Last week during my 11 Hour Layover in Santiago Chile, I had the chance to visit the new LAN TAM (LATAM) VIP Lounge at Santiago’s Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL). The new LATAM Lounge at SCL Airport just opened last month and became the largest VIP Lounge in South America.
Since the new LAN/TAM Lounge was built at Santiago International Airport, they have since closed the Neruda and Mistral VIP Lounges which have been replaced by other airline lounges. According to the LAN website, the LATAM VIP lounge opens from 3am to 1am which almost makes it 24 hours.
The best way to get to the new LAN TAM Sala VIP Lounge is to access it from the Preferente Priority Check in area because the lounge is located to the left after clearing security. The Preferente check in area is an exclusive area for LAN elite members, oneworld sapphires, oneworld emeralds, First class customers, and Business class customers. There’s even a dedicated customs and security lane in the preferential check in area.
I was able to get into the LATAM Sala VIP Lounge because of my oneworld emerald status (American Airlines Executive Platinum) and I was traveling on LAN Airlines.
From the moment you walk in, you’ll see a departures board and a pretty cool art installation to the right.
The lounge is pretty ginormous with a huge ceiling and there were plenty of seats available on the lower level.
There’s also a communal work area that looks like a conference table.
There’s also a magazine rack and a small business center equipped with Apple desktop computers.
The buffet area consisted of small hot lite bites, sushi (empty), sandwiches (empty), assorted cheese (almost empty), deli meats (empty), bread, jam, fruit, and pound cake.
On another table, there was more bread, salted snack mix, chips, whole fruit, apple chips, and digestive cookies.
Beverages included orange juice, coffee, tea, water, and soft drinks from the fridge. There was also an assorted variety of bottled beer from the fridge.
There was also a large variety of hard liquor such as brandy, gin, vodka, rum, and whiskey.
There was also champagne and an assortment of red and white wine available.
The lower level seemed to be very busy with lots of guests occupying the available seating. That meant that the buffet spread was quite visited often and the staff had a hard time with replenishment. The coveted items were the assorted sushi, mini sandwiches, assorted cheeses and deli meats.
The new LAN TAM VIP Lounge is so ginormous, there was a second upper level with additional seating and buffet spreads.
The upper level of the LATAM VIP Lounge was quiet empty with plenty of seating.
There was even a kid’s play room and a sleeping lounge area.
The buffet spread consisted of assorted sushi, assorted cheeses, mini sandwiches, mini muffins, brownie bites, bread, and fruit salad.
Beverages included orange juice and canned soft drinks, water, and bottled beer from the mini fridge.
Hard liquor was also available such as gin, whiskey, brandy, rum, and vodka.
Red and white wine was also available.
In the back of the upper level lounge area, there was additional seating in the dining area with more food options.
The buffet spread consisted of small hot lite bites, salad, assorted deli meats, miniature sandwiches, bread, fruit salad, and pound cake.
There were also digestive cookies, granola bars, whole fruit, and a salty snack mix.
Tip: If you want dessert, you have to ask one of the lounge attendants to bring you Haagen Daz ice cream from the kitchen freezer.
Beverages included orange juice, pineapple juice, tea, coffee, and canned soft drinks from the mini fridge below the buffet spread.
The most impressive part about this lounge was the beautiful wine display décor.
There was also a selection of red and white wine.
The best part about the LAN TAM (LATAM) Sala VIP Lounge at Santiago’s Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL), is the shower facility.
The shower room was quite spacious and the best part was the bath amenities which included LAN toiletries and a Salvatore Ferragamo amenity kit.
I really like the new LATAM lounge at Santiago Airport despite the empty food spread on the lower level. The trick is to immediately go upstairs where they serve the exact same food as downstairs and relax in the serene dining area. I was quite impressed with the shower room as well because they give out a Salvatore Ferragamo amenity kit which is the same one given to Business Class passengers onboard LAN Airlines flights.
Have you been to the new LAN/TAM VIP Lounge at Santiago International Airport?