At the international terminal of Bogota Airport, Avianca operates 2 lounges – one for the Elite passengers (the Star Gold lounge) and the other is Avianca Diamond lounge. This review is about the Elite (*Gold) Lounge, while the review of the Diamond lounge could be found here.
Both lounges are located right next to each other. Once you pass through the security you immediately go 1 floor up, and there right next to the food court you will see this entrance for the Elite lounge.
It is a large lounge – with family room (with a nice kids play area), showers, working and relaxing areas. I transited Bogota twice during our trip to Bolivia and was able to experience the lounge in the evening and morning. Evening, during the peak departure period the lounge was packed and busy. While in the morning, it was relaxed and empty.
View of the lounge immediately after entering.
There is a newspaper and magazine stand, along with a collection box for collecting bottle tops. I am not sure for what, but I assume for a good reason 😉
After entering the lounge on the right you will see the family area. With place for kids to play around. Also at the far end you will see relaxing chairs. You can put 2-3 of them together and you will have a flat bed to sleep. There are luggage lockers in this area – you can find them on the right side in the photo below.
There are 3 showers in the lounge. I used them both times I transited and there was never a wait. The showers are fine, but the water pressure was a problem. However, I was glad I could clean up after a long flight – a warm shower always help me to relax. Before you can shower you have to get a shower kit from the reception. It is a beautiful little box with shower gel and creams, while the lounge attendant will hand in towels.
The photos below give an overview of the breakfast setup in the morning. There are quite a few tea/coffee machines around the lounge. What I liked was this gold crusted nutty cake to go along with my tea. It was fantastic! I loved it. If you are ever in this lounge, please do not miss it!
For breakfast you have some fruit yogurts, fresh cut fruits, cold cuts and bread along with cereals and the usual stuff. There is also a tosti maker to make a warm tosti. The options are limited but the food is of good quality.
The photos below will give you and overview of the dinner setup. There are a few empandas and dips, along with fresh veggies, etc. There is also a tosti maker and breads. What I liked was the soup. They had a pumpkin/corn soup that was quite tasty. By no means the lounge offers top quality warm food, but what it offers is a decent selection of basics to keep you from starving before a long flight.
This is a nice little area – on the far side of the lounge (leftmost corner, behind the Samsung experience area). There is a quiet area behind this coffee machine – where you can really sleep on the relaxing chairs and no one will disturb you. We landed at 5am and were extremely tired. The lounge was empty and we saw people sleeping here. We too grabbed 3 seats each and made a nice flat bed for us to take a nap. I slept 3 hours in peace and after a nice shower was back in business to enjoy the lounge.
The samsung experience area. I am not sure what the purpose of this area is. On both visits to the lounge I didnt see anyone in this area, using any of the features.
Some shots of the lounge from the other side. The entrance is on the far right side.
There are some seats along the glass wall overlooking the terminal.
A place to get some work done, with power connections right at the table.
The drink options – with wines (2-3 on offer), fresh juices, and fridge with some soda/water. All basic, but gets the job done!
Avianca operates a nice Star Gold lounge in Bogota. This lounge is way bigger than its counterpart – The Diamond lounge, which is for the business class people. Also this lounge has the showers while the other do not. What this lounge lacks is fresh sunlight as there are no windows opening to the tarmac but only on the (internal) terminal.