- Joined
- Jan 29, 2012
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I had three visits to AUH recently as part of a BA status run. Once to the old Al Dhabi lounge in Terminal 1 and two to the Pearl lounge in the new Terminal A.
Access is via CoS with participating airlines, as well as Amex and PP. Visits are limited to 3 hours, so for me to stay longer I added my PP to my UL J BP access to give six hours.
The lounge is a lot bigger than the old Terminal 1 lounge, with a three bars and two food areas. It went from barely a soul mid-afternoon, to pretty full by mid-evening. There is an 'outside' terrace area with a bar that is above the security area/concourse. It is very open with plenty of seating areas.
There is a corridor that leads from the main food/beverage that is very nondescript. It actually leads to the second F&B area with more tables. This area remained relatively quiet throughout my visit, so few venture into it. I was shown it as I was given a tour by the manager on my first visit.
Past this area there are a couple of meeting rooms and a couple of quiet rooms. These rooms are quite big and a good escape if the dining areas get too busy.
The toilets and showers are spacious, but they are only located near the entrance. So if you are in the quiet room at the back, it is quite a trek. When I was there signage was still coming, so there was someone at the entrance telling pax which were the ladies and gents loos. This could have been solved with a couple of drawings on pieces of paper and some sticky tape.
Now to the down side.
There are very, very few power points in the lounge. So much so it is a challenge to find a free one. The only exception is the quiet room which had them in the arms of most of the chairs. The power points are the square three pin types used in UAE/UL/HK etc. So no international sockets. And none of them have USB outlets. For those who have visited the old Al Dhabi lounge will recall that just about every seat had a power point.
I discussed this with another senior staff member who was preparing for the official opening (Tue 21 Nov). She told me that their list of requirements was shrunk by AUH management from 'this' (think arms outstretched) to 'this' (think thumb and forefinger extended). She also told me that the above management would not allow anything but the local power points in the airport. The seats in the main part of the terminal have more power points and USB sockets so go figure.
Considering how reliant we are on our various devices this seriously devalues the lounge.
Score: 3 1/2
out of 5.
Access is via CoS with participating airlines, as well as Amex and PP. Visits are limited to 3 hours, so for me to stay longer I added my PP to my UL J BP access to give six hours.
The lounge is a lot bigger than the old Terminal 1 lounge, with a three bars and two food areas. It went from barely a soul mid-afternoon, to pretty full by mid-evening. There is an 'outside' terrace area with a bar that is above the security area/concourse. It is very open with plenty of seating areas.
There is a corridor that leads from the main food/beverage that is very nondescript. It actually leads to the second F&B area with more tables. This area remained relatively quiet throughout my visit, so few venture into it. I was shown it as I was given a tour by the manager on my first visit.
Past this area there are a couple of meeting rooms and a couple of quiet rooms. These rooms are quite big and a good escape if the dining areas get too busy.
The toilets and showers are spacious, but they are only located near the entrance. So if you are in the quiet room at the back, it is quite a trek. When I was there signage was still coming, so there was someone at the entrance telling pax which were the ladies and gents loos. This could have been solved with a couple of drawings on pieces of paper and some sticky tape.
Now to the down side.
There are very, very few power points in the lounge. So much so it is a challenge to find a free one. The only exception is the quiet room which had them in the arms of most of the chairs. The power points are the square three pin types used in UAE/UL/HK etc. So no international sockets. And none of them have USB outlets. For those who have visited the old Al Dhabi lounge will recall that just about every seat had a power point.
I discussed this with another senior staff member who was preparing for the official opening (Tue 21 Nov). She told me that their list of requirements was shrunk by AUH management from 'this' (think arms outstretched) to 'this' (think thumb and forefinger extended). She also told me that the above management would not allow anything but the local power points in the airport. The seats in the main part of the terminal have more power points and USB sockets so go figure.
Considering how reliant we are on our various devices this seriously devalues the lounge.
Score: 3 1/2
out of 5.
