Terminal 4S is the primary terminal for Iberia, American Airlines, and other OneWorld carriers. It’s a fantastic, award-winning terminal design with some striking architectural features.

Despite all this lovely design, I do find the fact that the Velasquez lounge entrance is located inside the duty free shop. The bright silver hues of the perfume section blend in with the stainless steel doors of the lounge.

The Iberia staff was polite and I was promptly checked in. The lounge is very long in shape with the check- in desks at the very center of the lounge. The layout is mirrored on each side of the check-in desk so the amenities are nearly identical on each side of the lounge. The exception is that the showers are located to left-hand side of the check-in desks. The left-hand side also features are more robust wine bar area. Otherwise, the food, beverages, and seating are just about the same on each side.

The lounge is well furnished with tasteful, upscale finishes. The warm hues, expansive windows, glossy counter-tops, and comfortable seating options make the Iberia lounge quite an inviting one.

I had a solid 1.5 hours to spend at the Iberia lounge. I arrived at the lounge around 9 AM so the selection, both hold and cold, was the breakfast selection. There was a decent selections of eggs, cheeses, cold cuts, breakfast meats, sauteed vegetables, and cheeses.  Beverages are self-service and at least during the morning hours, there was no bar staff present. The food was decent with a better selection that your average US domestic lounge.

There were always seats available to find but the lounge was approaching capacity at one point. With its elongated shape, however, the lounge never actually felt crowded. It was nothing like your standard Admirals Club, fighting over any empty seat. The lounge was very light and bright and planespotting is decent. The angled louvers over the windows restricts the view a tad bit but at the same time, probably do a great job of keeping the sun glare down.

The bathrooms were clean and well stocked with premium toiletries. I did not use the shower facilities as I was just starting my day and it was not needed. However there was not wait at all if a shower suite was needed.

My only major issue with the Iberia lounge was the WiFi. It was very easy to connect to but the connection was SLOW. Less than 1 MB per second upon a SpeedTest.net check. The main airport WiFi was just as slow so there was no alternative. My hotel WiFi had also been slow. Was this a Madrid thing? About 15 minutes out from scheduled boarding, the announcement was made for my DFW flight to begin boarding. It was quite the walk to my gate and the lounge staff reminded of this upon arrival.

Overall, I enjoyed the Iberia lounge. I think it’s a well-appointed lounge with all the expected amenities in a well-designed space. And while it doesn’t go above a beyond like a Cathay Pacific lounge, for example, I’d take this lounge any day of your standard Admirals Club.