Spain’s Iberia operate a very good lounge in Terminal 4S at Madrid called the Velázquez lounge. As it is non-Schengen flights that are served, it is the premier facility operated by the airline.
I had travelled through Madrid and used this lounge once before, quite a number of years ago. Everything seems to be pretty much the same as I remembered, plus there were some pleasant surprises.
Velázquez Lounge T4S
The lounge is very long and narrow and is designed to give you excellent views over the airport. I heartily approve of lounges that embrace the airport. It gives a real sense of place and of course it appeals to the aviation geek within me.
Did I mention the views?
Apart from being an orgy of Iberia, there are plenty of other airlines about. I spotted Wamos Air, LATAM, British Airways and much more during my time there.
Velázquez Lounge Food
There is plenty of choice when it comes to the food offering in the Velázquez lounge. I ended up having a few plates of different things during my time there and found it to be quite tasty.
There’s a popcorn machine!
Much to my surprise and delight, there is a popcorn machine in the bar. That was very unexpected, and I completely missed it the first time I visited on the hunt for Cava.
Overall Thoughts
Iberia’s Velázquez lounge in Madrid is a very good lounge to spend some time in. I thought the food options were somewhat eclectic, with some Asian, some Spanish and some others. It certainly made for a bit of a taste adventure, which is totally fine with me.
With the popcorn machine and comfortable seating – not to mention with plenty of charging ports – it was a pleasure to relax there. Certainly what you would expect from a home base lounge by a major international airline.
What do you think of the Velázquez lounge? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Oh really ?! How interesting!
I flew Iberia and was stuck in Madrid to and from my destination by Iberia (yes, both ways! (multiple delays, missed connections, flight cancellation ), I was never offered to recoup in a nice lounge despite their errors! I on the way to my destination, I was put in a cage, with aggressive homeless, left there & forgotten about for 3 hrs. Why was I given a subpar sandwich (both ways) and my safely jeopardized when there was a clam place to eat and wait? I had to stay overnight in Madrid w/ no luggage. I asked to go to a priority pass lounge since I hadn’t eaten since the prior day, but I was told no by Iberia , to get directly on the bus and get a meal at the hotel. The meal was a boxed lunch containing a tuna and tomato spread sandwich!. Honestly, the sandwich they gave me looked like nothing I had ever seen before! Ive never heard of such a thing, much less – who would serve this as the only option? I simply could not imagine ingesting it.. and I didn’t! I am not a fish person! The lounge and food look wonderful! I would have loved to try it, but unfortunately Iberia held out on me!
Oh, airlines don’t tend to give out lounge access on disruption – alas. Sounds like you had an awful disruption experience. A shame all round, but it can happen. Hopefully if you ever fly them again it will be a seamless experience like mine was. Appreciate you taking the time to share that!
It sounds like Iberia knows how to do lounges. 2 years ago I was travelling through Madrid on a flight OKC-MIA-MAD-MXP and had a 4 hour layover in Madrid. I spent most of that time int he Iberia Dali VIP Lounge in a different terminal. It was a very well done comfortable lounge with lots of good food, soft drinks, beer and wine easily accessible and I don’t know about hard liquor availability. It was melded into the vaulted ceiling of the terminal and just fit well up there. Every time I do a lounge outside the US, I’m reminded of how much the domestic USA lounges could benefit by getting to know what the European carries do in theirs. Although the Flagship lounge in Miami was nice, the Iberia just felt better.
I’ve not been to the Dali lounge, so it’s nice to hear it’s also pretty good. Yes, things are very different in the US, but I guess the airlines have to have more lounges – many of the European airlines only have their home base and maybe two to four other places on their own, otherwise they use partner lounges. Thanks for the comment!