Is the Qatar Airways lounge truly the best business class lounge in Singapore? It might well be, heck it may even be the best lounge in Singapore Changi Airport. I had the chance to stop by the Qatar Airways when flying Japan Airlines business class – they’re both members of Oneworld – and it was an impressive experience. Top notch service, great food and drink, in a nicely-appointed lounge. If you’re flying Oneworld business class out of Changi Terminal 1 and have a bit of time to kill, this is the lounge to visit. It’s absolutely a lounge worth heading to the airport early for.
Read on to see why I think this might be the best business class in Singapore Changi Airport!
Location and access
The Qatar Airways Lounge, or to give its proper name, Qatar Airways Premium Lounge, is located at the C-gates side of Changi Terminal 1. It’s above the Transfer C desks, up the same escalator as the Emirates and Plaza Premium lounges. If you’re departing form Singapore, turn left after clearing immigration and head towards the C gates until you see the sign below:
Once up the escalator, take a u-turn and you should see the entrance to the Qatar Airways lounge. Compared to the neighbouring Emirates lounge, the entrance is little less bling and understated.
Because it’s considered a “Premium” lounge, access is restricted to First and Business class revenue passengers travelling on Qatar and other Oneworld carriers. While allegedly redemption ticket holders have been denied access in the past, I had no issues accessing the lounge on my JAL business class ticket which was redeemed through Alaska Mileage Plan. Oneworld status members not flying in premium cabins have to make do with either a contract lounge or one of the other Oneworld options in Terminal 1.
At the time of writing, the Qatar Airways Premium Lounge Singapore is open from 6pm-3am. This unfortunately excludes the morning QR943 departure, and these passengers are sent to the SATS Premium Lounge, which is a passable lounge but nowhere near the standard of Qatar’s own lounge.
The lounge space
Lounge entry
The entrance to the lounge is a contrast of dark metallic walls on one side, and gleaming white on another. It manages to be both welcoming and elegant. Of course, the warm welcome form the lounge dragon helps as well.
The first section of the lounge is a general seating area, with a living room-like space on the left and productivity pods on the right. Personally I think productivity pods are better off further into the lounge to really minimise distractions, but these pods did seem quite closed off.
While the space resembles a living room, there were a couple of workstations with desktops. For those who a PC to do stuff but don’t have a laptop with them. One of the desks has a printer has well. There’s a drinks fridge with soft drinks and some snacks. It kind of reminded me of what you’ll see in a hotel executive lounge. Convenient to grab a quick drink without having to venture to the main F&B area.
Dining space and bar
Moving further into the lounge, next up is the dining space. The highlight of this area is undoubtedly the circular, manned bar.
There’s a couple of dining areas around the bar and buffet, which feel like a proper sit-down restaurant.
Lounging areas
There’s more seating further in. These were generally a mix of sofas and armchairs for relaxing. I wouldn’t really describe these as conducive for either dining or work to be honest. As we were at the lounge during a time with no Qatar Airways flights departing, these areas were all devoid of passengers.
Many tables in the lounging areas had wireless charging spots, as well as universal power outlets below the table surface.
The lounge doesn’t really have any suitable seating or areas for a longer rest, but given that most Qatar Airways passengers would be originating in Singapore, I can see why they’ve opted not to put in such amenities. Such furnishings would make this a complete lounge, but it’s a logical omission.
Washroom and showers
The toilets in the lounge are pretty impressive. From what I saw, there’s only individual shower suites, most of which have attached toilets (though not all do). The shower suites were well-equipped, with a good amount of space for bringing luggage in. The shower amenities were from Diptyque.
Dining
The star of the lounge has to be the ala carte sit-down restaurant dining. We were guided by staff to a dining table, with hardly any other passengers around we had free choice of tables. Tables were all set like a proper restaurant.
The staff brought a welcome drink, and explained that a new menu had just started that day. I’m not sure if it was due to the start of Ramadan, but it seemed to be the case. They left us an order sheet that listed the new menu items, and also informed us that we could check out the buffet for some cold items and desserts. Our meal orders would still be taken by the staff at our table of course.
For our dinner, we ordered the Chicken Kofta Salad and Slow Cooked Beef Cubes to start, followed by the Grilled Beef Tenderloin and Pan Seared Salmon for mains. I have to say all the dishes were delicious, real restaurant quality stuff. The grilled beef tenderloin was cooked perfectly with a great sear on the outside. The chicken kofta was flavourful and tasted fairly authentic. The other two dishes were fine as well, though slightly less memorable. An excellent dinner.
I checked out the buffet as well. While I didn’t get anything from the buffet, I marvelled at how beautifully everything was presented. There was salads, breads, hummus and other dips, cheese, fruits and some small desserts.
Service in the dining room was fairly attentive. I did have to go to the bar to get a drink myself, but that was partly due to the lack of menus. The staff were all warm and very hospitable, so nothing to complain about there too. For an overall dining experience, it was far superior than Singapore Airline’s Business class SilverKris Lounge. There’s no comparison there, the SKL after all doesn’t offer anything remotely similar. Even comparing to SIA’s The Private Room (TPR) for Suite/First passengers, which I’ve reviewed previously, the food quality here at the Qatar Airways lounge is better. The service is probably comparable, with a slight edge in favour of TPR in my opinion. In terms of business class experience however, there’s no competition, the Qatar Airways Lounge is way ahead of any other business lounge in Changi.
Conclusion
I honestly believe the Qatar Airways lounge is the best business class lounge in Changi. While it’s easier to serve a smaller group of passengers at an outstation, conversely Singapore Airlines’ business class SilverKris lounge doesn’t deliver anywhere near the same standard, despite being brand new and the airline’s homebase. The only thing the lounge lacks is proper sleeping/resting areas, but being an outstation that’s not necessity.
With the superb service and food and drink, the Qatar Airways lounge should be the go-to business class lounge for all eligible Oneworld passengers travelling through Changi T1 (unless you can get into the Qantas First lounge). If visiting the lounge between Qatar’s own flights, the experience is even better as the lounge is quieter. Sadly I don’t fly Oneworld much, so my own opportunities to visit the lounge are few and far between.