Work on the new international arrivals hall at Nassau's Lynden Pindling International Airport is still underway—but the departures areas are looking pretty nice and, as far as we could tell when flying out on Monday, functioning faster than they did in the past.

One improvement you may be interested in if you like a cigar or a stiff drink before waving goodbye to the Bahamas is the Graycliff Divan Airport Lounge.

This spinoff of the Graycliff hotel, restaurant and cigar company opened its double lounge—one smoking, one non-smoking—last spring opposte Gate C41 in the US departures terminal.

You may not realize it's an airport lounge at first because it looks like a tschotske-filled boutique—and in fact it is. To register for access to your lounge of choice, you must enter through the gift shop.]]> MsRebecca 2012-02-09T13:45:43-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/12/20/105716/29

Finally. Finally! Cathay Pacific has finally opened a lounge of their very own on US soil, at San Francisco International's International Terminal. This is huge news for frequent flyers on Cathay to Hong Kong, but even for design buffs as the lounge includes the specially designed Solus Chair, first introduced at their Cabin lounge at HKG.

Because Cathay actually enjoys making their lounges somewhere you want to hang out, we'd recommend getting there early enough before your flight to relax in the fresh space. It opens up four hours before the first Cathay departure. All in all there's several seating areas, three shower rooms, seven private workstations (with printer), a snack center and noodle bar. Plus free WiFi of course. ]]> JetSetCD 2011-12-21T09:35:02-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/12/14/54831/389

From repainting planes to overhauling terminals, Virgin Australia has had their plates full trying rebrand their entire operation, while changing the image from an all-economy service to a full-service airline. From the looks of things, the livery is flying all over Australia with more planes to come and re-Virgin-ized airport spaces. This goes for new airport lounges in major cities.

We took advantage of the fact that Virgin allows lounge access to Gold and Platinum Velocity Rewards members without actually flying, and checked out the Brisbane lounge for lunch. Yea, we went to the airport just for lunch. On first impression, the design is slick and the check-in fast and friendly, as expected from the brand.

One thing worth mentioning are the new staff uniforms, done up in a sultry, yet professional, red with Virgin-purple color pops in the form of neck scarves. So super glam. ]]> jetflyboy 2011-12-15T09:36:03-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/10/28/02254/613

Everybody's talking Tokyo, and with good reason. The country is psyched to begin restarting tourism, autumn over there is magical, and the ANA 787 Dreamliner just completed her maiden revenue flight out of the city. So when you do take that dive and head to Japan, you'll likely spend some time in Narita International Airport. If you're flying United and holding a Business Class, ticket or Star Alliance status, then you'll want to know about the United Business Lounge.

We recently spent some time here after bumping ourselves up to Biz, and gave the sizeable lounge a good once-over: ]]> JetSetCD 2011-10-28T16:27:14-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/10/21/111424/15

You've had a long flight, or maybe you're about to have a long flight, or maybe—horror of horrors—both. You've got some sizeable layover time at Tokyo-Narita Airport and you're desperate to have a shower, take a nap or work in peace and comfort—or all three things. If you're flying economy you don't have the option to crash in a lounge, but luckily Narita is a large (and awesome) enough airport to offer Shower rooms and Day Rooms, and we just tried them out!

Our story involved a long flight to NRT from Bangkok, an 8-hour layover and another long flight back to the States in economy. Typically we'd enjoy the airport like an amusement park, but we were under the weather and sleepy. Although the day rooms may be reserved online up to one month in advance, we just walked in and plonked down our credit card for five hours in a single room.]]> JetSetCD 2011-10-21T12:05:13-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/10/18/191952/87

Last time we were hanging out in one of Delta’s SkyClubs, we were enjoying a little bit of premium tequila, and now it looks like more of the top shelf stuff is coming to an airport lounge near you. All the booze that has been free will remain complimentary in the clubs, but there are some new fancy drinks and upgraded spirits that will now set you back some extra cash; better find a buddy with an expense account, and quick!

The rollout of what Delta is calling the “Luxury Bar” has already begun, and the plan is to have the new booze available in New York—both JFK and LGA—as well as Boston, Newark, Palm Beach, Seattle, and Washington. They promise that the offerings are coming to other airports sooner than later, so don’t worry if you call Los Angeles or Atlanta home. ]]> kjb 2011-10-19T09:20:37-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/10/7/14423/5482

There are airport lounges, and then there are Virgin Atlantic Clubhouses—the type of lounge that makes you pray for a flight delay. Happily, when we scored access to the Clubhouse at San Francisco International Airport the other week, we were early for our flight. Unhappily, it left on time. Here’s what we found.

The room is bright and airy, overlooking the runway like most lounges. But unlike most, it’s sexy. Take the vast bar, for example—it’s colored an icy blue, and takes up about half the length of the (lengthy) room. Propping up the bar is even more appealing when there’s a shelf of travel guides to flick through, too. Over by the window, facing the bar, is a row of armchairs.

There aren’t many snacks scattered around—just a plate of fruit and cookies at the bar—but, instead, the end section of the lounge works as a restaurant, with a cluster of TVs to watch while you wait for your table service, and pictures of pinups if you’re bored by the telly. By the window down that end are sofas, which also get table service. Windows have blue and pink-tinted filters over them, which is weird at first but quite soothing. ]]> juliab 2011-10-07T15:14:07-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/