Earlier this year, Singapore Airlines moved forward on renovating the KrisFlyer Gold Lounge, as a part of major revamp of their offerings at Singapore. In the intervening period, the airline worked with the Dnata group to have an interim lounge available to eligible members for the next two years or so. Dnata, which earlier operated the Dnata lounge in Singapore Terminal 3, shut that down and opened a new lounge under their Marhaba brand to accommodate their own customers as well as Singapore Airlines eligible customers and carries both their brandings. Here is a Marhaba Lounge Singapore Terminal 3 Review.

The KrisFlyer Gold Lounge at Changi Terminal 3 airport can be accessed by KrisFlyer Gold members flying Economy as well as comparable Star Alliance Gold members flying Economy. The lounge is also accessible to all Vistara Gold/Platinum members when flying on Singapore Airlines from Singapore in Economy.

The lounge is easy to locate. After clearing immigration, I turned right from the Louis Vuitton store and headed up the escalators following the lounge signage.

The KrisFlyer Gold lounge/ Marhaba lounge is located just behind the food court area on level 2. This is an airline lounge with 2 entrances.

One side with Marhaba branding which is more visible. I entered the lounge from the inconspicuous KrisFlyer reception, further down the alley, where the agent promptly scanned my boarding pass and welcome me in. Other airlines such as China Airlines, Garuda Indonesia, SriLankan Airlines and Myanmar airlines also use this lounge, apart from the various cardholders, such as Priority Pass and Diners Club.

The lounge takes in about 130 passengers in one go, and at 5 pm, the lounge was fairly busy. All the tables in the small dining section were occupied. The seats with the tarmac views were also all occupied. There was some seating space available on the couches.

I walked inside and settled myself on a high chair. The high chairs the lounge face the tarmac and do get some good views. The one thing I did notice was that all the seats had individual ports to charge devices.

After my previous visits to the Ambassador Lounge, SATS lounge and the DNATA lounge in Changi, I was only expecting a basic buffet, however, I was pleasantly surprised by the food spread at this lounge.

The hot buffet had noodles, a black Taiwanese chicken dish which looked unappealing but was delicious. The western selection on the buffet had pasta and roasted potatoes and for those who wanted to stick to their Indian palate could indulge in rice and a mix veg curry.

There were 2 types of salad to choose from; a mix bean salad and carrot salad. Though the highlight of the buffet for me was the satay platter. The chicken was succulent and the peanut sauce was creamy without being too spicy.

There were steamed buns and dim sums as well. I tried the dim sum and like most buffets, they tasted overcooked in the steamer. One crumbled in my plate. For cold bites there were sandwiches.

The mango pannacotta & the apple crumble the crumble was a winner. Without any guilt I had a double helping of the apple crumble.

This a self serve lounge with a modest selection of alcohol. The refrigerator was well stocked with beer and wine. The side counter had a bottle black label whiskey, Gordon’s Gin, Smirnoff off vodka and Bacardi rum. I didn’t notice any champagne.

For those on who don’t drink alcohol or were on a detox like me, there was a selection of juice and detox water. Apart from this, the usual coffee machine was immaculately placed in a corner and there were whole fruits kept in a basket.

This is a comfortable lounge with an excellent food spread and provided one finds a place to sit, you could comfortably spend an hour in this lounge. By the time I was leaving it was beginning to get busy with a queue of passengers at the reception. I would imagine that during peak departure times the lounge will run out of seating space.

Overall, I was happy that I could experience a new lounge at Changi Airport and will be heading there the next time I’m flying out of Changi.

Bottomline

The KrisFlyer Gold or the Marhaba Lounge is open 24 hours a day and is a pay per use lounge that can be accessed by paying USD 40/ INR 2,800 or is complimentary for:

• All Singapore Airlines Kris Flyer Gold members
• Air Vistara Gold members
• Star Alliance Gold members
• Priority Pass members
• Diners Club members

Have you visited the Marhaba Lounge in Singapore Terminal 3? What is your opinion about this lounge?