Team Traveller was recently surprised to hear that of all the international travel hubs around the world, Vienna is home to the best airport lounge in the world. Vienna Lounge at Terminal 1 in Vienna Airport was voted not just the best in Europe, but the overall global winner in the inaugural Priority Pass Excellence Awards. The awards consider over 1,500 lounges and travel experiences and are judged on 379,966 Priority Pass member ratings and reviews across a wide range of criteria, including quality of facilities, customer service, food and beverage selection and overall satisfaction.
While recently in the city to review the opening of The Hoxton Vienna, I paid a visit to the lounge to see what all the fuss was about. As a pay-to-enter lounge (or access with a Priority Pass membership), the space definitely felt more premium and thoughtful than the usual lounge of this genre – which can often just feel like slightly less crowded waiting rooms with biscuits and soft drinks.
The design
The first thing I noticed as I entered the main lounge was the bright and calming feel of the space, flooded with natural light from the windows looking out onto the airfield, and with stylish parquet flooring and greenery throughout. The walls are decorated with artwork by Klimpt and Schiele, as provided by Vienna’s Leopold Museum, giving the space some local personality and the feel of a stylish hotel lobby, rather than a sterile airport. The lounge is also extensive, covering 2,500 square metres with enough room to host 450 guests.
Vienna airport lounge
The food
The focal hub of the lounge is the bistro-esque dining area, where an impressively large Viennese buffet takes centre stage. There’s a huge variety of hot and cold options available, including traditional dishes, as well as cheese and meat and a salad bar. There’s also a sweet Viennese cafe area where guests can help themselves to beautifully baked cakes and strudels. For drinks, the options range from several soft drinks, infused waters, spirits, beers and wines – including Austrian beers and wines – and even a Bloody Mary station.
The space
