Air India

After the chaos confusion and long wait through immigration and security this was a shocking surprise. At first we wondered if we were in the right place. Dingy and old fashioned with no sign of any refreshments at all. No wifi and a Desk top that had to be repaired before it was usable. The toilet facilities were the worst we have seen in a so called Business Class lounge. While we were there some Indian people were offered a drink and light refreshments (so presume there was catering of some sort somewhere) but not us or other Europeans. A miserable alternative to the much better options just outside the door.

I was shocked when entering the lounge because I wasn't sure if this was the correct place to be? Plenty of seats that look it's straight from the 60s-70s but very little people except a few sleeping. The staff is polite though have trouble understanding English. I wasn't sure if there was food/drink available but noticed the staff asking an India passenger so I inquired. No Wi-Fi but there is one older PC with internet. I needed to use a phone to call a local number for confirmation and that was difficult to do because they couldn't figure out if I could or if I had to use someone's cell though the staff was helpful enough to let me borrow one of their mobile phones. I left after a short time as there were a couple of older TVs that were fairly loud. Overall I'd avoid this lounge and stick to the airport which is much nicer.

Waiting for my flight from Mumbai to Singapore I was entitled to use the Maharaja Lounge since I was a business class passenger. There are two lounges that can be used one before security and one after. I chose to use the one after security because the lines were extremely long. The waiting area after security is very sparse but had an adequate number of seats. The lounge appeared decent from the outside. Once inside I felt I had entered into the 1970s. There were sofas and chairs that were upholstered with a flower pattern. The tables and everything else was wood (mahogany?). The two young men manning the information desk took my lounge pass. I found a seat among the many people who had already taken entire sofas to sleep on. Being a midnight flight there were many sleeping people. There were no drinks or food offered in the open. One of the young men offered water to other passengers and I had to ask for water. Later on the young man was taking the order of another passenger and finally asked me if I wanted coffee or tea. The only redeeming factor of this lounge was that the Masala Chai was decent. Other than that I felt like I had been transported back to the 1970s due to the furniture of the lounge. Also if other Indian passengers had not ordered coffee/tea I feel like I never would have been asked being the only non-Indian passenger in the lounge.