I spent 3 hours in Emirates’ first class Dubai lounge, and despite the showers, spa, and beds, it wasn’t as luxurious as I expected

• I was given access to Emirates’ first class lounge at Dubai Airport, despite flying economy back to London.
• The lounge features an à la carte restaurant, cigar lounge, showers, sleeping area, and even a spa with complimentary treatments.
• While the experience was certainly better than sitting at the gate before an economy flight, and I was impressed by the size and how much was on offer, I was left feeling a bit unimpressed, mainly by the decor.
• Considering people travelling through it are spending upwards of $7,000, depending on where they’re going, it was dated and didn’t feel very luxurious.
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Not many people get to go to first class airport lounges. It’s very unusual to be able to buy your way into one, and very few of us fly first class after all.

The untold riches that lie within remain a mystery for most, so I was thrilled when I was granted access to the first class Emirates lounge at Dubai Airport to review it for Insider (despite flying economy back to London).

Emirates as an airline has a reputation for quality, luxury, and excellent service. Combine that with the fact that Dubai is known for its hospitality and general lavishness, and I had high hopes for the lounge.

There were certainly impressive aspects to the lounge – it was huge for a start, and there’s lots of food on offer – but overall? Reader, I was actually pretty unimpressed.

Sure, it was leagues better than the economy experience - I had a massage in the spa and a three-course breakfast - but for the cost of a first class flight, I didn't find the level of luxury I'd been expecting.

Here's what the first class lounge was like.

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Having arranged my visit in advance (I was given special access in my journalist capacity), my boarding pass had a note on it about the lounge — despite quite clearly being an economy ticket.

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I'd arrived at the airport at 8.50 a.m. for a 12.10 p.m. flight, intending to give myself plenty of time in the lounge. Despite this confusing signage, I arrived at the first class lounge (which is below the business one) at around 9.15 a.m.

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The reception area is visible to anyone through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

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The inside is indeed pretty grand, and after checking in at the desk I was shown through to the lounge. I didn't get very far, however, when I realised back outside was ...

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... the spa. Yes, really. The spa is open to both first and business class travellers, but only those in first get a choice of complimentary 15-minute treatment: back massage, leg and foot reflex therapy, head massage, body stretch, or hand massage.

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You can also pay for longer treatments including facials, manicures, hot stone massages, and blow-dries. I only had to wait a few minutes in this reception area before being shown through.

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I had the complimentary back massage, which wasn't fully lying down but on one of these massage chairs (and clothed). It was a generous 15 minutes and my masseuse was really good — I genuinely felt like some of my knots had been worked out, plus it was incredibly relaxing after an exhausting week.

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I was impressed with how many treatment rooms there were — some had proper massage tables or pedicure chairs like this one below.

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I went back into the lounge and, having been told that the right-hand-side was exactly the same as the left, just a mirror image, I turned right for no real reason. I walked through a small duty-free section, which was much the same as any duty-free section.

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It soon became clear to me that the first class lounge is absolutely huge. Thankfully there was a map ...

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... as well as various signposts. I was told when I checked in that I could board directly from the lounge, which was great, but that they wouldn't call the flights so it was up to me to get to my gate in time. Better not make myself too much at home then, I thought.

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The lounge was incredibly quiet on the Sunday morning I visited, and I saw a lot more staff than travellers.

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There are all sorts of seating areas, but honestly I though all the decor was incredibly dated.

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There are various newspapers and magazines on offer at a few places in the lounge — the majority were Arabic publications, but there were some international ones too.

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There was also a dedicated charging station, despite there being a fair few sockets around.

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There's a business lounge featuring a TV playing sport, but no one was in there.

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There was a coffee machine in the corner, but the room was pretty dingy. It felt more like a Wetherspoons pub (a downmarket chain across the UK) or a hospital waiting room than a first class airline lounge to me.

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I found another slightly nicer seating spot by the first refreshment area I came to. There are three places you can eat in the lounge.

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This one focused on sweet treats ...

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... but also had sushi on offer.

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There were dates and Arabic coffee on the counter, which was a nice touch...

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... And traditional pastries.

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You can order food from the restaurant's à la carte menu anywhere in the lounge ...

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... but I decided I would just have a coffee and see a bit more of the lounge before having breakfast. There was a screen playing Bloomberg TV to my right, but everything was very quiet.

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I wandered a little further, past a children's room — quite frankly, if anyone is flying kids first class they need to rethink their priorities, in my opinion.

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I walked a little further, and started to feel like I was in a budget hotel where you'd get sent for a boring conference.

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The bathrooms — while far nicer than what you'd find in the public areas of the airport — were of a similar style, although they stocked Voya toiletries, dental kits, and combs.

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I found the main restaurant area, which has a buffet as well as the à la carte menu.

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There was a rose on each table, which was a nice touch. But I still wasn't really impressed by the style. It was neither classic and traditional nor modern and sleek.

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I sat myself down at a table by the window, which meant I got a nice view of the runway. The room was lovely and bright. There was no charging socket, but the charming waiter insisted on pulling up a chair for my bag.

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This is the menu. It was pretty traditional with an array of international offerings, and there was lots to choose from, so you'd be able to satisfy pretty much any craving.

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I ordered some water (and was asked if I wanted sparkling or still, chilled or room temperature, and with or without lemon), a coffee, a smoothie, some fruit, and some eggs. Little did I know I was then going to be brought a basket of toast and pastries, too.

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I tucked into a little cinnamon swirl and this chocolate-filled pastry, which was delicious: Warm, flaky, slightly squidgy, and not short on filling.

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It was also nice to be asked whether I wanted all my food at once. I said yes. Yup, it was a lot of food. My strawberry smoothie was creamy and had a yummy yogurt flavor, and the fruit plate was beautifully presented.

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My scrambled eggs were nice, the hash browns were, well, hash browns, but I wasn't really into the chicken sausages — the skin was too tough. It certainly wasn't fancy, but it hit the spot.

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I ordered some baked beans on the side to help acclimatise myself to the UK again, but my eyes had definitely been bigger than my stomach. I struggled through, though.

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As I munched my way through an unnecessary amount of food, I watched a man at a table near me get his shoes shined while he dined, which seemed pretty luxurious to me.

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After my lengthy breakfast I found the main buffet, and immediately regretted having eaten so much.

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The staff were setting up, presumably, for lunch, and there was lots on offer, both hot dishes including baked Nile perch with armoricaine sauce, curries, and noodles ...

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... and cold, like lots of fresh salads, cheeses, and mezze.

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I actually thought it all looked better and more interesting than what was on the à la carte menu.

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I was very tempted to take a muffin for the flight, but then I remembered Emirates always feed you well (even in economy). Considering how much food you get served travelling first class, it seems a bit mad that there's so much on offer in the lounge.

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I took my food baby for a stroll down to the end of the lounge past more magazines and more dated armchairs.

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It was so quiet.

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At the end of the lounge is the third refreshment area, which focuses on savory snacks.

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As well as canapés and mezze, there were various breads and cheeses, plus yet more Arabic coffee and dates.

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One cool thing about the lounge is that it features a handful of showers — had I been in between long-haul flights, that would have been brilliant.

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As with the rest of the lounge, everything was provided, but it wasn't particularly slick in style. Having recently seen the swanky showers in Qantas' lounge at Heathrow airport, these seemed pretty uninspiring and basic.

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What was more exciting to me, however, was the quiet lounge, which is essentially a dim room full of armchair-beds.

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There were various different types, each with a thick blanket, soft pillow, and eye-mask. I lay down and it was incredibly comfortable to say the least. Again, I thought back to my last long-haul flight change-over and how amazing it would have been to be able to have a snooze here. It was delightfully peaceful and I was very reluctant to move.

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However, I did ultimately get up because time was ticking and there was one more area of the lounge I was yet to see: the cigar bar, the exterior of which features these fun stained-glass windows.

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As a non-smoker who has zero interest in cigars, the room was not a high priority for me, but it ended up being my favourite part of the lounge (OK, maybe aside from the quiet room AKA sleep room).

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It was the only part of the whole lounge that seemed to have any character or style.

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There were rich mahogany wall fittings, chandeliers, old-fashioned rugs, and plush leather sofas.

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It was cool, and the vibe struck me as grand, old-school pub meets speakeasy.

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There was one man smoking a cigar and seemingly plenty on offer, however they were one of the few things in the lounge you actually had to pay for. Prices ranged from around 30-100 dirham ($8-27) each.

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I ordered a mimosa, grabbed a date from the bar counter (the fruit, I mean) and sat myself down. It was only then that I realized it was time to go to the gate. I felt like I could have stayed in my current set-up much longer, but alas. It also wasn't until after my visit that I found out there was apparently a wine cellar somewhere in the lounge, but I neither found it nor saw any signs for it.

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It was nice to skip the normal queue at the gate, but felt a little tragic to go through the first class desk and then have to take the lift down to the lower deck level for economy passengers. Still, I'd had a taste of the first class lifestyle, and it was certainly more fun than the usual airport experience.

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Still, despite the size and all of the amenities — and food — the lounge was nowhere near as luxurious as I'd hoped.

Yes, the service was great, getting a free massage is awesome, being able to shower is cool, having free food and drinks is fun, and being able to snooze somewhere quiet and comfy is great if you need to.

However, it seemed to me that the lounge desperately needs a makeover. The style is incredibly dated, and didn't feel luxurious as a result.

There was no character, and honestly it felt a bit, well, budget, which is surprising considering how much people pay to travel first class - my flight from Dubai to London would have cost over $7,000.

Given that I only looked around half the lounge (the other half is exactly the same thing, just a mirror image on the other side), it's unnecessarily huge. Surely there can never be that many first class travellers at once?

But I suppose those who travel first class want the privacy it affords them as much as anything else.

While it's likely those who travel first class are mainly paying for the privacy - and the lounge is certainly nicer than killing time in the normal part of a terminal - if I had paid full price for a first class ticket, I would have been unimpressed.

Read more:

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