Accor wins Singapore Airlines lounge contract at Changi Airport

I don’t think it’s particularly controversial to say that the best lounges at Changi Airport aren’t operated by Singapore Airlines. For my money, Qatar Airways has the best Business Class lounge, and Qantas the best First Class lounge.

However, there could be some improvements on the horizon, as Accor — which operates the highly-rated Qantas Lounges at Changi — has just secured a lounge contract with Singapore Airlines.

Accor wins SilverKris Lounge contract

Now, it may surprise you to know that Accor manages airport lounges, but indeed they do. In fact, they’ve been running the Qantas Lounges in Singapore for years now, as well as Australia, London and Los Angeles.

Qantas Lounges by Accor offers a unique blend of world-class hospitality and the excitement of the aviation industry. As a leading provider of premium service experiences, we combine the renowned service of Qantas with the hospitality expertise of Accor, to create memorable moments for Qantas passengers travelling through Australia, Singapore, London and Los Angeles.

-Accor

Last week, I learned from a source that Accor Hotels had won a contract with Singapore Airlines for their lounges at Changi Airport. I reached out to Singapore Airlines for a comment,  and received the following response (emphasis mine).

Now, before you get too excited, this isn’t a wholesale takeover. Accor has won a contract to provide passenger relations officers in the lounges, rather than catering or other aspects of the experience. However, it could be a first step towards something bigger, as the sheer scale of SIA’s lounge operations at Changi would lend itself to a progressive assumption of responsibilities, rather than an immediate transition.

But even if Accor’s involvement starts and ends with staffing, I’m optimistic this will lead to a much-improved service experience. Frequent visitors to the Qantas Lounges in Changi, especially the Qantas First Lounge, will know how highly the staff are regarded. They’re warm, personable, have a knack for remembering names and favourite orders, and when the lounges reopened following COVID, I gather there were many teary-eyed reunions.

In contrast, the hospitality experience in Singapore Airlines’ lounges, even The Private Room, is a lot more anonymous. It’s not that the staff are rude by any means; they just don’t exude the same kind of warmth, erring on the professional-yet-distant side.

In addition to this, Singapore Airlines also appears to have secured the services of the former GM for the Qantas Singapore lounges, which should be another exciting development given this individual’s track record.

SIA needs to work on its lounge catering

If there’s one aspect of the lounge experience that I really hope Accor takes over, it’s the catering.

The sad truth is that having visited both the Qantas First Lounge and The Private Room, I can tell you the difference is night and day. Qantas wins hands down, with a menu that’s no mere facsimile of its Australian lounges, but rather reads like a love letter to the hawker and haute cuisine of Singapore.

Make no mistake: this isn’t “great-for-airport-lounge” food. This is great food, period, the sort of thing I’d be happy to pay money for outside. The finesse, the elegance with which ingredients are selected and presented shows that it’s not just about having hero ingredients like lobster or caviar— it’s about knowing how to get the most out of what you have. 

Every dish I’ve had at the Qantas First Lounge has been stellar, whether it’s the addictive har cheong gai chicken wings (smartly paired with smashed cucumber to tame the heat), or a delectable piece of skate (stingray) with a sambal glaze.

In contrast, the food quality at The Private Room (menu) is just alright. I won’t deny that it has its moments, but if given a choice between dining here or the Qantas First Lounge, I’d take the latter any day of the week.

It’s hard to pinpoint where exactly the catering falls short, but to me, many dishes just don’t feel cohesive. 

For example, lobster pasta should be a perfect pairing, if you can marry the briny sweetness of the sea with the brightness of the tomato sauce. But The Private Room’s interpretation of this dish is more like lobster + pasta, two separate elements haphazardly thrown together. 

Other weird choices include pairing sautéed potatoes instead of fries with a burger, and the baffling insistence on having undressed salad leaves accompany most Western dishes (these almost always go untouched).

Then there’s plating. There’s a somewhat amateurish feel to the plating in The Private Room, whether it’s an odd smear of chilli sauce on a dim sum platter, or a smoked salmon salad that’s little more than repackaged fish and some uninspiring bagged salad leaves.

To put it another way, the food in the Qantas First Lounge feels like it was made by a chef (and what a chef she is!). The food in The Private Room feels like it was assembled by a caterer.

Perhaps the main advantage that The Private Room has over the Qantas First Lounge are its wines, with vintage Taittinger Comtes de Champagne and Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millénaires both poured. The selection in the Qantas First Lounge is more mundane, with non-vintage Joseph Perrier and Duval-Leory champagne (though Qantas would win handsomely in a cocktail battle).

Conclusion

Singapore Airlines has awarded a contract to Accor Hotels to provide passenger relations officers for its SilverKris Lounges in Singapore, and if my experiences at the Qantas Lounges are anything to go by, this should be a very nice upgrade.

But what I’m really hoping is that Accor gets a shot at the catering contract too, because that’s an area where the SilverKris Lounges are badly lagging behind the competition.

What do you make of Accor’s contract win?