Previous Installments:

• Introduction: Flying All 3 Big Gulf Carrier Airbus A380s in First Class on a Single Trip
  
• Check-in and Houston Airport Executive Club
  
• Air France and KLM Lounges
  
• Emirates First Class, Houston – Dubai

Emirates has a first class lounge that’s really an entire level of the terminal concourse. That’s the A concourse first class lounge. Over there coach passengers are on one level, business class passengers on another, and first class passengers separated still. I called it the ‘Night of the Comet’ lounge because it’s long a neutron bomb went off and the whole terminal is still there but there are no people. It’s surreal.

Since that concourse was set up primarily for Airbus A380 aircraft, and that’s what I’d be flying from Dubai to Bangkok, I assumed that’s where I’d spend my layover between flights. But I landed to discover I’d actually be departing from B so I decided to use the old first class lounge instead which is right beside my gate. I had time that I could have gone over to the A concourse lounge and then to my flight but I’d rather be close by and not worry about the time.

The ‘old’ first class lounge is still very nice of course, it just lacks the grandeur and isn’t as new. Plus I’d have the opportunity to review the older lounge, which I’d never been to before.

The lounge is large, but it isn’t the whole terminal level.

There are seating areas everywhere. The lounge is spacious, and overwhelms the number of passengers. So in that sense it’s like its newer cousin.

There’s a restroom near the entryway, to the right of the water feature.

You’ll find food and snacks throughout.

And design is similar in many ways to the bigger first class lounge on the A concourse — stretching down much of the length of the concourse, and open in the middle where you can look down to the level below.

The lounge is large enough that you need directions to the various amenities.

There are work cubes, and nobody uses them.

And a meeting room.

And a family room. In case you can’t read there’s a picture of a happy baby.

There’s also a children’s game room.

And extensive duty free

The lounge has a spa with both complimentary and paid treatments. It’s small, so despite as many staff in the lounge as passengers I had a wait for a treatment.

Click to enlarge menus:

Since the lounge is built into the interior of the airport, rather than being against the windows overlooking the tarmac, it’s dark and the spa is dark. The spa reminded me more of a clinic than a sanctuary.

The restaurant though is certainly impressive with both a buffet and menu service.

Here’s the menu: (Click to enlarge)

If you don’t have a lot of time, you’ll be happy just grazing off of the buffet. Or you can visit the buffet while you wait for your order to be delivered. There’s something for everyone.

I made myself a snack plate to begin:

And then the items my wife and I each ordered were delivered.

While you don’t actually board from inside the lounge like you do on the A concourse, there are doors that will let you out the side or back of the lounge nearest your gate.

After some food, a massage, and catching up on email — since internet on Emirates’ A380 is so darned slow — it was time to head to my connecting gate so I went out the back of the lounge.