On a recent trip through Melbourne, we had the opportunity to check out The House Lounge in Melbourne Airport. Formerly the Etihad Business Class Lounge, anyone can can access the lounge with a Priority Pass membership (+$20) or through just purchasing a day pass ($80 for per adult and $40 per child).
The House Business Class Lounge Layout
You'll find the House Business Class Lounge located in Terminal 2 of Melbourne Airport on the third floor near gate 10. With clear signage out in the terminal, it isn't hard to miss, you'll pass a few other airline lounges first, and then head up the escalators to first be greeted by Emirates lounge on the left, and then the House Lounge on the right.
A relatively small lounge, there is ample seating provided with options ranging from wide lounge chairs, a high table for a suitable work space, chairs at the bar as well as a large dining area space for a sit down meal. The House lounge is encompassed with great tarmac views with floor-to-ceiling windows the whole way across making it a nice spot to sit back and watch aircraft land/take off to pass time.
One pain-point to mention, is that although there is plenty of seating available, there is only really 1 - perhaps 2 suitable work spaces where you can charge your devices or use a laptop comfortably without it balancing on your lap, or on a small dining table. We would love to see more high tables incorporated in this lounge, it being a Business Class hotspot, as it felt quite cramped sharing a small table space with quite a few people when half the lounge had empty lounge seats.
Another recommendation would be to make powerpoint and charging ports more accessible to those travellers wishing to sit in more comfortable chairs so they are able to charge their phones etc.
The House Business Class Lounge Food and Beverage Options
The dining space in The House Business Class lounge makes up most of the space with a small buffet to the right, you can help yourself to a choice of 3 cold, salad type dishes and there are also 3 hot main meal options to choose from. Behind that there is a self service coffee machine - unfortunately no barista style coffee in this lounge. Along with some sweet cakes and treats and your standard continental breakfast staples such as toast, spreads and fruit.
The bar is probably the highlight feature of the lounge, with gold shelving incorporating an on-brand presence for Etihad, a range of spirits, cocktails, wines and more are available to be ordered. We were also notified of ordering food off the menu for an additional cost if we preferred that to the buffet food they had on offer.
The House Melbourne Lounge Drinks Options
Next to the bar there are a range of small soft drink cans on offer as well as large bottles of sparking, jugs of what we can presume is still water as well as juices.
The House Business Class Lounge Summary
This Business Class lounge was about half full when we arrived, and with a 144 seat capacity, we can imagine it getting quite crowded during peak periods. Although it is quite a small lounge, the surrounding windows open up The House Lounge with beautiful tarmac views and natural sunlight.
With accessibility to the lounge for any travellers who are willing to pay, the lounge loses a bit of an exclusive feel, however it still provides a nice quiet spot to relax before a flight. Service in the lounge was great, the front desk lady was incredibly helpful and went around letting travellers know when airlines were boarding which made the experience less stressful and more enjoyable.
Some minor suggestions for this lounge would be to incorporate some more work-space friendly tables or sections so travellers don’t need to all be crammed on the 1-2 tables available. More charging points would also be beneficial as well.