Review: Salon VIP Lounge, Santiago SCL

The eagle-eyed among you will note that there are two lounge reviews for Santiago Airport in Chile.  This is the first, part of the Salones VIP range.

First up, the lounges are near particular gates and are really spread out (like far apart) in the airport.  Second, there’s a LOT of shopping in the airport and all of it looks good!

I chose this lounge first, despite other reviews, because it has showers.  I got to the lounge and it was packed out.  I mean, kids running up and down unsupervised, snacks and drinks stations busy, few seats available.  The staff on the front desk were mainly friendly and I was handed two large paper towels for my impending shower.

I’d had a long day in Santiago, carting bags around and waiting for a long bus ride, so I really was looking forward to a refreshing scrub!

The shower room was not so much a shower room as a corner in one of the men’s toilets.  It had a really ripe smell and the shower had NOT been cleaned in some time.

Those tiles need a bottle of Cif and a pan scourer.

Happily this is why I always advise you to pack flip-flops! And a small shower gel. Look at the citric options on offer! This is not Aveda.

The paper towels worked well enough but is not up to the standard of any other lounge that I’ve used on this (or any) trip.

There is a functioning hairdryer, so that’s something!

Back out in the lounge, I found the gin and decided to have a light gin and tonic.  NO TONIC! Noooo!  I asked a nice staff member and she offered coke or ginger ale to put in my gin. Eh. No.

This, combined with an empty snack trolley, prompted me to pack up and try a different lounge!  If I had just paid $20 or $30 dollars for this place, I’d have been grumpy. But on my Priority Pass, it’s not a problem!