Long Awaited international 'Virgin' lounge at Brisbane - a fizzer

Well, after over a year of 'coming soon' emails it's here and frankly I think a fizzer.

Tried it for the first time earlier this week and here's my take:

1. Its's not really Virgin's its "My Lounge" almost zero Virgin branding

2. Looks smart enough but ;

- Its small. Short and narrow. Was full as in no more seats by 8.30 on Tuesday.

- Loud throbbing music apparently cannot be turned down or changed as its 'centrally controlled' . Dunh?

- No still water available . An attendant was kind enough to fetch me a glass from somewhere behind the kitchen

- There is only a very flimsy partition between the lounge and the main walkway to the many gates beyond 77. At busy times sound of passengers, trollies, etc very loud.

3. Its going to get worse. Brisbane Airport is flogging 'My Lounge' to death to get as many pay for entry types as possible.

Quo vadis Virgin? Pulling aircraft of popular routes such as Port Moresby and now this???

Couldn't disagree more. I've used My Lounge a couple of times now and found it as expected. Fits the market quite well in my opinion. Music was fine, water was available and the lounge seating adequate.

Also, Port Moresby had very low patronage month on month, as per BITRE data. Even with the smaller aircraft it's still hovering around 50% full flights.

"1. Its's not really Virgin's its "My Lounge" almost zero Virgin branding"

CORRECT. It is not a Virgin owned and operated lounge. This has been known for a long time. What were you expecting?

"Pulling aircraft of popular routes such as Port Moresby and now this???

INCORRECT. This has been one of the worst (if not the worst) flight on the Virgin Network in terms of load factor.

I was there recently for a few hours due to a flight delay. There was little difference in the noises of the regular terminal as the walls are 2.5m (approx) partitions.

It also just so happened that around 30+ officials from "MyLounge" had come from the UK to check it out, so it was awkward sitting by watching this group be served various treats for their cocktail party.

The staff were working very hard that day.

Would I rather in this lounge, over the open terminal?... sure - It does feature all you'd expect from a lounge, except for the noise level.

You know how there is a certain consistency between Virgin Australia lounges? or even the Plaza Premium lounges? I'm not entirely convinced of this open terminal concept....

Agree with fizzer. Have visited this lounge several times. 1/3rd of the seats had been reserved, for who ??? Why would you build a lounge with 100 seat capacity which is insufficient at busy times already.