THE LOFT by Brussels Airlines is the flagship lounge of Brussels Airlines, in partnership with Lexus, located at Brussels Airport (BRU). THE LOFT is a unique lounge concept at Brussels Airport, designed to meet your needs to relax, be productive or to be entertained. To offer you the best experience possible, Brussels Airlines have teamed up with quality brands and have extended THE LOFT to nearly twice its original size.
The lounge offers a number of good amenities and plenty of space to spread out in one of Europe’s worst major airports. I find Brussels Airport very similar to Copenhagen, in that it’s sterile and cold, uncomfortable, and the crowding is tedious. But there’s a sanctuary available in THE LOFT, which is the main lounge for Brussels Airlines.
Location of THE LOFT by Brussels Airlines at BRU
Located in Pier A across from gate A42, this lounge is open daily from 5m to 9pm (unless the last flight departs earlier). Take the stairs or escalator up one level from departures to find the lounge entrance.
Access to THE LOFT by Brussels Airlines
Access is reserved for the following passengers:
- Business Class passenger
- HON Circle members
- Star Alliance Gold members
- Miles & More Frequent Travelers (but not other Star Alliance Silver members)
Facilities at THE LOFT by Brussels Airlines
As mentioned above, Brussels Airlines partnered with Lexus to design this lounge, with the design inspiration coming from Japan.
The lounge is L-shaped and as you enter you can go straight in or head right for seating areas of the lounge. The Wi-Fi in the lounge was fast and free.
Seating includes couches, chairs, and a work room with desks in the rear. The work area is rather bland in design, but it includes a pair of “Skype” booths to make phone calls. Plugs are widely available and universal, making it unnecessary to break out your adapter if traveling from overseas.
The spa are of the lounge includes nap rooms, massage chairs, showers, restrooms, and baby changing. The “spa” is sponsored by Grohe and includes showers and restrooms with deluxe Grohe toilets (with a bidet and other options). The shower area is upon request – you’ll need to see a lounge attendant for access.
Also in the spa area are several sleeping rooms (available on a first-come, first-served basis) and a pair of massage chairs. I did not notice any pillows or blankets and the bed was very firm, making this area best for a quick nap rather than extended stay.
Behind a roped off area is a special section of the lounge reserved for HON Circle members of the Miles & More program.
Food & Drink at THE LOFT by Brussels Airlines
Food and drinks are available in two separate areas of the lounge. The food selection was brilliant, and included both hot and cold options.
There were pastries, donuts, croissants, toast, salad, vegetables, cold cuts, cheese, fruit, yogurt, and cereal.
Hot options included scrambled eggs and two types of soup. I wouldn’t typically consider “green vegetable soup” to be a breakfast food, but I ended up having a bowl, as it’s not like my body was on local time anyway.
In terms of drinks there was some juice, and then there were several coffee stations throughout the lounge. Coffee from Belgian family-owned Rombouts is available, though sadly only from automatic machines. The coffee itself is good, but it would be great to see a better machine and barista to make the coffee.
At the other end of the lounge is the circular bar, which is also self serve. There was an fairly good selection of liquor, several types of red wine and white wine, and a few different beers on tap. The lounge also has a Coca-Cola machine where you could make all kinds of Coca-Cola drinks.
Later in the day, Belgian chocolates are available in the Neuhaus Corner.
Final Thoughts
As far as European lounges go, this is one of the better ones out there. The lounge was modern and spacious (although some areas like the showers and work room definitely looked a bit ‘basic’), plenty of space to spread out, and had a solid food selection.