Lounge Review: TAP Premium Lounge at the Lisbon Airport

Recently I had the opportunity to spend some time before a Continental flight in the TAP Premium lounge at the Lisbon airport. This is the Star Alliance Gold lounge in the Lisbon airport, a star alliance hub city. On the one hand one would expect the main international Star Alliance at a European hub city to be very good. On the other hand, my expectations for the lounge were not especially high based on my very limited experience flying TAP in the past. I was very pleasantly surprised.

After speeding past passport control and through airport security, I sought out the lounge. It had been a long time since I'd been in the Lisbon airport so I didn't know my way around at all but I was able to find the lounge rather easily given the signage. The airport itself looked very modern and very much like a 'shopping mall'. Upon finding the lounge, I entered in and went down a long hallway to the where the lounge hosts check the credentials of those desiring access. The front desk was pleasant and easily processed my entry using my boarding pass and United 1K card.

The lounge seems to be divided into three parts, at least informally. There is an area to store luggage while you're in the lounge and there are showers in the lounge. As I didn't use the shower, I am not sure what they were like.The largest part contained seating and multiple televisions on the wall. (Please excuse some of the photos...they were taken using the phone and the lighting in the lounge was not the best.)

Headphones were available for those desiring to listen. This seemed to be a nice touch. It is very nice not to have to listen to a loud television set in a lounge. This area of the lounge was not crowded at all.

There was another area that seemed even more private and quiet where there were simply chairs to sit and relax.

The third area contained the all important food and beverages and as well as additional seating. Unfortunately I was unable to find study corral type seating where I could set up a laptop. Instead I used one of the chairs and tables near the food area.

The lounge has free wi-fi. One must obtain an access card from the reception desk. Follow the directions on the card carefully as it can be a bit confusing to sign on. The wi-fi was very poor. I eventially gave up on trying to use it. This was really my only disappointment in the lounge.

Besides the decor and general ambiance of the lounge, the food and beverages available in the lounge are always of interest. The TAP Premium lounge excelled here . There was a wide array of different food (both hot and cold) and beverages available. There was both quality (given that it is an airport lounge) and quantity. I was very pleased. I wish that I had not eaten breakfast at my hotel