August 2025. We’re travelling to the Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and more specifically their respective capitals Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius. Are they interconnected by rail? Yes, but not in the most straightforward or userfriendly way possible. The Rail Baltica project should remedy this. Unsurprisingly though, this megaproject faces political and budgetary hurdles. It will most likely not be ready by 2030. But that doesn’t stop us. What to expect from the Baltics? Is it affected by  overtourism? 

Note: The Loft is now closed for a rethink and renovations.

Brussels Airlines switched from American Express to Mastercard with Beobank for their miles-earning credit card. Anticipating this, we booked our flights using Miles & More miles. And we flew business. Yes, we roll that way (sometimes). 

And this, this gave us access to the award winning The Loft, officially The Loft by Brussels Airlines and Lexus. Lexus is high-end brand of Toyota. We have visited ands reviewed The Loft before, but that has been a while ago. 

The Loft is easily accessible, across gate A42. It’s open seven days a week, from 5AM to 9PM. 

Presentation

How does Brussels Airlines present THE LOFT? Officially it’s capitalised. 

• Lexus – Experience Amazing. In partnership with Lexus, guests can enjoy The Lexus Experience area, showcasing the brand’s finest luxury and design, inspired by Japan’s tradition of omotenashi – the art of hospitality. This centuries-old philosophy, which treats every visitor as a valued guest in one’s own home, is a core value of Lexus. Visitors can also discover more about THE LOFT by Lexus via an external website.
• A taste of Belgium. The lounge offers guests a daily dose of traditionally roasted premium coffee by Belgian family-owned Rombouts, and the opportunity to pour their own draft beer at the Belgian Bar by AB InBev. Fresh culinary creations by Aramark are available for those seeking a meal, while the Neuhaus Corner serves the finest Belgian chocolates.
• Exclusive VIP area. HON Circle members can access a separate VIP room featuring a state-of-the-art Miele kitchen, a stylish living room for relaxation or work, and a rotating art collection of both Belgian and international works.
• The Belgian touch. On the west side of the lounge, visitors will find spaces rich in Belgian inspiration. Highlights include a large wall of historical memorabilia from the beloved Tintin universe, interactive touch screens with games, and a quiet individual living room for peaceful moments.
• Space to work. For those needing to focus, THE LOFT provides a dedicated workspace at the back of the lounge, complete with comfortable tables, power outlets and glass partitions for privacy.
• Travelling with pets. Guests are welcome to bring their four-legged companions into the lounge. However, pets must remain in their transport container or carrier and may not roam freely.

Lexus has a whole section dedicated to The Loft. Expect the expected: brand awareness, focus on quality and Japanese toilets. Late more on that.

General look

The Loft is L-shaped, with the Brussels Airlines side straight ahead and the Lexus side on your right after entering. 

The lounge is large and offers your usual variety of seating options. Living room type seating, table type seating, desk type seating, lounge type seating. 

The SN side is predominantly white, the Lexus side has more shades of brown. 

Food and beverages 

Be honest, besides shielding you from the madding crowd in the terminal, you go to the lounge for the food and the drinks. 

Both sides have buffet stations offering the same options, or nearly the same. We were there at breakfast time. But as Danny will tell you next week, we had our flight delayed so we stayed longer in the lounge and saw the shift to lunch. 

The breakfast offering resembles a hotel breakfast buffet with English breakfast items such as eggs, bacon, tomatoes, beans in tomato sauce, sausages… but also cold cuts, breads, croissants and other pastries. 

The lunch offering featured a chicken stew, rice, but also tiramisu and chocolate mousse for dessert. 

Not too bad at all, but also not spectacular. The chocolate mousse was a very nice touch.

Drinks

For drinks, there is a unstaffed bar. The Loft prides itself on limiting the use of bottles so as many drinks as possible come out of a tap. The lounge designers have made efforts to find partners and sponsors. Grohe provides the tap water tap. 

There is everything you expect: water, soft drinks, juices, coffee and tea, alcohol. 

Other features

There is a Neuhaus Corner and there is scoop ice. But chocolate wasn’t an option. 

Other, non-food facilities

There are lockers, there is a kids corner, there are showers, cubicles with beds, massage chairs and two toilet areas. ‘Regular’ toilets and Japanese toilets. 

Disappointments

Unfortunately there were some issues when we visited in August 2025: the fizzy drinks tap machine was out of order and there were no alternatives offered. That’s not okay. Perhaps some bottles or cans, just this one time? 

The (in)famous Japanese toilets didn’t work. By that I mean the bum-cleaning features didn’t work. We tried two toilets. Somehow we think that has been the case for some time. 

The ice cream counter didn’t offer chocolate. The Neuhaus Corner was unstaffed and closed. Come on, Brussels Airlines. If you pride yourself of offering belgitude, offer chocolate. 

Those are things that should be addressed. 

So?

Yes, we like The Loft. But no fizzy drinks, taking the Japan out of Japanese toilets and a lack of chocolate are sins. Especially the soft drinks thing.  

Remedying those issues would make The Loft better.