What I Liked
- Large, bright space at Sala VIP Madrid
- Get access to Sala VIP Madrid with a Priority Pass
- Excellent runway views
- Large buffet with hot dishes
- Full bar
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The Sala VIP Madrid lounge is an impressive facility. It is a large lounge, at the top floor of Terminal 4S in Madrid.
The lounge has floor-to-ceiling windows, lots of natural light and great runway.
Best of all, you can get into this VIP lounge in Madrid Barajas with a Priority Pass Card.
I spent three hours at Sala VIP Madrid with my family. Our flight was delayed. So I'm glad we had access to this lounge.
Finding the Sala VIP Madrid lounge isn't exactly straightforward. From security in Terminal 4S it's a monorail ride, a stint at passport control and roughly 30 minutes of walking before you reach the doors. There's also a separate Sala VIP lounge back in the main Terminal 4 building, so make sure you're heading to the right one.
The buffet runs tapas-style, small plates rather than a sit-down spread. I stuck to the asparagus soup and some bread, nursing a dodgy stomach, while my wife got through three plates of Japanese rice crackers and a fair bit of the pasta. Vegetarians might find the choice a bit thin — worth knowing before you go in hungry.
Drinks came from the same corner of the buffet: coffee from a machine, a decent range of Horniman teas, and a full self-pour setup of wines, beers and spirits, mostly Spanish. My green tea, ordered on the pharmacist's orders instead of coffee, wasn't anything to write home about — but nobody goes to a lounge for the tea.
If lounge access like this is your thing too, it's worth a look at Priority Pass and the rest of my Recommended Resources page — there's an exclusive 30% off membership listed there, alongside the other travel deals I actually use.
If you're bookending your flight with a night in the city, I've also reviewed the Intercontinental Madrid, where the Club Lounge was a real highlight.
The Sala VIP Madrid lounge is located in Terminal 4S. 4S is the satellite building for Terminal 4. Once you pass through security, you need to take a monorail to the Satellite Terminal.
At the Satellite Terminal, you need to go through passport control. The Sala VIP Madrid lounge can be accessed before you enter the duty free.
The whole journey takes around 30 minutes.
There is another Sala VIP Madrid lounge in the main Terminal 4. However, if your flight departs from Terminal 4S, I suggest you head straight to Terminal 4S.
There isn't really a quicker way to do it — the monorail-and-passport-control routine is the only route into 4S, so I wouldn't cut it fine if you're on a tight connection.
Use an eSIM in Madrid
When I flew through Madrid, I didn't touch my normal SIM once — roaming charges are a mug's game. I used an eSIM instead and paid $2.90 for 3 days of data — 1GB, more than enough for maps and WhatsApp. The provider is rated 4.7? from over 17,000 reviews.
It's a no-brainer. Cheaper than roaming, and it works the second you land.
Hire a Car in Madrid
Hiring a car in Madrid is dead easy. Collect from Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport itself, or head into the city centre if you'd rather explore Madrid on foot first. Prices start from around $20 per day.
I use Local Rent to compare prices. They pull together local rental companies alongside the big international names, which usually beats booking direct.
Pros: total freedom to explore beyond Madrid at your own pace, and it's genuinely cheap for multi-day trips. Cons: city centre traffic and parking are a headache, so it's really only worth it if you're planning day trips out of town.
I got into the Sala VIP Madrid lounge at Terminal 4S with my Priority Pass card. I have a tie-up with Priority Pass, to get 30% off membership. Skip ahead if you've already read one of my Priority Pass write-ups.
The cheapest membership costs $69. Standard Plus will set you back $263. That covers 10 free lounge visits, Sala VIP Madrid included. So each visit is $26.30. For food, alcohol and your own space.
Lounge access like this pays for itself before you've even sat down. A coffee and a pastry at one of the cafés near the gate in Terminal 4S adds up fast, and that's before you've thought about a proper meal or a drink to start the holiday.
Priority Pass isn't perfect. Lounges get busy, and they might turn you away if it's full. I could have paid $7 to pre-book a timeslot to guarantee entry.
There are six Priority Pass lounges at Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport: Aerotel Madrid and Plaza Mayor in Terminal 4, Cibeles in Terminal 1 and Puerta de Alcala in Terminal 2. There's also Puerta Del Sol in Terminal 3, and the Neptuno Lounge in the Terminal 4 Satellite building alongside Sala VIP Madrid.
Wandering Madrid's old town costs nothing at all. Start in the Plaza Mayor, the grand arcaded square that's been the heart of the city for centuries, then just get lost in the tangle of streets around it. You'll stumble across tapas bars, hidden churches and street performers without spending a euro. It's the easiest way to get a feel for the city before you commit to anything paid.
Guided Tour of the Royal Palace of Madrid with Ticket
Book your ticket here from $35. Rated 4.67* from 58 reviews. A guide walks you through the Royal Palace itself, so you skip the guesswork of wandering round on your own and actually understand what you're looking at.
Madrid Highlights Bike Tour
You can book here from $33. Rated 4.87* from 1,883 reviews. Three hours on two wheels covering far more ground than you'd manage on foot — a good option if you're short on time between flights.
Madrid Tapas & Taverns Small Group Food & History Tour
Buy tickets here from $83. Rated 4.94* from 3,339 reviews. It's the priciest of the three, but you're getting food and history in one go with a small group, which is exactly the kind of thing that's worth paying up for.
This VIP lounge at Barajas T4 is big. It spans one edge of the top floor of Terminal 4S. The lounge has the following facilities:
The seating was mostly low grey lounge seats with a European plug socket. There were red chairs near the entrance and some restaurant style tables and chairs.
The Sala VIP Madrid decoration was modern. More functional than luxury. However, everything was in good condition.
One of the best features of this VIP lounge at Barajas T4 was the runway. It was a beautiful sunny day in Madrid, and we had great views of the apron.
The Sala VIP Madrid lounge was bathed in natural light.
There was a large area devoted to the buffet. All food and drinks were served from the same area.
Given 4S is Iberia's own turf, if you're heading onto one of their flights from here, my Iberia Business Class review is worth a read before you board.
There was a self serve buffet counter near the entrance of the Sala VIP Madrid lounge. Food was offered in tapas-style small plates. The following was offered:
There was a decent selection of hot dishes. I had the asparagus soup and some bread. I was recovering from a stomach bug, and couldn't take down anything more.
The soup was pretty good. It was creamy and fresh.
My wife munched through three plates of Japanese rice crackers. She also had some of the pasta.
There was a drinks station in the main buffet of the Sala VIP Madrid lounge. They served coffee from a machine. There was also a selection of teas from a brand called Horniman.
I had a green tea. The pharmacist told me to avoid milk, black tea and coffee. The green tea wasn't the best.
There was a full complement of self-pour alcohol. They had a selection of wines, beers and spirits. The wine looked to be local. As you would expect!
Sala VIP Madrid won me over, but not without a few honest asterisks. The lounge itself is genuinely impressive — floor-to-ceiling windows, a beautiful sunny day over the apron, and enough space and natural light that it never felt cramped, even with the buffet crowd. Add in the fact that a Priority Pass gets you through the door, and it's an easy way to turn a delayed flight into three hours well spent, which is exactly what happened to us.
Where it stumbles is in the finer details. The decoration is more functional than luxurious, the vegetarian options at the buffet were thin on the ground, and my green tea was nothing to write home about. And getting there is its own small ordeal. The monorail, passport control and roughly 30 minutes of walking mean this isn't a lounge you casually pop into with 10 minutes to spare.
So who's it for? Anyone with a Priority Pass and a bit of time before a Terminal 4S departure, happy to trade polish for space, light and a proper runway view. Anyone in a rush, or after a five-star dining spread, should adjust their expectations to match. For what it is, I'd go back.