It’s funny how things work sometimes. This SATS Premier Lounge at Terminal 1 was the last lounge I visited before the pandemic, and it is the first lounge I visited after the pandemic.
I didn’t realize this coincidence until I start writing this review and look back at my old blog posts!
Another reason I didn’t realize I had visited this lounge before is because this lounge has undergone a refurbishment during the pandemic and the current interior looks quite different from pre-pandemic.
In my 2020 review of SATS Lounge at T1, I had quite a lot of dissatisfactions about the lounge. Will my opinion change this time? Read on to find out.
Want to get free lounge access? Read: Which Singapore Credit Cards Have Free Lounge Access
Admission Process
To get to the lounge, from immigration, follow the arrow to “Lounge”. Then, take the escalator up and you will find SATS Premier Lounge.
Admission took some time. It was early morning, everyone was hungry and rushing, and SATS was the only available contract lounges so admission was slow.
What made me unhappy was how inattentive the receptionist is.
I was at the front of the queue, patiently waiting for my turn. The previous visitor in front of me was still talking with the receptionist at the counter. And suddenly a lady walked to the counter with her mobile app and the receptionist immediately processed her admission.
Of course I had to fight back. I told the receptionist I came first and I was already queuing. He apologized to me and told the queue-cutter to queue. Okay, apology accepted, but it was a bad first impression.
Anyway, to check in, we simply showed our Priority Pass mobile app QR code and our boarding pass. There was no need to swipe our credit card that’s linked to the Priority Pass.
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Food & Beverages
Food and beverages were the main things we looked forward to. So, this review will emphasize on food.
Now that pandemic restriction is over, the food is served buffet-style.
There is a DIY laksa counter where we get to cook our own laksa. For people who don’t know how to cook laksa, there were instructions on how to do it.
The laksa is okay… But, the water used for boiling noodle was really cloudy (you can see it in my photo below this). It looked like there has been hundreds of noodles being cooked with the same water! Since I was hungry, I just closed an eye.
The ingredients of laksa are thick beehoon (rice noodle), half hard-boiled egg, fish cakes and taupok (beancurd). No prawn. You can add chili and laksa leaves as condiments.
On the buffet line-up, there were plain prata with vegetarian curry, omelet, chicken sausage, baked beans, stir-fried button mushroom, hash brown and plain waffle.
None of the food at the buffet deserves a rave. Prata was cold and not crispy. Omelet looked like sponge cake. Hash brown looked like they’ve been attacked by hungry chickens. Waffles were tasteless and not crispy.
Next to the buffet line-up is a pot filled with cream of broccoli. It was empty for quite some time, and it was eventually replenished after what felt like an hour.
The last time I had cream of broccoli at SATS T1, I really liked it. This time though… it had a sourish taste. Had it gone bad? But it had just been replenished… I felt bad to toss it away after one sip but I didn’t want to get sick while traveling.
At the toast section, there were plain bread and curry puff. To my surprise, the curry puff was actually nice. It was cold but you can simply heat it up using the toaster.
Next to the toast section is porridge section. I’m a porridge lover and I always look forward having a bowl of warm porridge. Sadly, it was empty during my visit and it wasn’t replenished at all. I didn’t even get a chance to try it.
Then, there was a soba section where they pre-prepared bowls of cha soba noodle and wrap them with films. When you want to eat it, you simply pour the soup on the soba. It was horrible! The soba noodle was so mushy and there was barely any taste at all.
I thought instant cup noodles can save the day, so I took a pack of Mamee instant cup noodle. It wasn’t any better than the rest of the food in the lounge!
At the hot beverages section, there were 2 coffee machines which serve decent coffee. There were Dilmah teabags as well.
In the fridge, there were usual soft drinks, like Coke, soda, fruit juices, tea, yoghurt, cold milk and beers.
In the alcohol section, there were red wines, white wines, vodka, gin, whisky and sparkling wine.
Seating
The lounge probably can be categorized into 2 main sections. The one near entrance, and the one further inside.
The one near entrance consists of plenty of arm chairs with coffee table and power points beside them.
There were 5 working pods / cubicles and a couple of dining tables.
The section further inside the lounge is more quiet because there’s less human traffic.
Toilet
At a glance, the interior of the toilet looks nice. However, it was dirty during our visit. It was a busy lounge after all.
Conclusion
SATS Premier Lounge at T1 was way below my expectation of an airport lounge. Part of it probably can be attributed to it being the only available contract lounge during midnight, hence passengers with Priority Pass will most likely head there, thus overcrowding the lounge.
Another part of it can probably be attributed to manpower shortage? Thus, slow admission, slow food replenishment, dirty toilet.
I personally think that it is not worth visiting unless you have expiring Priority Passes and you have no other options. If possible, I’d highly recommend that you use your Priority Pass at Marhaba Lounge instead of SATS, but do take note of Marhaba’s opening hours, as it is not open 24 hours.
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