Last week KLM officially opened its completely renovated non-Schengen Crown Lounge at Schiphol Airport. The lounge far outperforms the pervious incarnation, and celebrates new food and beverage concepts including it’s pay-for Blue restaurant.
KLM’s non-Schengen Crown Lounge (the official name) is located between the E and F piers at Schiphol. The “KLM House” is identifiable from the rest of the concourse thanks to its its illuminated glass wall adorned with no less than five thousand Delft blue miniature houses which line the escalator entrance to the lounge.
There are now 100 of these iconic World Business Class gifts available to those flying long haul with the carrier. The white marble lounge desk takes the shape of a giant KLM logo and the lounge offers a great view of the runways, piers, and the KLM fleet in the background.
KLM’s non-Schengen Crown Lounge is vast, and has virtually doubled in size. “The lounge now covers an area of 6,800 square metres with about a thousand full-free-service seats,” says Eelco van Asch, Senior Vice President, KLM Ground Services. “What’s more, there are about two hundred exclusive seats in the Blue Bar and Restaurant with equally exclusive levels of service.”
The restaurant supports the usual food and beverage options of the lounge, but offers an exciting, innovative paid-for dining concept for those wanting to add to their experience. If passengers have some miles to burn, they can also pay with their Flying Blue miles there.
KLM’s non-Schengen Crown Lounge also has improved the personal experience throughout the lounge. The online Lounge Guide offers visitors a constant digital assistant to help them find their way around, book services, check flight details, or request personal assistance from one of the Personal Lounge Assistants.
In the ‘Polder’ landscape, customers can work ideally and relax at the same time. The carpet, decorated in varying shades of green, is reminiscent of the Netherlands’ vast pastureland. And a 110-metre LED light wall simulates the Dutch sky. The lighting adapts to the time of day and includes a beautiful sunset.
In the lively ‘City’ landscape, customers can enjoy “live” cooking, a Heineken Bar, specially designed by Heineken, and a coffee bar with a barista.
The new food and beverage concept – characterised by stylish, high-quality, and fresh seasonal products – comes from KLM’s partner Vermaat. Reducing waste is an important pillar for both companies to lounge catering.
The ‘Sea‘ offers everything customers need to recharge their batteries during their journey. The area has twenty free showers, which customers can reserve in advance at the lounge’s self-service kiosks.
The luxury sleeping cabins offer privacy, tranquillity, and comfort – for a fee – using Flying Blue miles, or three hours for EUR 49,50.
It’s the perfect place to close your eyes and rest during a transfer or a long journey. In the future the showers and sleeping cabins will be equipped with digital allocation systems using QR codes.
The striking ‘Dutch Mountain’ zone offers visitors a variety of options for working and having fun, from a TV room to a DJ stand for special events. It devotes attention to Dutch design and offers historical attributes from KLM’s heritage.
‘Sky’ is an exclusive and original area on the second floor. At the explicit request of KLM customers, Sky’s high-end setting offers a terrace with a beautiful view of Schiphol Airport.
You can enjoy excellent meals and a wide range of drinks in Blue by KLM, a restaurant and adjacent bar for an extra fee. Blue’s menu is compiled by Joris Bijdendijk of RIJKS, the Rijksmuseum’s Michelin-starred restaurant. Blue offers a fantastic gastronomic experience, carefully considering individual timing and personal needs.
“We can hardly imagine giving our international and national customers a better birthday present,” says Boet Kreiken, Executive Vice President, KLM Customer Experience. “KLM stands for hospitality. For 100 years we have connected with our customers by continuously putting them first. The KLM Crown lounge is a high quality rest stop for our best customers.”
“Whether you are departing, arriving, or transferring flights, you will be very well rested here. The whole design, our KLM staff’s customer friendly approach is dedicated to this. The lounge is an example of a unique combination between the humanely touch and the digital comfort. In our opinion, we have created the most attractive lounge in the world, where hospitality and innovation are central. It is a customer experience on an unprecedented level. The focus for our customers is as though they are visiting a good friend, and that friend is called KLM.”
The lounge is open to KLM and Air France’s Business Class passengers; Flying Blue Platinum plus Gold members including one guest (additional guests on payment) and SkyTeam Elite Plus members can also bring one guest.The lounge is open daily from 04:45 until the last KLM flight departs.
KLM also wants its customers and those of our partner airlines who do not have automatic lounge access, to be able to benefit from the Crown Lounge. They can do this by purchasing access in the KLM app, at KLM.com,at the self-service machines in the airport, or at the entrance to the lounge – depending on their destination and lounge capacity.
It’s a huge step up, but already can get busy thanks to the millions of passengers that use AMS each month. But considering the new Crown Lounge offers showers, paid sleeping cabins, virtual reality cabins, a terrace overlooking the runways and Personal Lounge Assistants as well as their signature Blue restaurant, it’s going to improve the passenger experience and appeal of KLM for many years to come.
The Big Dutch Picture
TheDesignAir 
It’s very attractive, and I’m looking forward to visiting this lounge in February, but all those stairs make me wonder about passengers with disabilities…
I like it that they made the massive original space smaller by making more human scale rooms….it felt like being in a massive hall that was always packed with people…so hard to find a seat at the best of times. This lounge was one of my least favorites… now it definitely looks more inviting.