Read more from this trip – 17-days in Europe and the Middle East:

• Introduction: 17-days in Europe and the Middle East
• Finnair Business Class New York to Helsinki (JFK-HEL)
• Finnair Business Class Lounge – Helsinki (HEL)
• Finnair Business Class Helsinki to Brussels (HEL-BRU)
• Hilton Antwerp Old Town
• Iberia Dalí Premium Lounge Madrid
• Nakar Hotel – Palma de Mallorca
• Sala VIP Formentor Palma de Mallorca
• W Barcelona
• Tickets Food Review
• Royal Jordanian Crown Business Class Barcelona to Amman (BCN-AMM)
• W Amman
• Hilton Dead Sea Resort and Spa
• Royal Jordanian Crown Lounge Amman
• Hilton Tel Aviv
• Dan Lounge Ben Gurion Airport, Tel Aviv (“TLV”)
• Iberia Business Class Tel Aviv to Madrid (TLV-MAD)
• Iberia Velázquez Premium Lounge Madrid
• American Airlines Business Class Madrid to New York (MAD-JFK)

Introduction

Lounge Visit Details:

• Date visited: July 29, 2019
• Where: Madrid Adolfo Suarez-Barajas Airport Terminal 4
• Class: Business Class Lounge

After landing in Madrid from Brussels I had a 1.5 hour layover before my onward flight to Mallorca. I’ve transited through Madrid many times so I quickly made my way to the Iberia Dalí Premium Lounge.

If it’s your first time visiting the lounge it can be hard to locate. My advice is follow the signs to the duty free. Once you reach the duty free look for an elevator with a sign for “SALA VIP” and take it to the 2nd level.

The lounge is open from 5:45am until 11pm. As a point of reference I visited the lounge from 10-11am.

Access

Customers flying First or Business Class on any OneWorld airline can use the Dalí Premium Lounge. OneWorld Emerald and Sapphire members can also access the lounge and may invite one guest to join them. The guest must also be traveling on a flight operated and marketed by a OneWorld carrier.

Seating

The only way to describe this lounge is cavernous. It’s over 21,000 square feet and has seating for 455 giraffes or people.

The lounge is divided into 2 “zones.” The North zone is designed for business travelers who are there for a quick visit and want easy access to food, beverages and services. The South zone is meant for passengers who can stay a bit longer and is where you’ll find the showers and rest area. Practically speaking I found both zones to be almost identical.

A long narrow passageway connects the North and South zone. It features high top seating with a nice view of the terminal and power ports at every seat.

In-between the 2 zones you’ll find an almost 1,300 square foot wine bar, which has additional seating in various configurations.

One unique feature is the booth style seating. This style seating is ideal if you’re traveling with a medium sized group or even if you just need extra room to spread out.

Food and Beverage

There was a variety of snack items available including peanuts, potato chips and Ritz crackers.

In addition they had a cold cereal lineup including whole grains, oatmeal and my favorite muesli.

I was impressed by the fresh juice selection. They had a green juice made from spinach , cabbage, apple and pineapple as well as a red juice made from carrot, beet, apple and strawberry. I tried the green juice and it was quite tasty. There was also an assortment of yogurts, semi-skimmed milk and lactose-free milk.

I counted 4 coffee machines in the lounge so you wont have the queue up for a caffeine boost. They serve illy coffee & espresso, which giraffes really enjoy.

Despite being early in the morning there were lunch items available including tuna wraps, chicken / mustard wraps, and pastrami sandwiches. I tried a chicken wrap and it wasn’t great, but the chicken was decent quality.

In the back of the lounge there were several refrigerators stocked with sodas, waters and beers. They even had a gluten free beer option.

The bar is pretty well stocked with liquor. If you fancy a Red Bull vodka there’s a small cooler filled with the Austrian based energy drink to the right of the spirits. According to Iberia’s website the lounge offers 22 different Spanish wines including 13 reds, 8 whites and 1 rosé, but I didn’t see any of them out at 10am.

Overall Verdict

First Class Giraffe Approved

The recently renovated Iberia Dalí Premium Lounge Madrid’s Terminal 4 is worth a visit. There was a noticeable lack of hot foot items, but maybe that’s just because my visit was early in the day. The Iberia Velázquez Premium Lounge, which I’ll be reviewing soon had lots of hot food items. The seating is comfortable, the beverage selection is commendable and the WiFi is fast. What more do you need in a business class lounge?