5 Things To Know About the Neptuno Lounge in Madrid [Review]

I’ve been residing in Madrid, Spain, for nearly 2 decades, and I happen to really love my home airport, Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD).

Why? Well, it’s just a 20-minute drive to the city center, and its newest Terminal 4 and Terminal 4S spaces are mainly for Oneworld flyers. Since I’m loyal to Iberia for convenience, I usually end up at these modern, spacious terminals, which feature those iconic waving bamboo roofs.

And last but not least, all of the airport’s terminals feature Salas VIP, comfortable, renovated airport lounges that are part of the Priority Pass program. I spend a lot of time in the Sala VIP Neptuno, as it’s in the non-Schengen 4S terminal. I normally visit when I’m taking long-haul international flights to the U.S. or elsewhere, and it really sets the tone for a relaxed, stress-free trip. It’s one of my favorite lounges, so I wanted to share why I love it and what you should know to make your visit hassle-free and enjoyable.

1. The Lounge Is Huge, and You’ll Likely Get In

Visiting a Priority Pass lounge in most U.S. airports is hit or miss — I haven’t been able to get into many. The ones I have visited are often lackluster.

But even on the busiest travel dates, I’ve always gotten into Neptuno (over 50 times over the past decade). During my latest trip in late December, on one of the busiest travel days of the year, the line stretching out of the lounge seemed long but moved quickly. I only had to wait about 10 minutes, so don’t get discouraged if you see the line is long or the lounge appears to be full, even on peak travel dates.

Once you enter, you’ll see that the lounge is huge, with high ceilings, a couple of food and drink areas, and ample seating.

How To Enter

The best way to access the lounge is to hold a Priority Pass membership, which you can get complimentary as a perk when enrolling as a cardholder of the Platinum Card^® from American Express, the Citi Strata Elite℠ Card, or the Chase Sapphire Reserve^®, among others.

Iberia has its own lounge, so if you’re flying business class with that airline, you can head to that lounge. But even though it’s not part of Oneworld, Emirates flies out of this terminal, so if you’re flying business or first class with that airline (and some others), you can enter the Sala VIP Neptuno. You can bring in 1 guest (children under 6 are free and don’t count as your guest), and you can spend up to 4 hours in the lounge, which is open 24 hours a day.

2. It’s Light, Airy, and Pleasant Inside

Terminal 4 and Terminal 4S at the Madrid Barajas Airport opened in 2006, true works of architecture. The high, wavy ceilings and huge windows make my airport experience feel less claustrophobic, and the lounge is no different.

The high ceilings mean that even when the lounge is extremely crowded, it doesn’t feel like it. And the massive windows let in plenty of light. AV geeks (and kids, though my 4-year-old is a budding AV enthusiast) can enjoy epic planespotting, and on most days, sunlight streams in (Madrid receives about 300 sunny days each year).

3. Only Oneworld, Non-Schengen Passengers Can Enter (And It’s a Trek To Arrive)

Before putting this airport lounge on your bucket list, there are a few things you need to know. Madrid’s T4 and T4S are separate from T1, T2, and T3. T4 is the Oneworld terminal that’s used for Schengen flights, while T4S is for non-Schengen passengers. So you can only access the Sala VIP Neptuno if you’re flying to a non-Schengen country.

Getting to the Sala VIP Neptuno is an adventure. You first need to check in for your flight at T4, go through security, and take a short train ride to T4S. Then you’ll go through passport control and head up to the gates, which you reach by entering a duty-free shop.

Don’t enter this duty-free shop if you plan to go to this lounge. Instead, turn left and head up to floor 2 in the elevator, where you’ll finally see the entrance for the Sala VIP Neptuno.

Only you can decide how much time you need to get through the airport, but when I know I’m flying through T4S, I usually ensure at least 3 hours, even though I’m Oneworld Ruby and can check in through the priority line. T4 is large, and between checking in, security, the train, passport control, and walking between all these stops, it takes about an hour. In most cases, you have to board between 50 and 60 minutes before your trip. If I give myself 3 hours, I have a full hour in the lounge to eat, snack, relax, or work before my flight.

4. There’s Lots of Seating and Charging Points

There are a few private rooms in this lounge, ample table space for dining, and plenty of comfortable chairs where you can plan your day, charge your devices, or just hang out.

I’ve never had a major issue finding space to sit, even for my family of 3 on peak dates.

Each of the armchair seats features outlets and USB chargers (and they work, too). I always plug in my devices while here.

If you prefer a calmer experience, head to the back of the lounge, where you can usually find more empty seats and fewer people. The window seats also feel quieter.

There’s also a station for magazines and newspapers, which I like, since I never buy these in paper form on my own.

5. Plan To Eat and Drink Here, but on Spanish Time

The food in this lounge is consistently good. Don’t expect a Michelin star, but you can fill up your tummy with tasty food, including healthy dishes.

Breakfast has deli meats and cheeses, fresh fruit, baked goods, cereals, Spanish tortilla, and even veggies.

Lunch and dinner see creative, individual hot plates featuring meat, fish, chicken, legumes, pasta, and vegetables, with lots of healthy choices, including vegetarian.

But manage your expectations, because meal times are different here than you might expect. You won’t find lunch food here at noon or likely even at 1 p.m. In my experience, the lounge operates on Spanish mealtimes, meaning hot plates are served after 1 p.m., and dinner won’t start until around 8 p.m.

You likely won’t see hot meal items between 4 and 8 p.m., give or take, because this is Spanish merienda, or snack time, so you can expect offerings like nuts, chips, sandwiches, and cookies.

My most recent trip had me in the lounge around 10:30 a.m., squarely for breakfast, according to Spain’s eating rules. I had delicious fresh fruit and veggies, smoked salmon, and a croissant. My son had a sandwich and yogurt (the fridges have yogurt, drinks, and sandwiches available all day), and my husband, being stereotypically Spanish, had Serrano ham and a Spanish omelet (they serve it with or without onions, but deciding which is better is up to you).

Though the Spanish lounge systems are specific about mealtimes, one thing they aren’t specific about is drinking times.

I couldn’t get pasta at 11 a.m., but I could certainly get free wine, beer, or top-shelf spirits. ¡Viva España!

Final Thoughts

As a frequent Oneworld flyer, I consider this lounge to be my home lounge, along with the Sala VIP Retiro in T4, which I visit when I’m not leaving the Schengen area but am flying Iberia. While there are a few things to know about going to the lounge, like it taking a while to get there and being prepared for mealtime differences, my visits to this lounge are always pleasant, and hopefully, if you’ve managed meal time expectations and set yourself up with enough time to arrive, yours will be, too.