There has been very little information given about the upcoming KLM non-Schengen Crown Lounge at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. In the existing non-Schengen lounge there have been some décor samples to look at for some time, but they still give a very limited idea about what the lounge will really look like and especially what it will offer in terms of facilities.
What we do know though, from the information released by KLM in January 2017, is that the lounge will cover 6300 sqm with seating for 1400 guests. That means the lounge space will nearly double compared to the current lounge. One new floor will be added and it will also offer an outdoor terrace.
But the good news is that passengers visiting the non-Schengen Crown Lounge at Schiphol can now take a guided tour of the new lounge and get a great amount of information about what to expect and especially about the different areas in the new lounge, which will all have different names and concepts.
There are audio guides available from two racks with the tour offered in five different languages.
The actual guided tour is not as cool and fancy as it may sound. You walk along a wall with pictures in one of the seating areas in the current non-Schengen lounge and for every picture there is a number, which you type on the key pad of the audio guide. You will then hear a short presentation of about a minute describing the photo you are looking at with some details. All-in-all the full tour takes about ten minutes and the English-speaking man is actually quite amusing to listen to.
The cornerstone and highlight of the new lounge will most likely be ‘The Dutch Mountain’ offering various forms of entertainment in a nice atmosphere. There will be TVs available and even a DJ booth for events.
‘The Polder’ is the working area of the lounge where there will be all kinds of digital innovations, like a digital queue.
‘The Sky’ is the bar and restaurant area in the Sky section of the lounge, which will open as part of the second phase in 2019. It will offer an a la carte restaurant with fine food, a cocktail bar and an outdoor terrace. There will also be a cheese room with Dutch cheeses.
‘The City’ will also open during the second phase in 2019 and will offer live cooking with a new food and beverages concept.
All-in-all the new lounge sounds amazing and quite innovative and is definitely something to look forward to. The first phase is expected to open within the next few weeks. The second phase will open during the spring 2019 with planned opening date set the same day as KLM turns 100.
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