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Lounge Review: Emirates First Class Lounge Dubai (DXB) Concourse A

I’ve reviewed the Emirates First Class Lounge at Dubai before, but that was in 2013, so here’s an updated review.

Entrance to the first class lounge
Entrance to the first class lounge

The entrance to the spa is right in front of the entrance to the first class lounge. As a First Class passenger, you’re entitled to a complimentary treatment. This time, I chose a haircut since I never seem to get haircuts as often as I should, and it was pretty decent (although my hair is very simple and unstyled).

Entrance to the spa
Entrance to the spa

I can’t help but be impressed whenever I visit this lounge. It’s huge. Cavernous, almost. It’s also a bit sterile, in that it doesn’t feel “cozy” at all, and the first class lounge is strange in that it’s often only very sparsely populated with passengers, and yet there are tons of staff just standing around with nothing to do.

Map of half of the lounge
Map of half of the lounge (the other half has essentially identical amenities)
Directions in the lounge
Directions in the lounge

The lounge has just about every sort of lounge amenity that you could think of. There are video games, TVs, a business center, a formal dining room, a more casual cafe-ish dining area, shower rooms, a spa, shopping, a kids room, a cigar room, a prayer room, a relaxation room, and a shoe shine stand.

Shopping within the lounge
Shopping within the lounge
One variety of seating area
One variety of seating area
Lounge decor
Lounge decor
It just keeps going on
It just keeps going on

I spent some time working in the business center. One thing that could be improved is the wifi speed. The wifi is pretty slow (about 1 mbps down), but it works.

Business center
Business center

Although I didn’t use it this time around, I’ve taken a nap in the relaxation room before, and it’s plenty comfortable for that purpose. They have pillows and blankets and eye masks at all of the seats. Not a place you’d want to spend too much time given the lack of privacy, but fine if you need a place to lie down for a bit.

Relaxation room
Relaxation room
Recliners if you want a nap
Recliners if you want a nap
Charging station
Charging station
Kids room
Kids room

One nice aspect of this lounge is the dining area with proper table service. There’s both an extensive menu as well as an extensive buffet for whatever you’re looking for.

Dining room seating
Dining room seating
Window into the kitchen
Window into the kitchen

Here are photos of the made-to-order menu at the time. Apologies for the hand and camera shadows!

Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu

One thing that slightly worries me about the buffet is how often the food gets turned over. The lounge never gets particularly busy, so I’m wondering how long some of the food items sit there before they get thrown out…

Pastries
Pastries
Sushis and seafoods
Sushis and seafoods
Cheeses
Cheeses
Salads
Salads
Foods
Foods
Hot buffet
Hot buffet
More hot dishes
More hot dishes

I decided to order some food from the menu. To start, they brought out some mezze and some bread and butter. More airlines should serve good bread and butter. Good bread isn’t that expensive, and it’s super good. I think the best bread I’ve had on airlines has been on either JAL or Qantas, and I appreciated the bread and butter served in the lounge here.

Appetizers to start
Appetizers to start

Next up I had the spring roll. Which was a spring roll. Not too much to say about it.

Spring roll
Spring roll

For me entree, I had the paneer achari, which was pretty good. A solid vegetarian main, although I wish they had more vegetarian options on the menu.

Paneer achari
Paneer achari

For dessert, I just had a large bowl of berries. Berries are so great and can be rare to find while traveling!

Overall, the Emirates First Class lounge at DXB is just an impressive physical space. The lounge spans the length of much of the terminal, and you can board directly from the lounge onto A380s. The lounge offers all of the amenities that you might expect from a lounge, and generally does a good job with all of them. The service can be a bit strange given the extreme surplus of workers to passengers (you’d think that would mean that the service would be extremely attentive, but I haven’t found that to be the case), but it’s definitely a treat every time I get to visit this lounge.

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