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I had just flown from Bahrain to Abu Dhabi, where I had a 14-hour stopover to review the Etihad Airways business class lounge. I not only took my time to take the pictures but also had to wait for the lounge to empty out of people, as rush hour in the Middle East is between 11pm and 3am. After that, once the lounge was nice and quiet, I went to work to get the pictures I wanted without any interruptions and succeeded; well, for the most part, I think.
This review would be slightly different as there are many pictures to look at. I will first tell you what I think of this lounge and why I think a 3-star rating is fair, as opposed to the Pearl Lounge in Bahrain, which I rated 5 stars.
The Etihad lounge spans three floors, but rather than being big and wide like you expect a lounge to be, it is narrow and long now because it spans three floors. You can sometimes get confused as to where to find things in the lounge. To top it off, the relaxation room on level 5 can only be accessed if you go up to level 6, walk across the entire lounge, and then come back down to level 5.
I couldn’t help but think how many times an hour the people working there get asked where this is and where that is. I just think it’s pretty awful. And let’s not forget the fact that I love flying Etihad Airways; they are one of my favourite airlines.
Let’s jump right into the good stuff.
In This Post
Location:
The entrance to the Etihad Airways business class lounge can be found at gate 27.
Entrance:
Coming into the lounge, you’ll be greeted with these massive escalators to your right and the lifts to your left; there is a separate entrance for the first-class lounge.
Seating area:
The lounge’s seating area is huge, with many different options to choose from, from the hustle and bustle of the main dining areas to the quieter corners to the coffee stations, each with its own personality.
Food & drinks:
The choice of food and drinks is impressive and never lacking. This is the beauty of the Middle East; they know how to feed people. There’s also a huge bar in the middle of the lounge with plenty of alcohol.
Relaxation area:
The relaxation area is on level 5, and as I’ve mentioned above, you’ll have to go up to level 6, walk across all the way to the first-class entrance, then take the escalators down to level 5 and walk straight until you’ll find it on your right-hand side.
The rooms are semi-private and feature 12 beds, 6 on the right side of the concierge and 6 on the left. There are stars on the roof and a couch/bed. You get 4 hours of sleep until they wake you up; the best way to guarantee yourself a spot is to sit and wait outside the relaxation room area.
Showers:
Smoking room:
Conclusion:
For a business class lounge with a lot of traffic like this one, there are many different areas to please different kinds of people. Still, I liked the old lounge a lot more than this one. However, having said that, I still say that if you were to compare this lounge to any UK lounge, I would no doubt choose this one over that.
