International Business Lounge Moscow Review

Having benefited from the warnings of others who had come through the International Business Lounge before me, I was aware there was only one shower available in the lounge. So I managed to be the second person off the plane and was speedily heeling it to the transfer desk. There I ran into trouble because I lost site of the guy in front of me, and started looking at all the signs trying to figure out where to go.

I eventually wound up at one of the transfer desks to ask. Apparently I should have turned a sharp left right off the escalators to go through security and my 50yd detour had cost me a couple of places in line. I managed to move up a little in the potential lounge line by being speedy in security and arrived as the 3 business/first class passenger.

The first guy apparently didnâ€™t want a shower and I was able to check in at the front desk simultaneously with the second guy. I immediately asked them about the shower and they gave me a towel and amenity kit and told me to take the first left. As I was leaving I heard the guy also ask about a shower. Phew.

This shower room was very basic and tiny, and reminded me a lot of the Turkish Airlines First Class shower in Instanbul, although at least there fewer people were competing for them.

The â€œamenity kitâ€ was very very basic. My razor had no markings, but a strip of cardboard torn off a Gillette package had been included.

Since time was limited and I felt bad for any of the other passengers who were trying to squeeze in a shower after me, I decided not to take the time to wash, and then dry, my hair.

I think I was actually pretty speedy, but the door kept getting rattled by folks trying to get in every couple of minutes which unnerved me. â€œWhat if the lock slipped?â€ And then I’d be on display in the tiny clear glass shower.Â I’ll admit, I was rather irritated when I got out of the shower room to see that the only people waiting were the two men whoâ€™d been behind me originally and had to know that it was the only room and I was in thereâ€¦

I wasnâ€™t hungry and was pretty tired at this point, so I grabbed a water (guessed wrong and got sparkling) and decided to forgo pictures at this point, figuring I could get some on the way back. The lounge was basic with lots of rows of wicker seating.

The food presentations were actually fairly diverse, they just didnâ€™t look appetizing after my huge meals on the plane. They also had two food areas, the one major one which had a seating area and beverages, and then a smaller section immediately outside it which offered a limited selection of snacks.

The lounge wasnâ€™t very interesting to me, but the rest of my limited time in Moscow was! From the moment we broke through the low-hanging clouds on our descent, my face was pretty much glued to the window.

We’d landed at 2PM and the sky was a sullen gray. There was tons of snow everywhere and even the newer buildings looked like they were from the 1960s. It was exactly like Iâ€™d pictured it!!

I was fascinated by the various airlines Iâ€™d never seen before.

I was fascinated by plane graveyard others had mentioned â€“ with aircraft parked out in the snow, missing doors, windows, and otherÂ parts.

I was amused by the airport signage and use of apostrophes. Is it really the Austrian Airlines airline lounge or one just faked to look like it?? 🙂

I enjoyed getting to see the training areas and the mystery of two unmarked aircraft parked in the snow Â¼ mile off the runaway but which had a team of people working to clear them off and out.