Inside Virgin Australia's new Gold Coast lounge

If you thought Virgin Australia's lounge at Melbourne Airport was impressive, check out the airline's new Gold Coast lounge. Designed along the same hip lines as Melbourne, the lounge has space for 900 people, an outdoor area called The Deck – and, in a sly dig at Qantas, a Chairman's Club.

Plus there's an unbeatable view over the Gold Coast's Metricon Stadium, home of local AFL team the Gold Coast Suns.

Hang on – where did all the planes go? Where's the runway?

Yes, that's right ... this isn't the lounge at Gold Coast Airport. That one's still up to six months away from opening. This is Virgin Australia's stylish corporate lounge at the Gold Coast stadium, and it'll be even harder to get into than any Australian airport lounge (except the Qantas Chairman's Club).

"We wanted to create something different to the traditional corporate box experience and provide guests with a taste of what Virgin Australia's excellent service is like" explained Virgin Australia group executive Liz Savage.

"The contemporary design creates a feeling of space and light that is the hallmark of the new Virgin Australia look and feel. The curved architecture, innovative lighting and separate relaxation zones all work together to create a first-rate, comfortable game-day experience."

Virgin Australia is of course the founding partner and official airline of the Gold Coast Suns, but with the Metricon Stadium also capable of holding cricket and soccer matches as well as event concerts, Virgin Australia's going to have a lot of hospitality to share around.

And while corporate accounts and commercial partners are going to be the mainstay of the door list at the invitation-only lounge, let's hope that Virgin Australia also extends a few invitations to its loyal high-flying Velocity Club Gold members and even runs the odd Twitter and Facebook competition to give the average punter a taste of the high life.

David Flynn

David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.