Qantas opens all-new Melbourne domestic business class lounge
By David Flynn, August 24 2018
Qantas has opened its all-new Melbourne Domestic Business Lounge, with business class passengers and Platinum-grade frequent flyers set to enjoy a smart and spacious upgrade to the previously tired and cramped quarters.
The lounge is styled as a 'supper club' with Qantas citing dark tones and sophisticated finishes – including Nero Marquina marble from Northern Spain, natural timber floors, brass and black metal fittings and custom brass lighting – "to symbolise the chic, urban feel of Melbourne."
A focal point of the new business lounge is a centrally-located bar serving beer wine and spirits along with barista-pulled coffee, with a cocktail hour between 5pm and 6pm.
This has a sophisticated Italian vibe which is perfectly in keeping with that trendy Melbourne-esque feeling, and it's easy to imagine how popular and buzzing this will be of a Friday evening.
As with its siblings in Brisbane and Perth, the Melbourne business lounge will have its own unique dining option in the form of a Spice Bar serving freshly-made noodles and Asian street food – although that won't open until the lounge overhaul is completed in early November. (Qantas' Perth business lounge has become famous for its pizzas, which Brisbane has a Mexican Cantina).
The Spice Bar will serve up the likes of sichuan eggplant with rice and stir fried gai lan, beef brisket noodle soup with salted chili and bok choy, and char sui pork with rice and stir fried choy sum.
The refit also sees a more spacious buffet area for hot and cold dishes, also with an emphasis on Asian dishes including fried rice, noodles and Asian greens. A more open design makes it easier to browse and plate up the dishes, with plenty of areas to sit and enjoy your meal
As with the other new-look domestic business lounges there's also a 'Quench' hydration station with hot teas and cool drinks.
We're pleased to report there are plenty of AC and USB sockets within easy reach of most fixed furniture and along parts of the walls for charging laptops, tablets and smartphones.
The new Melbourne Business Lounge occupies the entire northern span of Qantas' domestic lounge precinct, taking over the space, full-height windows and views previously allocated to the Qantas Club.
The windows add to the sense of a light airy design which opens up the lounge compared to the old space, a large part of which was located away from the windows.
That's enhanced by the a skylight which used to be within the footprint of the former Qantas Club but now lets light flood down into the centre of the business lounge.
There are several of these circular benches which create a communal seating arrangement, with a hub-and-spoke design where travellers resting on the padded bench can chat to those sitting either side or across the small coffee tables.
We also liked these workstations, which have a higher bench on one side and – not seen from this angle – a lower bench on the other side.
And at long last, the business lounge finally gets its own dedicated entry, with passengers turning left when they reach the top of the escalators instead of being routed through the middle of the Qantas Club.
This is still the first stage of the lounge's redevelopment, with more seating to be added by early November.
A larger Qantas Club is also on the way
This will not only reduce through-traffic and congestion at the Qantas Club but allow the Qantas Club to expand into part of the former business lounge.
That's expected to lift Qantas Club capacity to around 530 seats – 10% more than the old Qantas Club – and alleviate the current over-crowding which has seen Gold-grade frequent flyers and Qantas Club members unable to guest fellow travellers into the lounge during peak hours (5am-9am and 3pm-7pm).
Those guest access restrictions remain in place until November.
At the same time, the wall adjacent to the Qantas Club bar will pushed back to reveal windows facing into the terminal.
This work is expected to be finished in November, marking the completion of the Qantas Club and Business Lounge make-over.
Up next on Qantas' lounge to-do list is a Cinderella-like transformation of its Sydney International Business Lounge, which will be designed by David Caon and feature a Rockpool 'dining concept'
Read more: What do you want from Qantas' new Sydney business class lounge?
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.
Delta Air Lines - SkyMiles
14 Apr 2013
Total posts 325
This is exciting news. I can’t wait to see it tomorrow 😍
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
14 Jun 2014
Total posts 19
Any word on the International basement lounge?
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
13 Jan 2015
Total posts 580
lol the dungeon
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
30 May 2013
Total posts 381
Wrong lounge. This is about the domestic lounge.
05 May 2016
Total posts 616
The international lounge isn't in the list in another AUSBT article posted today. So presumably it'll be in the next batch of lounge refreshes or two after that list is done.
24 Aug 2011
Total posts 1205
"At the same time, the wall adjacent to the Qantas Club bar will pushed back to reveal windows facing into the terminal." Hardly an exciting development for Qantas Club and Gold FFs. Whilst the new Business Lounge looks good, the revamped Qantas Club is distinctly ordinary.
27 Apr 2017
Total posts 39
Exactly. The light and airy Qantas Club is long gone. A distinct downgrade for QC and Gold FFs.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
24 Jan 2018
Total posts 758
Ah-ha! That explains why I've been seeing QC members in Virgin's MEL lounge a lot more lately.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
02 Jun 2015
Total posts 38
Asian food sounds good. I wish they would switch around the themes in the different lounges. I am particularly over the repatitive fare in the Brisbane Business Lounge.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
21 Oct 2012
Total posts 6
I've often thought that this would be a great idea - especially for those that regularly use the same lounge. Hopefully someone at Qantas is paying attention.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
20 Mar 2015
Total posts 5
Couldn't agree more NQflyer. The BNE business (domestic) food is really quite bland and never-changing. As a regular visitor some other improvements/suggestions for that afformentioned lounge include:
- install self-serve coffee machine to avoid having to que for possibly quite some time for barista coffee
- the printer has not worked since the lounge opened
- quality of Shiraz is generally quite poor, although the wine of the month lately was a ripper
- it can be difficult to get access to power and USB even at moderately busy times
Having said that the staff are generally fantastic and overall a good lounge.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
06 Dec 2017
Total posts 23
Looking forward to using it on Sunday.
17 Jun 2011
Total posts 64
Melbourne being Australia’s second largest metropolis which includes the fourth busiest route in the world but Qantas can only manage a 10% increase in seating?? An upgrade was long overdue me thinks the additional 10% was hobbled up years ago...
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
28 Oct 2011
Total posts 467
How would you suggest it be dealt with? QF can only work with the space available. Unless they put an extra level above the current lounges, there is no room to expand them.
23 Feb 2017
Total posts 16
I was in there c. 1830-1939 last night. It was a complete mess - chairs (some new, some from the old lounge) scattered everywhere. Food inconveniently in the corner although it looks as though this will change. I never thought I would say it but the BNE lounge is far superior. RC
05 Apr 2018
Total posts 2
Qantas is a fail.... Switched over from Virgin Platinum and incredibly dissapoittned even flying business class and using Australian domestic lounges. They are terrible......
QF
21 Jul 2016
Total posts 32
You can get over pizzas and Mexican very quickly, both being subsistence foods, and the rest is the usual fare. You get soup, and what might as well be soup, in the hot dish. You couldn't get beetroot in the Melbourne business lounge until recently--had to go into the Club lounge for that. The catering in any Qantas lounge, except International first class, is sooooooo predictable. No amount of ambience, if that means anything, will compensate for very ordinary catering. Went into Emirates lounge at Sydney international once and the catering was much better than the business lounge.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
13 Jan 2015
Total posts 580
"what might as well be soup, in the hot dish"...glad i'm not the only one who thinks this
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
04 Dec 2018
Total posts 1
First visit is quite underwhelming. New carpet pilling badly, too much food on floor and power points all quite low, so no dignity for ladies plugging in power cords. Most amazingly the two meat, hot food options from Spice Bar and bay marie were pork. What about Jewish and Muslim guests or those, like me, who choose not to eat pork? Pig products in other food offerings too. I get the Asian market but sheesh! Eggplant from Spice Bar tasty, but overcooked. Wine quality quite good.
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