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Iberia Premium Lounge Velazquez Madrid Terminal 4S review

August 14, 2024

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After a recent Iberia Business Class flight between London and Madrid, I found myself with time to spare at Madrid’s Barajas Airport, and that meant that I could take a look inside the Iberia Premium Lounge Velazquez at Madrid T4S which I knew had been given a small makeover since the last time I had visited.

Opening times & location

Iberia’s Premium Lounge in Terminal 4S is open daily between 06:00 and 01:00 and is located within the main duty free shopping area of Terminal 4S.

people in a airport — Head into the main duty free area to find the entrance to the lounge.

a red wall with a sign on it — The lounge is hard to miss.

Terminal 4 at Madrid Barajas Airport is Iberia’s home terminal and is subdivided into two terminals, T4 and T4S, with T4S being a satellite terminal.

There’s an underground free rail connection between T4 (proper) and T4S (the satellite) and the journey time (once on the train) is approximately 3 minutes. Trains operate approximately every 5 minutes.

T4S handles non-Schengen flights, so this is the terminal that handles Iberia’s long-haul flights as well as the flights for airlines like British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Etihad, Qatar Airways and Finnair.

Access

All the following passengers can access the Iberia Premium lounge at Madrid T4S on the day of travel.

First & Business Class passengers traveling with Iberia.
First & Business Class passengers traveling on any of the OneWorld airlines.
OneWorld Emerald elites traveling in any cabin of service with any OneWorld airline.
OneWorld Sapphire elites traveling in any cabin of service with any OneWorld airline.

It’s not clear what the guesting policy is for this lounge (because the Iberia website fails to mention it), but I suspect that most eligible flyers will be able to enter with one guest as long as that guest is also traveling with Iberia or another OneWorld airline.

The Lounge

Iberia’s Velázquez Premium Lounge covers ~27,000 square feet (~2,500 square meters) and runs the entire length of a very long set of windows that overlook the airport apron, and which give the lounge a very bright and spacious feel during daylight hours.

a row of chairs in a airport — Almost the whole lounge runs in line with these floor-to-ceiling windows.

Once you’re past the welcome desk, the lounge stretches out to your left and to your right so its narrow, but very long.

a long room with chairs and a red wall — It’s narrow and long, but it doesn’t feel tight or confining thanks to the amount of light coming in.

There’s a buffet area at either end of the lounge (both serve the same food).

a buffet with a row of dishes and plants — The buffet at the far left end of the lounge.

a buffet line in a restaurant — The buffet at the far right end of the lounge.

And in between the two buffets is where you’ll (mostly) find everything else the lounge offers.

a sign on a door

Most of the seating in the lounge looks like this …

a group of chairs in a room — Lounge seating.

… with seats having access to European-style power outlets (this is the adapter I carry for just such situations) and USB-A ports.

a white chair with a power outlet — European-style Ac power outlets and USB-A ports.

Towards the left side of the lounge, you’ll also find a few considerably larger sofa-style seats.

a room with red couches and tables — A few of the lounge’s seats are considerably bigger than all the others.

If you go past the buffet at the left end of the lounge, you’ll find that the lounge takes a left turn, and the seating here looks like this:

a room with chairs and tables — Seating at the far left end of the lounge.

a group of black chairs in a room with windows — Seating at the far left end of the lounge.

And at the end of this short area is what appears to be a purpose built dining area that I have never seen anyone using.

a room with tables and chairs — A seemingly unused dining area.

It’s possible that this is reserved for dining in the evening, but as I have never flown out of Madrid after 17:00, I can’t be sure.

Towards the middle of the lounge there’s a small ‘business area’ that reminds me of one of the more depressing hot-desk areas I once had to share.

a room with a table and chairs — The ‘business area’.

And nearby, there’s a considerably larger, ‘TV’ area.

a room with a red carpet and a television — The TV room.

The lounge is also home to an enclosed children’s play area which, for obvious reasons, I didn’t photograph.

At the far right end of the lounge and just past the buffet located there, is a dining area with tables and chairs …

… and a self-pour bar.

a room with a bar and chairs — More dining chairs and tables + a self-pour bar.

As far as the various general-use areas of the lounge go, that’s pretty much it, but the lounge also has two very useful amenities that you should know about.

Two useful amenities

The Iberia Velazquez lounge at Madrid T4S offers guests shower facilities and, a little surprisingly, sleep rooms.

a hallway with a black curtain and a brown door — The entrances to the sleep rooms and showers and side by side.

To access the showers, you need to present yourself at the welcome desk (where you entered the lounge) and ask for a shower cubicle code (you may have to be placed on a waitlist at busier times).

a piece of paper with black text on it — The cubicle code.

The cubicle code is, quite literally, your key to accessing the showers as once a correct 4-digit code is entered into the shower cubicle keypad, it will open.

This is what the showers look like.

a bathroom with a shower and sink — A shower cubicle at the Velazquez lounge.

a bathroom with a round mirror and a sink — A shower cubicle at the Velazquez lounge.

a shower with a shower head and hand shower — Rain shower.

a shower head and faucet — Handheld shower.

Select toiletries are also provided.

a group of toiletries in a wooden box — Select toiletries are provided.

I like these showers. Aesthetically, the rooms are pleasing, they’re a very good size, the water pressure is great, and the water heats up very quickly. What’s not to like?

The procedure for accessing the sleep rooms is identical to the one for accessing the showers.

You request a code at the welcome desk.

a red and white card on a glass table — Code for a sleep room.

You enter the code into the keypad outside the sleep room you have been allocated.

And the door opens, and you enter.

a bed with a pillow on it — A sleep room.

These rooms aren’t going to win any design awards (the beige colour everywhere is a throwback to the 70s), but the beds are comfortable and there’s no external light to disturb you, so they can be a good place to get some rest.

The oddest thing about these sleep rooms is that there doesn’t appear to be a limit on the amount of time you can spend in one (I asked).

Considering that there are only three of these rooms in the whole lounge, that would suggest that at busy times of the day, these may be quite hard to access.

Dining

Fruit, snacks, tapas, and a variety of breads are served all day alongside self-pour alcoholic beverages (wines, beers, and spirits) and a selection of soft drinks and juices.

a table with food on it — Snacks are out all day.

a display of fruit and juices — Juice and fresh fruit are both plentiful.

a refrigerator with drinks in it — More chilled soft drinks.

a table with food and drinks on it

a two glass jars of liquid with a couple of fruit in a basket — Lemonade on the left, Sangria on the right.

a table with fruit and ice cream — Pita bread with beetroot hummus + gazpacho at the back.

You’ll also find hot drinks machines and refrigerators with cold beverages located at various points inside the lounge.

a coffee machine and a chair in a room — Soft drinks and hot drinks.

a counter with a variety of coffee machines — Another hot drink station.

At set times of the day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served.

This visit took place while lunch was being served (between 13:00 and 16:00) and this was what was on offer.

Cold buffet

Pilaf rice salad with surimi (a Japanese fish paste), exotic fruits, black olives and jalapeño vinaigrette.
Beet salad with feta cheese and pickle dressing.
Beans salad with broccoli, mint, and capers with balsamic dressing.
Orecchiette pasta salad with mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, and green pesto.
Mixed salad with lettuce, tomato, onion, cucumber, and French vinaigrette.
Whole wheat sandwich with mushroom duxelle (sautéed ground mushrooms with herbs) and sweet & sour sauce
Egg sandwich with Japanese mayonnaise and chives.
Marinated olives
Mixed breads.

Hot buffet

Rigatoni in Panna sauce with crispy bacon.
Vegetable couscous.
Chicken stew with orange.
Baked potatoes with sage and bay leaves.
Gilled cod with casserole sauce.
Vegetable ratatouille.
Eggplant and zucchini mille feuille with tomato sauce (a pastry tart, of sorts)
Fish empanada (cod) with raisins.
Asparagus and truffle cream soup.

Desserts

Banana and coffee sponge cake.
Juniper mousse with lemon cream.
Chocolate mousse.

A selection of red and white wines are available near both buffet areas.

a wine bottles in a bucket on a counter — Selection of wines.

a bucket of wine bottles and ice — Chilled white wines.

And there is a large refrigerator at one end of the lounge from which guests can help themselves to a selection of beers.

A few spirits are also usually out on the side near the bar area (standard fare), but I don’t seem to have an image of those to share with you.

I didn’t try the beers or wines so I can’t comment on those, but the hot and cold food items that I tried were very nice. They were fresh tasting, flavourful, and the overall offering puts a lot of other European Business Class lounges to shame (especially those offered by Iberia’s sister airline – British Airways).

Overall

I really like this lounge and recommend a visit if you have the time.

The staff (especially the staff on the welcome desk) were all very pleasant and helpful, the food was very good (I’ve read one or two other reviews that criticized the food offering, but based on this visit, I have no complaints), the showers are great, there’s a good feeling of space thanks to the huge windows that run down the length of the room, and if you’re an AvGeek you can have quite a bit of fun watching aircraft going about their business from just about anywhere in the lounge.

Overall, this is one of the best European Business Class lounges I’ve visited in some time, and I’d love to ask the bosses at IAG (owner of Iberia and British Airways) why, if Iberia can provide a space and food offering as good as this, are the British Airways options at London Heathrow as mediocre as they are? It’s a mystery.

All reviews in this series:

Review: American Airlines 777-300ER Business Class (transatlantic)
Review: American Airlines Flagship Lounge at Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW)
Review: American Airlines A321 domestic First Class (DFW-PSP)
Review: Marriott Desert Springs Villas I (a Marriott Vacation Club property)
Review: American Eagle CRJ-700ER First Class (PSP-PHX)
Review: Escape Lounge Phoenix (PHX) Terminal 4
Review: American Airlines 777-200ER Business Class (transatlantic)
Review: Iberia short-haul Business Class A320neo (LHR-MAD)
Review: Iberia Premium Lounge Velazquez Madrid Terminal 4S
Review: Iberia short-haul Economy Class A320neo (MAD-LHR)

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