European Adventure Trip Report Part 3: Lounges at MEX

(This is Part 3 in a multipart trip report. For the background on this trip, check here.) 

We arrived at Mexico City at about 5am. Our outbound flight to Madrid wasn't until about noon. Though we flirted with the idea of heading into the city and coming back for our flight, we decided against it. First, what would we do that early in the morning in Mexico City? Second, we were worried about schlepping our carry-on luggage. Third, we were concerned about there being too many variables (customs, taxi drivers, traffic, etc.) that could have caused us to miss our flight. Instead, we took this as an opportunity to try a couple of lounges and get a little rest.

In Mexico City, oneworld® elite passengers have two lounge choices: an Admirals Club and the MexicanaElite Lounge.

We started at the Admirals Club, where I didn't bother with business-class boarding passes and oneworld® Emerald status. I just flashed my Admirals Club membership card, the attendant swiped it, asked what flight we were on (so she could then tell us that they wouldn't be making announcements), and welcomed us to the club.

The lounge is well designed for our purposes. There are basically three main areas: a bar, which has tables and a couple big TVs; a business center, which is extremely quiet and has a handful of PCs in cubicles; and the main lounge, which is a big open area filled with couches and comfortable chairs. The nice part of this layout is that the lounge area stays mostly quiet (and the business center stays very quiet), while people wanting to watch TV and chat loudly could do so in the bar.

Sara slept most of the time we were there. I had a Diet Coke from the bar and checked out the snack selection: bread, bagels, and a toaster; self-serve coffee and tea; some sort of warm pizza/focaccia/cheesybread thing; cookies; muffins; some mini boxes of cereal.

Otherwise, the lounge was ordinary but adequate. It was relatively serene (aside from the handful of people watching the World Cup match in the bar), there were ample power ports for me to charge my laptop and phone, and the wireless internet connection worked well.

The Mexicana lounge was a different story. When Sara woke up at about 9am, we decided to head to that lounge — which is located directly above the AA lounge (which itself is located directly next to the Red Carpet Club) — for breakfast. We gathered our things, rode the elevator up, and checked into the lounge. Having arrived in Mexicana business class and getting ready to fly out on Iberia BusinessPlus, the desk agent warmly welcomed us and handed me a slip of paper with the WiFi access information.

At first glance, I was impressed by the lounge. There's a nice-looking bar area adjoined by a buffet, then a brightly-lit and well-appointed open lounge area with comfortable-looking seats. We found a spot, plopped down, and I headed to grab food from the buffet. Three hours later, we were headed for our flight, and I was no longer impressed. Reasons:

1. The food was fine, but there were very few options for breakfast. Basically, we were limited to some small and unimpressive pastries, and a flatbread-tuna-tomato concoction that smelled horrible. The pastries tasted pretty good, but how many little croissants should someone have to eat? (There was also nicer food available for purchase. What is this place? A domestic Admirals Club?)

2. The food situation is awkward. There are a couple of waiters who hang out by the buffet, presumably to make you drinks or help with food. But it's not clear what their job is and they're not appropriately assertive, so it's hard to know what to do for yourself and what to ask for. I tried making my own cup of coffee in the coffee-tea-cocoa contraption only to be pushed aside by the same server who was happy just moments earlier to let me get ice, pour a Diet Coke, and garnish with a lime all by myself.

3. Some of the staff was rude. At one point I dozed off and carelessly rested my feet on the glass coffee table in front of me. I was shaken awake by a lounge host in a suit, yelling at me in Spanish to move my feet. Was he right that I shouldn't have put my shoes on his furniture? Yup. But I'd say it's a bit out of line to wake up a customer and yell at them.

4. The only power ports are at dedicated "power stations" located in the middle of the lounge with only plastic stools to sit on. This is inconvenient.

5. The WiFi connection sucked.

6. There's a big flatscreen TV, and someone had the good idea to kind of wall it off. Problem is this little TV "room" with its semi-walls is located right in the center of the lounge, so you can hear the TV everywhere. And for us, we were able to hear the screaming soccer fans (Spain was in the process of losing to Switzerland) watching the game while we tried to get some rest.

I hope I'm not overstating all this. In truth, the lounge is perfectly fine. It's just not "top notch," and it's certainly not any better than the Admirals Club right below it.