Lufthansa’s aging but adequate Senator Lounge provided a productive environment for my long layover in Berlin Tegel.
This lounge really has not changed since I first visited it more than a decade ago. Neither has TXL…for decades. There is something I love about it flying out of West Berlin, which we might as well call it since the airport seems like a Cold War enclave.
The lounge is located in Terminal 1 before security. Follow the signs and then take the stairs up to the first floor (read: second floor in U.S. parlance). The lounge is open each day from 5:00AM to 9:45PM, excpet on Sundays, when it opens at 5:45AM. I visited the Senator side of the lounge, which is reserved for Star Alliance Gold members and connecting first class passengers. The business class side of the lounge is for business class passengers and offers a slightly more limited choice of food, but is virtually identical.
I arrived in the lounge at around 10:00AM and did not fly to Copenhagen until 5:45PM. While I did not spend all day in the lounge (I had a great day in Berlin), I sandwich my visit into the German capital with productive work times.
> Read More: Turning A Long Layover Into A Great Afternoon In Berlin
Lufthansa Senator Lounge Berlin Seating
The Senator side of the lounge included seating for at least 100 guests, with nearly all chairs identical. Power ports were not as widely available as in some recently-refurbished Lufthansa lounges in Frankfurt or Munich, but still easy to find beside every blue seat.
The lounge never became particularly crowded during my visit. I loved the natural light that streamed through the bank of windows on both sides of the lounge.
Lufthansa Senator Lounge Berlin Food + Drink
Let me put it this way: if you want to make a meal in this lounge, you can. Whether that is a wise idea depends upon how health-concious you are. Me, being a foolish young adult with a fast metabolism, decided to go to town on the Frikadellen, which are pan-fried meatballs of minced meat. I generally avoid mystery meat, but these were delicious…as was the goulash and salad.
The buffet included bread, cheese, cold cuts, salads, soup, and of course the aforementioned meatballs. There was also coleslaw that did not look appetizing, some fruit, yogurt, scrambled eggs in the morning, and mousse-like treats.
Drink selection included beer, wine, spirits, water, juice, coffee, and tea…all beverages were self-serve.
During my stay I also had some wasabi nuts and a cappuccino.
Lufthansa Senator Lounge Berlin Smoking
A smoking room in the back of the lounge seemed to be well-ventilated, because I did not smell any tobacco during my stay, even when smokers were present.
Lufthansa Senator Lounge Berlin Restrooms
The restrooms (no showers) were clean, but way pats their prime.
Lufthansa Senator Lounge Berlin Business Center
I say “business center” loosely, but the lounge did feature state of the art facsimile and photocopy machines:
There were also desks and newspapers…and even a shoe-shiner.
CONCLUSION
This is an aging lounge, but a practical and comfortable one. Frankly, I’d say that this lounge will do just fine until Berlin Brandenburg opens…sometime in the 22nd century.
“This lounge really has changed since I first visited it more than a decade ago. Neither has TXL”
You mean hasn’t changed…
This lounge really has changed since I first visited it more than a decade ago. Neither has TXL”
You mean hasn’t changed…
Changed.
I remember visiting this lounge in 2011, when BER was just months away from opening. Almost a decade later it’s still there. TXL is the airport they can’t kill …
If you last visited the SEN lounge more than a decade ago then I think it has changed!
About seven years ago LH swapped over the SEN lounge and the business lounge at TXL for an unknown reason. The old SEN lounge had a view of the apron above gate 1 and across to Terminal C which the business lounge now has. The alternative view is over the approach road and car park. Both spaces have their advantages and disadvantages, the business lounge looks on to the apron but faces north, the SEN lounge faces SSE and is brighter.
I’m one of the people who uses TXL regularly and for all its faults it’s a great airport to get through quickly. On arrival if you’re at the front of the plane you can be in a taxi within five minutes of the plane door opening. There aren’t many places you can achieve that. The journey into town even by bus takes less than twenty minutes.
Everything will be so much slower at BER which I see is opening in October 2020 at the moment, that would only be eight years late but I’m sure a few more problems will come to light before then. The irony is that the capacity will be insufficient to replace both TXL and SXF so it will in any event be chaotic.
That goulash looks…interesting. Does it appear deceptively watery in the photo or is that just how they typically serve it in Germany?
It was watery.
The clear soup with meat and veggies is not what I would consider a goulash (as a German). It is a pretty typical clear soup with meat and veggies, which has nothing to do with a goulash.
Oh yes. This is the lounge where they would not let me in because they said I was not entitled to enter. I was *G, but did not have my United card, so they would not let me in. I then showed my United Club card, but they said that the United Club card did not entitle access. They pulled out this fifteen year old placard that had a Continental Presidents Club and United Red Carpet Club cards on it. They said mine did not match any of the cards on their placard, so i could not enter. After I asked for a supervisor, they let me into the Senator lounge because it “was not crowded”.
Lol. So typical.
An airport completely devoid of character and charm, in contrast to Tempelhof.