The Qantas International First Lounge in Sydney (SYD) is one of my favorite lounges in the entire world, with a delicious menu of food and drinks, excellent service, and a tranquil spa.
Qantas International First Lounge Sydney Review
As the largest Qantas hub, Sydney features an expansive first class lounge that is both timeless and comfortable. It has not changed a bit since I first set foot in the lounge a decade ago and I herald that as a very good thing.
This is the sort of lounge that would wed me to oneworld and Qantas if I lived in Sydney.
Access + Hours + Location
This lounge is located in the international departures area of Terminal 1 at Sydney Kingsford International Airport (beyond passport control) and one level above the main shopping concourse. Look for a set of glass doors frosted in a honeycomb pattern.
It is open daily from 5:00 am until the last Qantas departure.
Access is granted to passengers traveling same-day in first class on Qantas or another oneworld carrier as well as oneworld Emerald status members traveling same-day on a oneworld carrier in any class of service.
Through the doors you will come to a mezzanine level with a “live” wall filled with green plants. Take the escalator or elevator up to the lounge level, where agents will be seated at a desk should you require lounge assistance or a spa reservation.
Seating
At over 21,000 square feet, it is a large lounge with seating all on one level. The lounge is divided into dining and seating sections by wing-like wooden partitions. The honeycomb carpet, leather seats, and floor-to-ceiling windows create a very familiar and inviting environment.
There is also a small work area including an all-in-one printer, scanner, and fax machine plus private meeting rooms.
Food + Drink
The heart of this lounge is the restaurant, with a la carte dining available throughout the day. The menus change seasonably, but stapes remain…the breakfast I had was nearly indentical to hte breakfast I had a decade ago. The coffee, sourced by Vittoria, is excellent. I enjoyed a few flat whites over my three hour stay as well as a breakfast including a flaky croissant, bircher muesli, fresh fruit, an egg white omelet, and of course, corn fritters.
The food came out quickly and was delicious.
Here’s a children’s menu:
And an all-day dining menu:
The bar includes an assortment of wine, Champagne, and spirits, with cocktails made to order.
There was not much historically in terms of self-serve food and all that remains a self-serve beverage station (automatic coffee machine = coffee machine to avoid).
Another coffee station in the far corner of the lounge was not in use.
While seated, except a white-coated attendant to approach you and ask if you would like a beverage.
I love the retro flight departure boards!
Spa
One of my favorite features of this lounge is the spa, with complimentary 20-minute treatments available to first class passengers (facial, neck – shoulder – scalp massage, hot stone back massage, foot massage). Other passengers can also claim a free spa treatment, but on a space-available basis. I chose a facial and had a very nice treatment…wish I could do those every day.
On past first class trips I have received a call the day before my flight asking me if I wanted to schedule a treatment, but did not receive such a call this time. However, I had no trouble scheduling a treatment upon my arrival to the lounge.
Restroom + Showers
Individual restrooms and shower suites are available. Shower products are by Australian Unedited Beauty.
CONCLUSION
Here, the status quo is a good thing. The Qantas International First lounge in Sydney is virtually identical to the way it was not only pre-pandemic, but going back a decade. I quite enjoyed this lounge prior and always look forward to returning.
My original Qantas International First Lounge Sydney review, published on May 20, 2017, is below.
I raved about the Qantas First Class Lounge in Los Angeles, but the Sydney First Class lounge is even better.
My connection in Sydney was roughly eight hours. It wasn’t deliberate, but I sure didn’t mind an extended visit to the lounge. My original plan was to meet my former roommate from Frankfurt who now lives in Sydney, but a last-minute work trip to Christchurch came up for him, leaving me with no reason to leave the airport.
The lounge is located on Level 4, but you must take an escalator up via Level 3. Hours of operation are from 5am to 10pm daily. As you enter the lounge you are met with impressive stonework, a living wall of greenery, and impressive view of the tarmac.
Proceed upstairs where your credentials will be verified. That’s when I encountered my first surprise.
“Oh, it’s you Mr. Klint! We’ve been waiting for you. I left you a message yesterday.”
I responded, “I was traveling from Hong Kong. Sorry I did not receive it.”
“Yes, we saw your schedule. That’s quite a wild routing back to Los Angeles. Must be a mileage ticket we all said!”
Indeed, this was a US Airways-issued ticket that I wrote about here. My routing was HKG-SYD-DXB-LHR-JFK-LAX. Talk about long way…
“We took the liberty of reserving a spa treatment for you.”
“Sounds good to me,” I said.
“Your appointment is now.”
Great.
Qantas First Class Lounge Sydney Spa
For whatever reason, I was feeling like a facial instead of a massage and was surprised at how fresh I felt after my 20-minute treatment. The esthetician (facial professional) knew exactly was she doing. Spa rooms, like the lounge entrance, contain a live wall of greenery.
Qantas First Class Lounge Sydney Breakfast
Now feeling radiant after the facial, I sat down for my first meal in the lounge: breakfast.
An extremely friendly waitress welcomed me and brought me a glass of orange juice and a berry smoothie. I ordered an omelet with toast and a side of bacon and corn fritters, a delightfully unhealthy combo. A great a cappuccino as well, though it was served in a latte cup (and was indeed a latte). Faux pas!
Breakfast done, it was time to explore the lounge. The design of the lounge is one of the most iconic in the world: the picture below inextrixibaly is linked with Qantas in my mind:
Qantas First Class Lounge Sydney Seating
The lounge is spacious and never got so busy that it felt crowded. You’ll find seating areas, work areas, lounge areas, but no sleeping areas. There are drink stations with light snacks also positioned throughout the lounge.
Tarmac views are especially impressive. I’m no Sam Chui, but here are some of the airplane pictures I took from the lounge:
The A380 you see over and over above is the A380 that would take me from Sydney to London.
Qantas First Class Lounge Lunch
I spent most of the morning working before returning to the dining area for lunch. The black angus minute steak with café de paris butter was an excellent choice. I substituted chips (French fries) for a salad and enjoyed another superb meal. I could not resist another berry smoothie with the meal and cappuccino to finish. This time, it was served in the right cup.
Qantas First Class Lounge Showers
Restrooms are minimalist and include shower suites with rain showers.
CONCLUSION
The First Class Qantas Lounge at LAX is great, but the flagship SYD lounge is even better. I cannot wait to return.
Wow that looks amazing indeed. Except for the showers, maybe it’s the pictures but it looks kinda basic 3 star hotel style. The ones in Emirates business lounge in DXB are much nicer.
While they’re not my favourite part of the lounge, it is worth noting that the shower suites are made entirely out of marble and have a futuristic vibe – and from that point of view are quite impressive.
Yes, they have almost a dystopian vibe but not in a cold way, more in a timeless, these could be untouched for 25 years and still appeal kind of way. I’m not sure how much they actually get used given that Sydney is not a big international transit hub, most people are exiting the airport or connecting to domestic flights.
Just a quick question: How did you gain access to the First Class lounge? I see Business Class Flight on Qantas. Thank you!
Next segment coming tomorrow. I flew SYD-LHR in first class.
My favorite Airline Lounge was the one upstairs on a 747
Thanks for the review and reminder of my time there eating absolutely HEAVENLY breakfast!
I first used this lounge shortly after it opened in 2007 and was absolutely blown away by it (was guested in) and subsequently have was fixated on ensuring I attained QF platinum. It’s one of the only lounges where I feel the glory of air travel still exists, the other passengers are well behaved, staff are lovely, no one speaks loudly on their phones or watches videos without headphones, it’s truly a delight. I have only ever had one poor experience and that was when 2 US bound flights were delayed due to weather and it was impossible to find a seat for about 30 minutes (am surprised they continued to let people in. I shared one of the private room / office areas with 2 other pax which was absolutely fine, but other than that it’s been fantastic, the food is the best of any lounge I’ve visited, there are often spa appointments after the LAX bound flights depart if you are not in the F cabin and sometimes the staff will pull out a special bottle of wine or champers that wouldn’t be ever featured on the menu or in any regular rotation (Tattinger Comtes, Veuve La Grand Dame etc) as a ‘surprise and delight’. I have even been allowed in when flight on another carrier but that is an absolute exception and really is at the discretion of the staff, but if you visit often enough rules might be bent a little. Glad you had a great experience!
Looks spectacular. Glad to see they’ve kept up, and even improved on their menu from 6 years ago. More selections, and vegan additions. I gladly spend hours and hours there.