Review: Qantas International Business Class Lounge, Melbourne MEL

This Qantas International Business Class Lounge, Melbourne review is part of our recent trip to Australia and New Zealand on Qantas. For previous posts, see:

Location, Hours and Access to Qantas International Business Class Lounge, Melbourne (MEL)

The Qantas International Business Class Lounge in Melbourne Airport is located airside after security on Level 1, and is open 6:15am-11:15pm daily. We had access since we were connecting from a Qantas First Class flight, even though our next flight to Auckland was in Economy (unlike Lufthansa First Class lounges, Qantas First Class Lounges require you to be departing in Qantas First Class).

Here's who has access to the Qantas International Business Class Lounge:

Qantas and Emirates International First Class passengers: one guest allowed, and must be traveling on the same flight
Qantas International Business Class passengers: next onward flight that day must be a Qantas marketed flight with a QF flight number. One guest allowed, and must be traveling with the member on the same flight
Emirates International Business Class passengers: next onward flight that day must be operated by Qantas or Emirates with an EK flight number. No guest permitted
Jetstar Business Max passengers: next onward flight must be Jetstar Airways operated and marketed flight in the business class cabin on a business max fare. No guest permitted.
Qantas Platinum One, Platinum, Gold Members: Next onward flight must be on a Qantas, Emirates, Jetstar Airlines or oneworld operated and marketed flight number. One guest allowed and must be traveling with the member on the same flight
Qantas Club Members: Next onward flight must be a Qantas or Jetstar Airlines flight number. One guest allowed and must be traveling with the member on the same flight
Emirates Platinum and Gold Skyward Members: Next onward flight that day must be operated by Qantas or Emirates with a QF or EK flight number. One guest allowed and must be traveling with the member on the same flight.
Oneworld Emerald, Sapphire elites and International First oneworld passengers: Next onward flight that day must be on a oneworld operated and marketed flight. One guest allowed and must be traveling on a oneworld operated and marketed flight
International Business oneworld passengers: Next onward flight that day must be on a oneworld operated and marketed flight. No guest allowed.

Qantas International Business Class Lounge, Melbourne (MEL) Amenities

The Qantas International Business Class Lounge in Melbourne has all the lounge amenities you'd expect for a good international business class lounge: plenty of seating; hot and cold food buffets and beverages; shower rooms; computer work stations (Apple computers); WiFi.

We were able to snag one of the banquettes by the wall, which allowed my son to rest a little since he was alternately hungry and a bit tired.

The seats near the banquettes and buffet area were mostly filled, but there was ample seating in another area of the lounge, away from the food and by the Apple computer work stations:

The shower room I visited was clean and equipped with a shower, sink and toilet:

Shampoo, conditioner and bath gel were by Aurora Spa:

There were even some extras such as a wine bar area, gelato, and family zone.

Qantas International Business Class Lounge, Melbourne (MEL) Food and Dining

The wine bar area pictured above had a selection of four Australian wines; I was at first confused seeing WA, which Americans are used to seeing as an abbreviation for Washington state, and SA, which I initially associated to South Africa, though of course it wouldn't make sense for Qantas to be serving imported wines from either. Instead, WA refers to Western Australia and SA to Southern Australia.

There was a plate of the day, a prosciutto and rocket salad, though it wasn't clear how to order that as there weren't any servers in the area. No doubt you just have to flag down one of the servers working in the other parts of the lounge if you would like the plate of the day.

As in most international business class lounges, the food was via buffet, and the hot food didn't look all that appetizing, though the picked over look was likely because of the late hour we were there.

Another hot offering was pumpkin soup and croutons:

Much better looking was the cold buffet, with fresh looking salads. I personally wasn't hungry, having eaten aboard our Qantas First Class flight, but my son enjoyed some of the watermelon from the fresh fruit salad.

If I'd been in the mood for snacking, I'd have had some wasabi peas and rice crackers, which are somewhat novel for a non-Asian business class lounge:

I liked that there was help-yourself gelato, including pineapple sorbet, which my son enjoyed:

There was a good selection of spirts:

And espresso drinks via a machine, as well as Dilmah tea. This is consistent with Emirates, although I'd love to see higher quality tea, such as Mighty Leaf tea, which is served in AMEX Centurion Lounges.

I even saw servers offering some tray-passed hors d'oeuvres, although I was too far away to see exactly what they were. By the time I was offered anything, drinks were being offered, which I declined, although the server graciously let me snap a photo:

The Verdict

Given our long travel day, I was glad for somewhere to go to wait for our onward flight to New Zealand and to check my work emails. The lounge looked modern and well designed, although I missed having the tarmac views many other lounges offer. While none of the hot food options looked very good to me, the salads looked fresher and better quality than you often see in business class lounges, and the locally sourced Australian wines would have been a draw had I not been preparing for a night flight, since I find alcohol to interfere with rest and sleep. I especially liked that there was a gelato bar, and shower rooms. WiFi speed was decent, although not as fast as I would have liked.

If you've visited the Qantas International Business Class Lounge at Melbourne Airport, what was your experience?

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