Vistara Lounge Review, Delhi Airport

Posted By Jon Nickel-D'Andrea on Apr 7, 2017 | 3 comments

We’re all about trying new things here at No Mas Coach, so when we had the opportunity to fly Vistara out of Delhi, we jumped at the chance. We were also very excited to find out that there was a Vistara lounge in the Delhi Airport. While comfortable for sitting, there wasn’t much else to do, so welcome to one of the shortest lounge reviews ever.

Once you pass through security follow the signs for the lounges towards gate 27-62. It’ll be a bit of a walk to the end of the hallway, but the moving sidewalks will help you!

At the top of the hill turn left…

And then take the travelator… full disclosure I didn’t know what the hell a travelator was until I got here (moving walkway)

Keep going… almost there!

And then like an Oasis in the desert, the lounge appears on the right hand side.

Vistara Lounge

Notice anything strange? Perhaps that it’s open air to the outside and it’s not an actual lounge, but just four walls put up in the corner? And the dudes on the outside? Yup – stealing the WiFi 🙂

Once you go through the doors, the awesome Vistara logo stares right back at you. It is a pretty cool logo, I’ll admit.

We showed her our boarding passes for business class and we were waived right in. The lounge was empty with just one other passenger hanging out.

Kudos on the design! From the color scheme to the layout, we were impressed!

I’m not sure why they were reserving this table, as there was literally 1 other guy in the lounge. Oh well.

First Uh Oh Moment

We were just on the cusp of lunch and dinner, so some food was still out to munch on. About 5 minutes after we arrived, they took it all away however. A nice touch would have been to say “would you like anything? We’re about to remove the food options,” especially considering the massive quantities of passengers in the lounge. Sheesh.

Vistara Lounge Food Delhi Airport

Vistara Lounge Food Delhi Airport

Also, a small fridge sponsored by Heineken full of juice and water…

Strike Two…

There’s also a bar with a bartender to serve you drinks… sort of…

Looks pretty cool, right? Except here’s the catch. Even though the lounge has been open for more than a year, they don’t have their liqour license. So they can’t serve you any alcohol. No beer, no wine, no spirits, nothing. So what do they have? Virgin Pina Colada, Virgin Cosmo, Virgin Manhattan, etc. At this point I told him just to stop calling everything virgin, it’s obvious there’s no alcohol.

Strike Three, you’re out!

At this point I was at least happy that we could get a Lassi and a nice place to sit with some wifi before we headed to our flight. But, since it’s India, all of a sudden, I felt the need to use the restroom. I asked the front desk where the bathroom was, and she said “oh, we don’t have one, go use the public one outside.” OH HELLLLLLL NO! I did not come to a business class lounge in India to use a public bathroom… yea… you’re thinking right. Public bathroom in India… that’s not happening.

So, at this point, we left the lounge to go to the OTHER lounge in the airport where we had access via our Priority Pass membership. Before we left however, we did ask the lounge attendant if we could come back to relax before the flight. She said yes, and apologized profusely for not having a bathroom.

Seriously?!

Ok, now I know it’s India, and I know there’s a different culture and way that things work. However, a business class lounge that doesn’t have a bathroom, IN INDIA? That’s just a bridge too far for us to cross. Also, if you’ve got a bar and sponsorships from Heineken and Glenlivet, you should make sure to have alcohol. The idea that it’s been open for a year and doesn’t have a license yet it also ridiculous.

I suppose it’s saving grace is that you can only get in because of a business class ticket, or buying access on Vistara’s website. With that said, the Priority pass lounge (the Plaza Premium) was dirty and overcrowded, so if you want a respite from the crowds, this is the place to be. Just hold your bathroom trip for the airplane.

Have you had any bad lounge experiences? Good ones? Share with us below!