As much as I love the Qantas First Lounge in Singapore Changi, the Qatar Airways Premium Lounge is my favorite. I enjoyed a tremendous late-night dinner here with excellent service. This is my go-to lounge in SIN.
Qatar Airways Premium Lounge Singapore Review (SIN)
Qatar describes this lounge as a five-star hotel:
In clear contrast to the busy airport environment, the lounge resonates tranquility and calmness, offering passengers state-of-the-art facilities and luxury rivalling those of any five-star hotel.
And to be honest, the description fits…it felt like a nice hotel lobby with a great little restaurant and bar. Let’s get into the review.
Location + Hours + Access
The Qatar Airways Premium Lounge is located in Terminal 1 next to the Emirates Lounge and Plaza Premium Lounge on the upper mezzanine near the C Gates. It is open daily from 7:45 AM to 10:45 AM and from 6:00 PM to 2:30 AM, corresponding to the two Qatar Airways flights.
This is a oneworld business or first class lounge, but it is not a lounge that oneworld sapphire or emerald members have access to when flying in economy class. You do not have to be flying on Qatar Airways, but you do need to be connecting from or departing (same-day) in a oneworld premium cabin. I was traveling from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur on Malaysia Airlines in business class, so I had access by virtue of my class of service, not my status.
Note that Qatar Airways does not grant lounge access to its own passengers who have upgraded from economy class or are traveling on a “Business Class Lite Fare.” If you are a oneworld status holder and denied access to the Qatar lounge, you can access the British Airways, Qantas, or Cathay Pacific Lounges at SIN.
Seating
Take note of the beautiful details like the stone floors and walls with intricate carvings, the lights affixed to the walls, and orchids.
As you enter the lounge, seating is available in a large room, including comfortable leather chairs, two desks (with computers and printers available), and private cubicles with lounge seats.
The center of the lounge features a dining room, bar, and small buffet, but beyond that is additional dining tables and more seating.
Showers + Restrooms
In the very rear of the lounge are restrooms and shower suites.
Prayer Room + Ablution
The restroom area also has a prayer room and washing area intended for Islamic passengers.
Food + Drink
I arrived after a not-so-great dinner on KLM and was hungry. Thus, my first order of business in the lounge was to sit down in the beautiful dining area, featuring a “live” wall with greenery and seating for about 16 passengers.
Menu was available by QR code rather than printed:
A packaged cold towel and a welcome drink (something with ginger in it) was offered along with water.
I thought dinner exceeded the quality of food even in the Singapore Private Room and Qantas First Class Lounge. Of course, that could be because I have a major soft spot for lamb…
But it really felt like being in Doha, with a full menu of food and drinks and superb attentive service by the lounge staff. I began with buffalo mozzarella (drizzled in balsamic vinegar and topped in strawberries) which was light and the perfect blending of flavors.
For the main course, lamb cutlets which were perfectly prepared medium rare.
Finally, fresh berries to conclude the meal.
There’s also a small buffet in the bar area crackers and cheese, fruit, sliced meat, a salad bar, and desserts.
Around the dining room is coffee and tea and I will certainly stipulate that the coffee in the Qantas Lounge is much, much better than this automatic machine here.
The main seating area also had fresh fruit and baklava.
Finally, the bar itself offers beer, wine, and spirits on a complimentary basis. Champagne on offer was Taittinger Brut and Taittinger Rose and cocktails were also available.
Service
The staff here were truly excellent. They took pride in the lounge (it was spotless) and were quite attentive from the moment I entered (inviting me to sit down and have dinner or enjoy a drink) to the moment I left. Dinner was carefully plated and I was repeatedly checked on while enjoying my meal.
CONCLUSION
I really liked this lounge…the staff were lovely and the food was delicious. The lack of barista coffee service would be my only room for improvement. This lounge has limited opening hours, but if you find yourself in SIN while this lounge is open, do check it out.
@Matthew, how do you take pics in all these lounge and on-board?
I just want to take pics for personal memories and I have been admonished, asked not to more times than I can count at this point and you seem to be able to take pics without issue. Do you ask for special permission or are you really good at just taking pics surreptitiously?
I have always been curious about this, but figured since I was recently admonished for taking pics at the Qatar Lounge in SIN, now was a good time to ask.
I don’t ask, I just do it. And if there is pushback, I do it anyway. I never let anyone know I am coming.
But I always respect the privacy of other guests. And I only use my phone – I used to carry around a larger camera.
Here, they were happy to see me take pictures and even offered to take the one of me at the bar above.
Now I was in the Bucharest Business Lounge last week and was told to stop taking pictures so I had to take them clandestinely. But I have a job to do and will do it.
I agree…this is an exceptionally good lounge, one of the best that I’ve visited. I visited this Qatar lounge in SIN in January while traveling on a British Air business class ticket. The whole experience was peaceful and relaxing, the service was flawless. Food-wise, the appetizers of sushi and Thai style prawns were good, but the local entree of nasi lemak was disappointing, I only ate a couple of mouthfuls. I did enjoy the bread rolls and French cheeses as well as the champagne. The restrooms were spotlessly clean, although one of the restrooms was missing hand towels to dry one’s hands, an oversight. This lounge is a bright spot in air travel in Asia.
I wonder if the above statement regarding lounge access is known to lounge staff:
“…but you do need to be connecting from or departing (same-day) in a oneworld premium cabin. ”
A few months ago I tried to access this lounge arriving from Finnair in business and connecting to Cathay in Premium Economy – the lounge staff turned me down saying that access is only based on departure flight cabin.
Anyway, I hope the staff is better trained. Lounge access rules can be complex and tricky but not impossible to know.
I am flying Qatar Airways business class from Singapore to Boston on June 1 at 1845hrs on QR0947. Your premium lounge open at 6.15pm so which premium lounge do I have access to prior to my flight?
Qatar will adjust the hours of the lounge based on their flight times, so it should be open before your flihgt.