book a longer connection, as long as it’s between four and nine hours).
Anyway, I handed the agent my boarding pass, she confirmed my itinerary was eligible, and she immediately brought me to my bedroom. The rooms are past the desk and to the left.
Turkish Business Lounge private suites entrance
There are over a dozen bedrooms, and to my surprise, they were really nice.
Turkish Business Lounge private suites
The room had a desk with a chair, a twin bed, and a wall-mounted TV. While it was only a twin bed, I was impressed by how comfortable the bedding was.
Turkish Business Lounge private bedroom
Turkish Business Lounge private bedroom
Turkish Business Lounge private bedroom
On the desk, there were two bottles of water and some fresh fruit.
Turkish Business Lounge private bedroom
It was quite warm in the room, though fortunately, each room has an individual temperature control, which is a nice feature.
Turkish Business Lounge private bedroom thermostat
The room faced the interior of the terminal, and had a view of gate E1.
Turkish Business Lounge private bedroom view
While this is an awesome feature, there are two issues to note. First of all, the sound insulation isn’t good, so you hear just about everything in the hallways, including the cleaning staff. Understandably they also have to vacuum the floors outside the rooms sometimes, so that’s going to disturb people.
What I find most annoying though is that you’re not given a key to your room, and the cleaning staff aren’t allowed to open your room. So whether you want to go into the lounge to grab a snack, or need to go to the bathroom, every single time you need to walk back to the reception desk, and then the one, poor overworked attendant has to run with you to your room and open it. If they’re helping someone else, you might even have to wait several minutes.
You’d think they could create some sort of key cards, or something. There’s also not even a way to leave the room unlocked — when the door closes it automatically locks.
New Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul bottom line
Turkish Airlines’ Business Lounge at the new Istanbul Airport is excellent… mostly.
I appreciate that the airline has created two separate lounges to spread things out a bit. It’s my understanding that they’re almost identical. Then we’ll see even more lounges opened in the future.
As far as business class lounges go, I’d say this one has above average decor and exceptional food options.
The x-factor of this lounge is the private bedrooms that they offer select passengers, though I wish they’d address the issues I had with them.
The biggest disappointment — and this is completely unacceptable — is that the wifi is so slow that it’s unusable. This is so outrageous, as it’s one of the most basic amenities I expect in a business class lounge. They had the same problem in the old lounge, so I’m not sure if they just don’t see the importance of this, or…
Overall, great job Turkish Airlines! I definitely prefer the new lounge to the old one.
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