Background
Moscow Sheremetyevo has a bewildering number of lounges spread across its various terminals.
You can look at the full list on the airport’s website.
Choosing which is best for you depends on where you are flying from and to, and which terminal you need to get to next.
In the past I have visited the Moscow Lounge and the Blues Lounge.
In Terminal D (which is the terminal you arrive into if flying from the UK), there are two widely signposted lounge – the Moscow Lounge and the St Petersburg Lounge.
Both are available to business class passengers with Aeroflot, and in addition, are available to those with Priority Pass.
The two are very similar in design and the food and drink offered, but the St Petersburg Lounge is much larger, and perhaps because you have to get a lift up to it rather than walking straight in from the concourse level, it seems to be slightly less busy.
Where is it?
Just follow the signs. It is to the left of the Duty Free if you have just gone through security after a connecting flight. You’ll see signposts to the Moscow Lounge straight on, and St Petersburg to the left. This takes you to a lift with a lot of alarming signs on it (see above).
What’s it like?
Once you have got past the rather small reception where inevitably there will be a queue, you walk around and there is a small manned bar to the left with seating area.
The main part of the lounge is to the right. You’ll immediately see the dining area and the long buffet counter which arcs around eventually to the right, and a selection of both hot and cold items, as well as soft drinks.
Further on there are large bowls of assorted flavours of crisps, plenty of coffee machines and hot water machines for tea, and a good selection of newspaper and magazines, mostly in Russian, though Business Traveller was there (the UK edition).
There are plenty of places to sit and many of these have power points close to them and also USB power for those just wanting to recharge a phone or personal device.
As with the other lounges, you are supposed to log onto the airport wifi, but to do that you have to give your phone number and then receive a text, which can be quite expensive if you are trying to avoid paying extra charges. The only other way seems to be to enter your passport details and then go to the lounge reception (if you are in the lounge).
There is a menu for wine and spirits. Here is a picture of the central pages, though there is also an opening page offering rosé and white wine, and these two have both the Robert Parker Score next to them and the Jancis Robinson one. WE is Wine Enthusiast, WS is Wine Spectator. GR is Gambero Rosso and JS James Suckling. It was a shame it was 0700.
The prices are in roubles, and I’m assuming that the number next to it is the size that is served. There were people drinking wine and draught beer served from the bar, which was free of charge, and there are also fridges with bottles of beer.
Away from the food and the drink there are relaxed chairs looking out onto a corridor which then had floor to ceiling windows looking out onto the airport, so it was quite bright (in daylight) and had a relaxed atmosphere, despite this being a Saturday morning and busy with departing flights.
Flights are called from the lounge but they are sometimes difficult to hear so best to keep looking at the screens.
Verdict
Having tried three different lounges at Moscow, some of them twice, I’d choose the St Petersburg if you are in Terminal D. The next time I’m there, I’ll try and cover some of the others.
