As we embarked on the final trek of our babymoon, it was time to leave Bali for Singapore in order to catch our ride via Singapore Suites (!!!) to Tokyo later that night. Our trip to Singapore was in Singapore Airlines Business Class, and while there’s no Singapore Airlines lounge in Bali, there’s Premier Lounge, which Singapore Airlines Business Class customers, in addition to a large group of other customers, have access to. We spent a couple of hours in the Premier Lounge before boarding our flight. Read on for the review.
One can actually see the lounge before ever going through security. It has a large, obnoxious, neon red sign, and this sign is visible from the ticketing area if you look beyond security. After going through security and finally popping out on the other side of the obligatory duty free walkway, it’s’ right up on the second floor of the terminal.
On a related note, it’s worth noting that the Bali airport is absolutely beautiful, especially considering that it’s more of a resort destination. When I think of airports in similar places like Cancun, Phuket, etc, this one really blows all of them away. It has beautiful high ceilings, modern construction, and it’s very well laid out. I could spend more time lauding the place, but you would be better served just reading Rocky’s thorough overview of the airport. Given the large volume of flights in and out of this airport, I’m actually somewhat surprised that an airline or airline alliance hasn’t gone and built their own lounge there yet, but there was construction happening up near the lounges, so maybe something’s brewing. In any case, when we first checked in for our flight, the Singapore Airlines agent created an invitation for us to present to the lounge attendants upon arrival.
As we walked to the lounge, we passed another one which looked quite nice. This lounge was, at least from the outside, decorated beautifully, and it looked extremely elegant. This is the lounge for Garuda Indonesia passengers. We were en route to the next one in line, the Premier Lounge.
We got to the front of the lounge, and I paused for Katy to snap a quick pic of me.
The attendants let us in, and we found some seats toward the back of the lounge. I had read some reviews saying that this lounge wasn’t very good, but my initial impressions were actually favorable. I thought the decor, while slightly tacky, was nice, and there was a good amount of seating.
When walking in toward the back, we passed two separate buffet tables. On the right, there was a table with coffee, tea, juices, some small sandwiches, nuts, and sweets.
To the left, there was a larger selection of buffet items. Here you could get pancakes, pastries, toast, sasuage, and eggs.
Want eggs made to order? There was a cook behind the bar cooking up something. I asked him what he was cooking, and he said omelettes. He asked if I wanted one. I declined, as we would soon be eating lunch on our Singapore Airlines flight. And speaking of lunch, by the time we left, the lunch items had been brought out, and there were a selection of sandwiches and fried goodies.
This place has a full fridge of beer and sodas. I thought it was interesting that they had normal size Diet Coke cans, but for regular Cokes, they had the tall and skinny can. In terms of alcohol, beer and wine is all you’re getting here. No hard stuff.
Given that we were going to be on a plane that served a full lunch, I decided to hold off on indulging too much on the snacks. I grabbed some waters, a diet coke, and some peanuts for our table.
I was fairly impressed with the lounge, considering that it was a contract lounge. The first major downside I noticed is that while we did find seating, it quickly became apparent that this lounge gets overrun… and considering it’s in Bali, it isn’t overrun with quiet businessmen. It’s overrun with families and children. I think that’s somewhat to be expected at a destination like Bali where people are on vacation with their families, but it was especially hectic in there. Babies were crying. Kids were sprinting around. Parents were scolding. To the lounge’s credit, they do have a kid’s room, and it was being fully utilized!
Want a massage? They have a room for that too! They’re not free, and while they’re expensive compared to a treatment you might get at a local spot in Bali, the massages are cheap relative to Western prices. There’s also a business center, should you need to use one of their computers.
I fired up my laptop, and I was ready to relax. I hit another hiccup there, as the wi-fi at this lounge is absolute garbage. I had better luck using the airport’s free wi-fi, but neither were that usable.
All in all, this lounge is decent. If you must have a meal at the Bali airport, I suppose you could fill up on their food at the lounge, but I think this spot is best reserved for a quick snack before a flight. There are some really great dining options in the Bali airport if you want a full meal.
