Welcome to a brand new Lounge Review on Seeing The World In Steps. Pretty unbelievable that I have not written any of these for close to 2 years. I can’t even remember when was the last lounge that I have visited. While I might now be a mini expert in writing hotel reviews, I do have to say that I am a little rusty on the lounge aspect. Tying in nicely into my upcoming Europe flight, the brand new SilverKris Lounge just nice reopened recently on 23 November. I am checking it out just a couple of days later. This has been one aspect of my trip that I am really looking forward to! It’s going to be lovely to see the new product and this has been in the pipeline for quite some time. The old SilverKris Lounge was very much in need of a makeover. This is going to be the new flagship product for Singapore Airlines and probably the one for other outstation SilverKris Lounge to follow when they remodel in the future. Let us see if the ground experience of SQ will be as good as its superb inflight experience.
Access Requirements
The SilverKris Lounge is open 24 hours. Currently, all Star Alliance premium cabin customers, PPS Status and above holders as well as Star Alliance Status holders are allowed access to the lounge. Typical access rules for guests follow. During this transition period, while awaiting the KrisGold Lounge to reopen, KrisFlyer Elite Gold members flying in Economy Class are allowed access to the SilverKris Lounge as well. This should represent an upgrade. It shouldn’t be long for the KrisFlyer Gold Lounge to reopen in my opinion given how crowded the SilverKris Lounge already is during the evening peak hour.
Arrival & Location
The SilverKris Lounge is located a level above the main terminal and after passing the immigration hall you can head left and up the elevator. The entrance is at the location of the previous KrisFlyer Gold Lounge and opposite the DBS Asia Treasures Lounge. I was politely welcomed by the staff and was admitted upon presenting my boarding pass. You can tell that the staff were excited about the reopening and the brand new lounge as well. Given that I was flying in First Class and had access to the dedicated First Class section of the lounge, I was ushered in by the staff to the area and given a little tour and orientation of the new lounge. Do note that while I will be sharing on the Business Class and First Class section of the lounge, the entire area that you see will be the SilverKris Business Class Lounge in the long run when the First Class Lounge and The Private Room reopen in 2022.
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Business Class Lounge
The new lounge was bright and fresh. It is such an improvement over the old product and the partial open concept to the terminal in the first section of the lounge really brings in plenty of natural light which have been really missed in the past. If you have stayed at the Four Season Singapore recently, you will find it rather similar as it is from the same designers.
On the exterior, you find the modest yet luxurious signboard and entryway with the Singapore Airlines logo and SilverKris Lounge being stated. I love the light wood finish which reminds me of a Park Hyatt to be frank. The lounge has a long entryway and by the side, you can find 3 kiosks where there is plenty of agents station here to welcome guests and verify your eligibility.
I was impressed upon entering and the first front section of the lounge was huge and airy. I love the theme. You can find plenty of seatings and the striking blue, orange and grey finishes of the seats are very captivating. Parked it together with the marble finishes of the table top. It’s gorgeous. All sorts of high top and lounge seatings can be found. Power sockets can be easily found by the seats as well. Given that this is a lounge to stay in for the next decade or so, I am also glad to see that they have installed wifi chargers for guests as well. I just wish that they are the lighting kind. This makes plenty of sense given how frequent guests forget to keep and take their charges and cable along with them. I will let the pictures do the rest of the speaking.
For those who require a little more privacy, you will also be well seated at these productivity pods, they offer more privacy and your little cocoon to work and dine in. Might be something good these days where social distancing are key.
Near the entrance of the lounge, you can also find a counter that is filled with drink options as well as some light bites. For more filling dining options you will have to head into the inner side of the lounge. I will cover more on the F&B options of the lounge later on.
The highlight of the lounge in the front area will definitely be the bar. It is absolutely pretty. This also represents an upgrade over the previous one where the Business Class Lounge didn’t have a bar. Passengers will also be pleased that you can get actual coffee made by a barista-made coffee drinks from an espresso machine in the morning. This is something seriously lacking previously. While the lounge has awesome bean to coffee machines, it just pales in comparasion. It is available from 6am to 10am. I do feel like the timing is a little short.
Hopefully, in time, it will be all day long. Having a professionally made cup of coffee is so much better and this shouldn’t be hard to ask for in a Singapore Airlines Flagship lounge in their home hub when in normal times you are serving your top tier loyalty and paying premium customers. This should be and must be the standard of Singapore Airlines. In the evening, from 5.30am to 1am it turns into a bar where bartenders will be on hand to churn out all sorts of drinks.
Opposite the bar you can find some gorgeous circular group seatings that are great for a large group, you also have a nice view of the tarmac from here.
Linking both areas of the lounge, this is where you can find the Ticketing & Assistance Desk, lounge agents are readily stationed here to assist you with any help or ticket issue on hand. You can also ask them to assist you with any printing requirement which I certainly took the chance to do so with getting those entry forms printed.
You can also check out a little corner here where speciality items relating to Singapore Airlines KrisShop are displayed here.
Heading into the lounge, this is where you can find the main food and beverage area. You can also find more proper and standard dining tables over here which are more conducive for dining. It was pretty packed even in the morning since the full dining crowd are here.
Let me share on the refreshments in the lounge which in my opinion is a step above the previous one. Rather than buffet lines, due to the current health situation, instead, you order via a QR code that is fixated to the tables or where you are seated around the lounge. You can actually dine anywhere. The staff are pretty proactive in this aspect to advise guests to connect to the SKL wifi and scan the code to order. For the Business Class area, you will order and once your order is ready, you can proceed to collect it at the counter.
Drinks and snacks are self-served.
Here is the breakfast menu for the Business Class Section! They have some mockup of the dishes at the collection area. Breakfast is served till 11am.
From 11am, lunch service starts. You can find more substantial items for the afternoon. Here is the lunch menu for the Business Class Section.
Heading further in, you can find some more extra seatings. The lounge is really huge and spacious.
At the far end of the lounge, you can also find a cordon off area. I got a sneak peek and here you can find the sleep and rest area. This is currently still not in operation and should be open right about soon. You can find high partition as well as day bed kind of lounges. This will be great for sneaking in some shut-eye in-between transit.
The washroom and shower rooms are located to a side near the dining area. This is a huge improvement. The toilets are sparkling new and constantly maintained. Amenities are provided and this includes the Penhaligon’s collection. You will be please to find those fancy Japanese style bidets toilets as well.
Singapore Airlines finally decided to have individual shower suites and this is huge! The new showering rooms are lovely and spacious. Check this out! A host is around to bring you to one and they are refreshed constantly. A little nitpick would be the toiletries provided. For a premium airline like Singapore Airlines, something like Aesop would be much more suitable here.
Special “First Class” Section
As the current actual First Class Lounge and The Private Room is still under the works, Singapore Airlines have kindly block off a part of the lounge to be the temporary First Class section. You will be able to access this area if you are flying in First Class or if you hold PPS and above status. The actual first class lounge will be opening in 2022.
The special first class section is located near the main dining area that I have shared earlier. Agents are stationed near the entrance to ensure the privacy of guests and to offer personalised service. There are two main differences in the First Class Section. Table service as well as better Food and Beverages options. Let me first share some pictures of the seating in this area. They are more or less the same with the addition of some throne chairs!
Here you can find the first class section dining menu! This is for breakfast which is served till 11am. As mentioned, there is table service in the First Class section, all you have to do is to scan the QR code and order your food, one of the staff will then bring the item over to you when it is ready.
From 11am onwards, lunch is offered. I am pleased to see that the signature SQ satay is back on the menu! One of my favourite item to order with Singapore Airlines!
Similarly, all drinks are self served and by virtue of being in the First Class section, you get a slight boost in terms of booze. They are serving 2 reds and 2 whites.
What is worth mentioning was the 2006 Rare Millésime Piper-Heidsieck which is an excellent choice for a first class lounge. It isn’t Krug or Dom Perignon but it will do!
They were serving breakfast when I arrived and here are some of the items that I tried. This is one good improvement over the old lounge, the food was good and piping hot. Everything is prep to order and surely the crowd helps since food aren’t stale when fresh ones are being prepared constantly. I really love the laksa and the king prawns were huge.
The Siew Mai were excellent as well as the fried beancurd skin.
Mushroom soup were chunky and a good bet. The slight hint of truffle oil elevates the dish!
I tried a couple of dishes when lunch service starts at 11am as well. Of course, I could not miss having the Signature SQ Satay which was always awesome! I do feel like the portion was cut down per stick. After all, from my memory, it used to be only available in The Private Room.
Another highly recommended dish will be the Wagyu Beef Slider! It was very good! The beef was juicy and the wedges were crispy! This might not be at the level of The Private Room but it is definitely much better than the previous offering.
Conclusion
To conclude, I was definitely impressed with the brand new SilverKris Business Class Lounge. I am just gonna label it as Business as going ahead the entire space that I covered today will be the Business Class Lounge. The lounge has certainly been expanded to fit the demand and to solve the crowding issue that you can see in the past. A little throwback, if you were like to see how the Old SilverKris Lounge looks like, you can check it out here. Looking at the current offering, it got me excited to check out the actual First Class section and The Private Room in the future which should open in 2022. I am wishing SQ will do something special in this area to elevate their First Class and PPS ground experience. Currently it pale in comparison to carriers like Cathay. I will definitely come earlier to enjoy this lounge. The food refreshment was also a level above the past, although we still have to wait and see how it will be like once it goes back to buffet style. I love the lounge so much that I just decided to spend the entire time I had in the airport here rather than checking out the Priority Pass lounge to review. Next up, the pièce de résistance, my flight onboard Singapore Airlines First Class to Frankfurt!
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