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March 2, 2013

Turkish Airlines CIP Lounge - Istanbul Ataturk airport

Turkish Airlines International CIP  lounge @ Istanbul Ataturk airport

The CIP lounge is fairly new and it does look classy. Just after the entrance there is a reading room with a pool table in the center.


Let's take a walking tour of the beautifully designed lounge:




Computer area with several iMacs.


There was a dark room for viewing concert recordings.


Even the sinks in the men's restroom were nicely decorated.


Curio City - the play room for kids


Since my previous on-board meal was quite bad, I was hungry by then so went to get breakfast. There was a hot breakfast station with eggs cooked to order.


Cold breakfast items, with a big honeycomb in the middle.


There was another cook making paninis.


Cold drinks in fridges spread all over the lounge.


They also offered a variety of teas, alcoholic beverages and coffee drinks were made to order.

After breakfast I went to the concierge desk to inquire about the shower facilities. She noted my name and asked me to come back 20 minutes later.


The corridor towards the showers, with private relaxation rooms on the right (only passengers from selected flights can use these, with a list of flights posted at the concierge desk).


Here's the shower which had just been cleaned. Slippers, towels and a bathrobe were provided.


After a nice shower, I used the reasonably fast WiFi for a while until it was time to go on the Istanbul tour. I left my belongings in the transparent lockers by the lounge entrance.


After my lousy Istanbul tour, which ended 1h30 before schedule, I visited the lounge again. Since the complimentary lunch on the tour was disappointing, I went to get some food.

Cheese and meat pide fresh out of the oven


Selection of Turkish style meze


There were also two cooking stations with grilled meats and other warm food. The desserts looked good. Apart from a variety of cakes, they also had baklava and some Turkish sweets.


There was a lady pushing a cheese trolley around the lounge. She was so sweet and obviously proud of her job, taking the time to explain the cheeses and trying to decorate each cheese plate with crisps and dried fruits.


I enjoyed my late afternoon meal while listening to some live music. This is part of the lounge's "Wings of Music" concept.


There was also a massage therapist walking around giving head and back massages.


Overall, Turkish Airlines' CIP Lounge is an excellent product. This lounge on its own is a good enough reason to fly business with Turkish Airlines. The sooner the better since at 18:00 the lounge was filled to 90% capacity, and with Turkish Airline's rapid expansion this lounge will soon become too small to handle all the business passengers.

This post is part of the following series:
Flying Turkish Airlines from Brussels to Africa

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