Iberia Business Lounge Terminal 4S Madrid Review

Usually when flying from a Spanish airport, you’ll only be able to use the airport managed AENA lounges. Madrid is the exception, assuming you’re flying with Iberia or another oneworld airline from Terminal 4. Iberia has two lounges in the terminal. One in the main terminal 4 area, and the other in the satellite terminal known as T4s. This review covers the Iberia Velázquez Lounge in T4s, primarily used for flights outside of the Schengen Area. 

If you’re flying inside of the Schengen area, you’ll likely be departing from the main T4 building. You can find our review of Iberia’s other lounge here.

Access

The Iberia Lounge Terminal 4S is available for use by passengers flying with oneworld airlines in business or first. Access is also available for oneworld Emerald and Sapphire members, to destinations outside of the Schengen zone. The exception to this is Iberia operated flights to the UK (with one exception, Iberia’s daily A330 flight to LHR).

The Space

I’d always been very impressed with the Iberia Lounge Terminal 4s due to its panoramic views of the airfield, and great plane-spotting opportunities. Whilst some of the furniture was worn, I never had any reason to complain prior to the refurbishment.

As it is, the refurbishment has only enhanced the space. It’s now an even more enjoyable place to wait for a flight. It’s certainly superior to the British Airways Galleries First Lounge at Heathrow. The difference being this lounge is accessible to both oneworld Sapphire and Emerald members.

The lounge is open and airy, with plenty of seating space. Due to its size there are plenty of different areas and zones. This includes two dining areas, a bar area. There’s also a relaxation zone, if you fancy getting some sleep between flights.

The main highlights are the superb views – it’s a plane-spotter’s paradise. Whilst flying from Madrid’s other terminals is nothing to write home about, Terminal 4 provides an excellent travel experience, and Iberia have done a very good job of utilising the space.

The only downside is the poor internet. Prior to the refurbishment Iberia used their own internet service (although it was often sluggish), now they use the free airport wifi. Whilst at times this proved to be fairly speedy, when the lounge became busy it was very slow. Indeed, at times it was almost unusable.

Food and Drinks

As has always been the case with Iberia, the available wines were of a very high standard. They’re the same wines served to long-haul business class passengers in the air. On this occasion, there was a choice of 3 white wines, one rosé and 6 red wines. I sampled a couple of the white wines, and a couple of the red wines, and all were to a very high standard. The bar area continues to be self-serve, and there are also a selection of spirits, as well as beers.

Iberia have three meal times – breakfast until 11am, lunch from 2pm until 4pm, and dinner from 9pm. Outwith these times there’s a selection of sandwiches, as well as a salad area (it’s fairly expansive, with options such as sushi and smoked salmon). Ice cream is also available throughout the day.

Whilst the mealtimes can be a little restrictive, the quality of the hot food is excellent. The cold buffet available during other times of the day is also very good and the ingredient quality is high. From 9pm there is an à la carte dining area with full waiter service, although we weren’t able to try this as our flight departed at 15.45.

Conclusions

I’d go as far to say the Iberia Business lounge at Madrid is one of the best lounges available to oneworld business passengers and Sapphire members. Indeed, even as a oneworld Emerald, I couldn’t help but wish the British Airways Galleries First lounges at Heathrow offered such a pleasant experience.