Review: Qantas Business Class Lounge at Sydney Kingsford Smith

Lounge Review: Qantas Business Class Lounge at Sydney Kingsford Smith

Qantas runs two business class lounges at its main base, Sydney airport. One of them can be found in terminal 3 and is accessible to domestic passengers, and the other one – for international passengers – is located in terminal 1.

Between my flights from Tokyo and to Christchurch, I had a chance to – besides spending some time in Sydney itself – visit the Qantas International Business Lounge, so here’s the review.

Location, Opening Hours & Access

The Qantas International Business Lounge at Sydney airport is located in terminal 1, after security. It’s located on the third floor of the terminal, one floor above the main departures floor, and can be accessed by a set of escalators and an elevator. It’s located next to Qantas’ first class lounge.

It can be accessed by passengers traveling in Qantas and other oneworld members’ business and first class, as well as to oneworld Sapphire and Emerald status holders traveling in any class on oneworld flights.

The lounge is open every day from 5AM until the time of Qantas’ last departure of the day.

Sydney Airport Terminal
Escalators leading to the Qantas First and Business lounges.
Qantas Business Lounge Sydney Entrance
Entrance into the Qantas Business Lounge.

Lounge Tour

After entering the lounge, there was a reception area which, besides the reception desk, also featured a couple of lounging chairs around a coffee table and a panel where children could take their photos pretending to be pilots.

Qantas Business Lounge Sydney Reception
Reception area.

The lounge itself was long and fairly narrow, with the long side facing the apron. The entrance and reception area was located roughly in the middle of the lounge, more towards its right side.

Just past the reception, there was a seating area with rows of cloth-covered chairs and coffee tables. There was also a long bar counter with wine and snacks. And, there was a gelato & sorbet station – something that I haven’t seen in any other lounge before – but more on that in the “Food and Drinks” section of this review.

Qantas Business Lounge Sydney Seating
Seating right past the reception.
Qantas Business Lounge Sydney Bar
Bar.
Qantas Business Lounge Sydney Gelato
Gelato station.

Turning left at the bar, there was one of the lounge’s two buffet areas surrounded by seating areas with both sofa chairs and dining tables. There was also a (what seemed to be like) a staffed coffee counter, although it was out of operation during my visit.

The restrooms, as well as some flight information displays and reading materials could be found here as well.

Qantas Business Lounge Sydney Buffet Area
FIDS and buffet area.
Qantas Business Lounge Sydney Coffee
Coffee.
Seating Area
Seating area just past the bar.
Qantas Business Lounge Sydney Dining Area
Dining tables.
Seating
More seating.

Finally, at the very left of the lounge, there was a large seating area with a TV and a “typical lounge seating configuration.” In other words, there were rows of sofa chairs and some lounging chairs with ottomans.

Seating in the Back of the Qantas Business Lounge Sydney
Sofa chairs in front of a TV.
Sofa Chairs
Sofa chairs in facing the apron.
Seating
Overview of the seating area on the very left side of the lounge.

Going back to the bar, and walking towards the other end of the lounge, there was some more seating and the second buffet area. The seating included counters along the windows – some of which were equipped with iMacs – as well as counter-height tables with stools and some more sofa chairs along one of the wall.

Qantas Business Lounge Sydney Work Area
Seating on the right side of the lounge.
Qantas Business Lounge Sydney Sofa Chairs
Sofa chairs.
Qantas Business Lounge Sydney Business Center
Besides sofas there were also counters with several iMacs along the windows.
Qantas Business Lounge Sydney Food and Drinks
The second buffet area in the lounge.

Food and Drinks

All the beverages and food in the lounge was split across three locations – the two buffet areas and the bar area.

Starting with the bar area, there were some snacks and wine available.

And, my favorite feature of the Qantas International Business Lounge in Sydney – the gelato & sorbet station – could be found here as well. While I’m not sure if (or how often) they change the flavors, during my visit the following were available: hazelnut, mint, cookie & cream, wildberry, lemon, and strawberry.

Wine
Wine at the bar.
Candies
Candies.
Qantas Business Lounge Sydney Gelato
Gelato station.

Drinks that could be found in the two buffet areas included a selection of sodas, orange and apple juices, tea and coffee, a selection of both bottled beer and beer on tap, and a selection of about fifteen kinds of liquor.

Qantas Business Lounge Sydney Soft Drinks
Soda dispenser.
Qantas Business Lounge Sydney Juices
Juices.
Coffee
Coffee.
Tea
Tea.
Qantas Business Lounge Sydney Beer
Beer.
Qantas Business Lounge Sydney Alcohol
Liquor.

Moving on to the food, the lighter items included bread, apples, a salad bar, pancakes, some desserts, and cheese.

Separate from that, there were two kinds of rice, a chicken dish, and some kind of soup.

Bread
Bread.
Apples
Apples.
Qantas Business Lounge Sydney Salad
Salad bar.
Qantas Business Lounge Sydney Pancakes
Pancake maker.
Qantas Business Lounge Sydney Desserts
Desserts.
Cheese
Cheese.
Qantas Business Lounge Sydney Hot Meals
Hot meals.
Rice
Rice.
Chicken
Chicken.
Qantas Business Lounge Sydney Soup
Soup.

Qantas International Business Lounge Sydney Summary

The one feature that made the Qantas International Business Lounge in Sydney stand out above the other lounges I’ve visited so far was – as mentioned earlier in the article – the gelato & sorbet station.

Other than that, the lounge was mediocre, though. While there was plenty of seating in the form of sofa chairs and dining tables, I would have appreciated a dedicated space with some sort of workspaces – ideally cubicles like some other lounges offer.

By the same token, the food selection was nothing to rave about either. I especially found it disappointing that there was essentially only one hot meal option available. At the same time, the drink selection in the lounge was decent.

Overall, while I would not arrive at the lounge early unless I had to, I would certainly stop by my next time in Sydney for the gelato!

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1 thought on “Review: Qantas Business Class Lounge at Sydney Kingsford Smith”

  1. I purchased a family member from Ireland a return business class ticket in October. Unfortunately Qatar did not have a lounge in Sydney. The Qantas business lounge in the early evening was not clean and food mediocre. Very disappointing as the Qatar lounge in Doha was exceptional.

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