Air New Zealand International Lounge, Melbourne

Airport lounges tend to blur together. Enough of them are decorated to the same international template that you could be set down in one and struggle to say whether you were in Paris or Phuket. Melbourne's Air New Zealand International Lounge is not one of those. It is distinctly of its city, generously proportioned, and comfortably the most interesting Star Alliance option at Melbourne Airport.

It is also busier than its profile suggests. As a Star Alliance facility it serves eligible passengers from an average of twelve flights a day, drawn from carriers including Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, United and Air India, alongside Air New Zealand's own services.

Finding it

The lounge is easy to miss if you are not looking. After the run of shops and food outlets past Duty Free, turn right and follow the signage. An escalator takes you down to the basement level, with a lift alongside for anyone wheeling luggage, and the entrance is on your left. You will find it directly opposite the American Express Centurion Lounge.

A basement location sounds discouraging, and Melbourne has other lounges that prove the point. This one does not suffer for it. The entrance is marked by a large Air New Zealand logo and a backlit panel showing a sunrise over a rocky coastline, and once inside, ample windows deliver natural light and tarmac views.

The lounge is open all day, seven days a week, closing only between midnight and 5am.

Layout and seating

Capacity is exactly 249, and the floor plan is broken into five distinct zones, which is what stops the space feeling cavernous.

From reception, a tiled walkway leads towards what looks like a bar but turns out to be the barista station. Grey and violet leather armchairs are arranged either side with small tables between them. Turn left for the dining area, where a long workbench with stools runs through the middle for anyone who wants to eat and work at once, with conventional dining tables around it. The hot and cold buffet runs along the left-hand wall, with the long self-service bar set at a right angle to it.

Behind the bar is a partitioned seating area with no through traffic, flanked by greenery with a television at one end. Continue towards the windows and there is a bright, well-arranged children's zone — a genuine relief for anyone travelling with small children, and equally welcome for those seated elsewhere.

Back past the barista station is a tucked-away business centre against another window, with a separate seating area and a smaller self-serve bar beside it. Carry on to the right-hand window and you reach the relaxation area, partitioned by cord drapes and sitting adjacent to the shower suites. Between them, these zones cover most reasonable preferences.

Design

Air New Zealand gives each of its lounges globally a defined colour and a set of local references, rather than repeating one template worldwide. In Melbourne the accent colour is violet, chosen for the city's sunsets, and it appears in the upholstery and the lighting throughout.

The standout is a custom light installation suspended above the workbench in the dining area, inspired by the flowers of Melbourne's Botanic Gardens. Its lilypad forms are each gently rippled and sized differently, and they cast a soft glow over the tables beneath. Custom artwork elsewhere reinforces the theme. It is a level of considered design that few airlines bother with at lounge level, and it lifts the whole space.

Amenities

Eight shower suites are available, each spacious and modern and stocked with New Zealand Antipodes products — the hand cream in particular is better than it needs to be.

Free Wi-Fi runs throughout the lounge with no password required. The business area adds a printer and wireless charging points, though power points are distributed throughout the lounge rather than confined to that corner. Luggage storage is available, which is more useful than it sounds on a long transit.

Departure announcements are made in the lounge and departures screens are provided, so you can settle in without watching the clock.

Staffing is a strength. There are plenty of people on the floor, and the tone is consistently warm rather than merely correct — a contrast with lounges where the front-of-house presence is minimal.

Food

There is no à la carte dining here, but the buffet is substantial and the menu changes weekly across four seasonal cycles through the year, so regular visitors are not eating the same thing each trip.

Breakfast officially ends at 10.30am, although the hot items generally remain out until around 11.30. Soft scrambled eggs with chives are the pick, and the chicken chipolatas are improved considerably by the addition of slow-roasted garlic. Fried and poached eggs are available on request, and there is plenty of fresh fruit for a lighter start.

Morning tea follows, with scones served with strawberry jam and thick whipped cream. The jam and cream are very good; the chocolate-chip scones themselves can be dry and crumbly. The chocolate coconut slice is the safer choice.

At lunch, the cold offering clearly outperforms the hot. Four fresh salads are laid out, and a spinach, grapefruit, orange and fennel combination is genuinely excellent — bright and restorative in a way buffet salads rarely are. On the hot side, a spinach tortellini can be bland and stodgy and a curried lentil shepherd's pie does not sing, but a silken butter chicken with coriander rice, mildly spiced with tender pieces, redeems the round.

Surprise and Delight

The distinguishing feature of the food offering is not on the buffet at all. Air New Zealand runs a service it calls Surprise and Delight across its lounges globally, in which staff circulate with trays of cocktails and canapés delivered directly to guests. In Melbourne it begins at 10.45am.

It is an unusual thing to encounter even in lounges with much larger reputations, and it works precisely because it is unexpected. On one morning the canapés were tomato bruschetta topped with feta and small smoked salmon toasts, the latter making good use of New Zealand smoked salmon. The cocktail on offer, a Fruit Schnapps, blends vodka, apple juice and Midori without tipping into sweetness, finished with thinly sliced apple.

Drinks

Barista coffee is not a given in airport lounges — a surprising number of well-regarded Business Class lounges make do with a self-serve machine. Here there is a staffed barista station in the middle of the lounge, backlit by a sky-blue digital artwork, and staff will bring your order to your table. A self-serve machine is also available for those who prefer it, using the same Hummingbird beans from New Zealand.

The bar list leans New Zealand, which is the right call. The Dulcet sparkling is made in the traditional method and holds up well against comparisons it has no business surviving. A Vidal Reserve pinot noir is savoury and spiced, with the earthy, forest-floor character that New Zealand pinot does well. Beer, soft drinks and juices are all available from the self-serve drinks station adjoining the dining area.

Who can get in

Access is broad thanks to Star Alliance, plus several partner arrangements.

There is no paid entry at the door, and third-party lounge cards such as Priority Pass are not accepted.

Summing up

This lounge gets more right than most. The design is thoughtful and locally grounded rather than generic, the service is warm and properly staffed, the shower suites are excellent, and the barista coffee alone puts it ahead of a good number of higher-profile lounges. Despite its size, the five defined zones give it a sense of intimacy that larger lounges usually lose.

Surprise and Delight is the detail that stays with you — a well-made cocktail and a canapé brought to your seat will raise a smile from even a jaded traveller.

The weaknesses are narrow. The hot buffet is inconsistent and would benefit from a rethink on texture and seasoning, with the cold dishes far more reliable. And for anyone planning serious laptop work, the only proper workbench is in the dining area itself, so another one or two elsewhere in the lounge would be welcome.

If you are a Star Alliance passenger weighing up where to spend a few hours at Melbourne Airport, this should be the default.

Frequently asked questions

Where is the Air New Zealand Lounge at Melbourne Airport? On the basement level. Past Duty Free, turn right and follow the signs to the escalator or lift, then turn left. It sits opposite the American Express Centurion Lounge.

What are the lounge's opening hours? It operates all day, seven days a week, closing only between midnight and 5am.

Can I buy entry to the Air New Zealand Lounge? No. There is no paid walk-up access, and third-party lounge cards such as Priority Pass are not accepted.

Does the lounge have showers? Yes, eight shower suites, each spacious and modern and stocked with New Zealand Antipodes products.

Is there barista coffee? Yes. A staffed barista station sits in the middle of the lounge and will deliver to your table, with a self-serve machine also available using the same New Zealand beans.

What is Air New Zealand's Surprise and Delight service? A roaming service offered across Air New Zealand lounges globally, in which staff bring cocktails and canapés to guests. In Melbourne it starts at 10.45am.