Just after Chinese New Year in February, I was flying from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur. As Malaysia Airlines no longer operates its own lounges in Singapore, they sent me to their contract lounge – the SATS Premier Lounge. Specifically, I went to the one in Terminal 2, as that is where Malaysia Airlines operates from.
Access
The SATS Premier Lounge in Terminal 2 is a third-party contract lounge. Access can be either by airline invitation, or by paid entry.
It offers lounge facilities to eligible passengers of a number of airlines. In my case that was as a Malaysia Airlines customer. however, it looks to also provide lounge services to the likes of Etihad Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, and Royal Brunei.
In addition, members of Priority Pass, LoungeKey, or DragonPass may also be able to this lounge. It seems that you can also pre-book the lounge, with the booking engine quoting me $SGD85 for up to five hours.
Operating Hours
The lounge operates 24 hours per day.
Getting to the Lounge
As is the case with most lounges in Singapore, the journey begins with an escalator. I found the escalators near The Coconut Tree and took them up to level 3. At the top of the escalator, there is signage to direct you in the right direction.
Around The Lounge
By and large, the SATS Premier Lounge T2 is divided into two main areas. I guess you could call one of these the main sitting area – where you keep yourself occupied while you wait for your flight. The other main area is the dining area. On top of that, there is a smaller working area.
Seating
In the dining area of the lounge, there were some bar tables. Gets a bit of a communal dining feel.
The main seating area was just rows of leather seats. Each pair of seats had a small, I guess cocktail, table between them.
Like the rest of the lounge, the seats were functional rather than being glitzy.
Along one of the end walls, there were eight or so cubicles that looked like work areas. Each of the cubicles was fitted with a reading lamp and some power outlets.
You could probably fit two, maybe three, people in here. For example, you might do this if you needed to have a look over a presentation on a laptop.
Food and Beverage
There were a range of hot foods served buffet style available.
SATS’ trademark lounge offering of its signature laksa was also available. This is a DIY affair, and is a bit of a three step process. Fortunately, the instructions are easy to follow. First you select a bowl of ingredients from a small fridge
The second step is to blanch the noodles in hot water.
Finally, you add a ladle of the laksa broth, together with laksa leaves and some sambal.
On top of the hot foods, there were salads and cold cuts and deserts.
Taking a slightly closer look at the sweet treats 🙂
On the beverage front, there was a fridge full of cold drinks. This included Heineken as the beer offering.
There was the usual offer of wines – a red, white and sparkling. These were labelled as 1969, apparently from the Central Valley, Chile. I guess I would describe it as quaffable.
For those more into spirits, there was a basic range of spirits available. These included Gordon’s Gin, Jonnie Walker Black Label whisky, and Smirnoff Vodka. Your typical house type spirits.
Other Amenities
One interesting feature in the lounge was the opportunity to use Osim massage chairs. While these looked to be for free, they were limited to a 10-minute session.
Private VIP area
Just behind the reception area, I noticed an area that was roped off as a ‘Private VIP Area’. It was not clear who this was for, but it seems that they are important enough to get their own section, not that it looked particularly special.
Bathrooms
Next to the food buffet is a corridor that leads to the toilets and bathrooms. They seemed functional enough, even if there was nothing special about them.
There were also two shower stalls located in the men’s room. I would assume the same for the women, but I could be wrong.
Final Words
I guess in the end I would describe the SATS Premier Lounge in Terminal 2 as adequate. It is certainly more about function than form. While it does the job, there is nothing particularly noteworthy about it.
If you get complimentary access one way or another, I think it is ok. I am not sure I would have been happy paying $85 for access.
