Emirates Lounge Review in Dubai International Airport’s Terminal C

We heard rave reviews of the Emirates Lounge in Dubai and couldn’t wait to check it out after our flight on Emirates First Class from Milan. We heard that it was better than all the others we had been to so far, and even offered free massages, which I especially needed after walking around Milan all day in high heeled boots. What was I thinking? The things we do for fashion. 😉 However, we unfortunately were flying economy on next flight to the Maldives because of mixed cabin and therefore were not entitled to lounge access. Emirates only allows lounge access according to your departing flight, unlike some airlines that will allow you access to the lounge even for arriving flights. Luckily we befriended another traveler who happened to be on both our first class flights and he was able to get us in to the lounge as his guests after much persuading. Technically they are only supposed to allow one guest per person and only if on the same departing flight, which we were not. He was extremely persistent and after nearly a half hour of arguing his case, they allowed us access to the lounge in Terminal C, from where his flight was departing. Our flight arrived in Terminal A, so we had a long journey through the enormous Dubai International Airport (DXB). Our new friend flagged down some “buggies” which is what they call the airport carts that transport people to different terminals and off we went, zipping through DXB.Once inside the lounge, we took a quick peak around since they told us we could have 30 minutes to enjoy the lounge before needing to head to Terminal A, from where our flight was departing. There are large two-story windows that look out onto the runway and the city of Dubai, giving the lounge a ton of natural sunlight. There are two levels but we didn’t have much time so didn’t even explore the upper level. There are comfortable leather chairs and tables to enjoy your meal or drinks, or just to sit and relax pre-flight. They offer a charging station for electronic devices as well, which was a nice touch. They also offer showers which comes in very handy when traveling across the world.We checked out the bar area and poured ourselves our last glass of complimentary champagne, since we were not flying first class on our next flight. There is also a large selection of beer, wine, top shelf liquor, and non-alcoholic drinks. They offer not only an extensive buffet like the NYC lounge and Milan lounge, but also a menu that you can order food from as well. The selection will satisfy the most discerning palates, including those that prefer more traditional American breakfast fare, Asian cuisine, and local specialities. We found out from our friend who frequents that lounge regularly that you can even order food not shown on the menu (like steak), and they prepare it special-order for you. We ordered some breakfast and then hopped into the showers to freshen up while our food was being prepared. I ordered a vegetable omelette, potato rosti, chicken sausage, cafe latte, and a detox drink. Meanwhile, our friend ordered us steak and French fries, not knowing that we ordered food ourselves. So we had more food than we could eat, all of it tasting wonderful.We were disappointed after looking forward to the massages in Dubai that the lounge in Terminal C does not offer massages. Emirates has 3 lounges in DBX, and we heard that Terminal A offers the best lounge. However, we don’t recommend transferring from one terminal to another to visit the better lounge unless you have an extremely long layover with many hours to kill, because the terminals are very far apart and require a lot of walking and then a train. We were rushing to get back to our terminal after staying a little too long in Terminal C lounge, not expecting it to take so long to get from one to the other. If you’ve visited the Emirates Terminal A lounge in Dubai, what was it like? We would love to hear about your experiences in Emirates lounges, or other travel lounges that were phenomenal, so we can add those to our must-visit list. If you liked this post and want to get our tips to travel like a millionaire, please sign up for our email newsletter and RSS feed.