I must admit that one of my favorite parts of staying at luxury hotels is experiencing the many executive lounges. If you’re not familiar, these are lounges that luxury hotels only offer to exclusive guests that offer a special breakfasts, afternoon tea, evening dining and open alcohol bars. This year, I visited 21 countries and about 75 luxury hotels. Out of all these amazing establishments, there were 10 lounges that really stood out from the crowd! I’ve ranked them considering many criteria such as quality and taste of the food, ambience, feng shui, service, presentation, design and location. We’ll start with 10 and work our way up to the top spot! Lets go!
10. Radisson Blu Hotel Executive Lounge Belgrade
The Radisson Blu Old Mill Building hotel in Belgrade is the premier design hotel in Belgrade. It’s also the first of its kind for the Radisson Blu brand. They offer new and exciting features including an executive lounge. I had not experienced one in any of the other Radisson Blu prior. The interior looks like it came right out of a design magazine. It wasn’t busy during my stay which made it feel like my personal lounge! There wasn’t always staff present but they did come to refill the hors d’oeuvres and beverages. This lounge made the top 10 list mainly because of the phenomenal design!
9. China World Shangri-La Hotel Executive Lounge Beijing
The China World Shangri-La hotel impressed me from the moment I walked inside! The lounge was recently renovated and I was impressed with the full dinner offering and a great selection of beverages. There’s a huge selection of food including western, international and local dishes. They even had laksa which is one of my new favorite noodles. The tastes were flawless!
8. Mandarin Oriental Hotel Executive Lounge Kuala Lumpur
It’s not often that you get to stay in a hotel that is so near the Petronas Towers. While in the Mandarin Oriental executive lounge you feel like you could practically touch them! The view is extraordinary during all parts of the day. Malaysia’s cuisine is so diverse and the Mandarin Oriental really does a great job of giving you a taste of all of the magnificent flavors. Some of the food in the lounge was better than local food I ate on the street. The lounge’s service was always great and not too busy which created a very relaxing and comfortable atmosphere. Definitely fantastic.
7. Intercontinental Hotel Bucharest Executive Lounge
After visiting 10 Intercontinental hotels around the world, I’ve discovered that the Intercontinental executive lounges tend to be the most consistent. However, the executive lounge in Bucharest was a step above the others! Not only did they have a lounge full of local cuisine and amazing alcohol but they had a fantastic view of Bucharest. The Intercontinental hotel is one of the tallest buildings in Bucharest so it provided a beautiful bird’s eye view of the surrounding areas. Nearby is a historical area of the city which is very nice to look at from the lounge. The staff there really went above and beyond and always made sure I had everything I wanted. Just glorious all around!
6. Sofitel So Hotel So Club Room Bangkok
The Sofitel So hotel has a very impressive view of Lumphini Park. Lucky for me the lounge was on the same floor as my room! The lounge offers a different view and has a balcony so you can enjoy the evening breeze with your evening cocktail. Lucky for me, there were blue skies for the duration of my stay. This lounge really caught my attention because of their So Big Brekky This was the full-on Western breakfast and it was amazing. Presentation and service at the executive lounge inside the Sofitel So hotel in Bangkok were just great.
5. Courtyard Marriott Hotel Executive Lounge Seoul
For number five we’re going to Korea. This was my first Courtyard by Marriott experience and I must say I was super impressed! I didn’t expect a lounge, let alone of this caliber. It was absolutely extraordinary. Not only did it have a fantastic view, but they had a full-on dinner service in the evening. There was some decent alcohol to choose from as well. The afternoon tea was not as extensive as some others, but as I said, the dinner was impressive. I especially loved local favorites like Korean barbecue. To this day, I still dream about the lasagna and the lounge!
4. Intercontinental Hotel Executive Lounge Amman
I must admit that I am a sucker for Middle Eastern food, so being in Jordan already had a leg up on the competition! Throughout my travels, I’ve learned that the Middle Eastern world really enjoys extravagant hotels. They really go out of their way to make the interiors very grand and luxurious. This was definitely noted in the lounge at the Intercontinental Amman. Not only was the food great, but there was an extreme selection. They had so many wonderful things to choose from that my heart simply melted. They even had my favorite salted yogurt and I can’t forget about the Turkish coffee! Also, so many desserts I’m surprised I didn’t blow up like a blimp!
3. Four Seasons Hotel Executive Club Seoul
The Four Seasons in Seoul, Korea is my favorite hotel in the city and their executive club lounge helped me come to that conclusion. The hotel is brand-new, so as you’d expect the lounge is absolutely gorgeous. There are three different views depending on which area you’re sitting and one even overlooks Seoul’s Gyeongbokgung which is a palace opened in 1395. The afternoon tea really caught my attention because they have a full spread of absolutely beautiful food. The presentation is flawless and the taste matches perfectly. In the evening, the drink selection is right up there with the others!
2. Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel Sheraton Club Bangkok
This lounge really was extraordinary because of it’s view but also had lots to bring to the table. Wink. The time of year that I visited Bangkok was rainy, therefore this was the perfect spot to watch the weather theater unfold. Sitting high-up along the Chao Phraya river was a great. The service in Bangkok was exceptional and this lounge stood apart with the food selection. One of the evenings they even had a tacos! If this isn’t heaven, I don’t know what is. They can also make almost any drink to your heart’s desire, including a wonderful White Russian.
1. Rosewood Hotel Manor Club Beijing
I spoke about this previously in my Rosewood Beijing hotel review but allow me to elaborate. This lounge really took the cake on all fronts. It’s a huge lounge but it’s separated into three beautifully different parts. The first being the entryway which is where the staff will welcome you into paradise. The second has many windows that bring a lot of natural light which is a great place for tea. Finally, there is a darker area which is more of a nighttime bar and lounge feel. This lounge had some of the most extensive alcohols that I’ve seen. There was also tons of quality food! This is not your typical finger food folks, they offered things like pan-fried scallops and Chinese dumplings! Pure bliss.
Summary
Hopefully, now you can see why I spend so much time in hotel club lounges. They have everything that you need to enjoy life! I often worked long hours inside of them and they provide comfortable working and relaxation areas. All of the lounges that I’ve listed I can highly recommend and urge you to try them as soon as possible. Enjoy your travels and take care!
