Restaurant Review: Al Nafoorah Al Qasr, Dubai

Dan and I really love, love, love Lebanese cuisine. We have been to some great Lebanese restaurants (including this incredible one in Amman, JordanFakhreldine), and we always try to eat at Lebanese restaurants when in the Middle East. We had one proper dinner evening in Dubai last year on our way to the Maldives. We made a dinner reservation at Al Nafoorah Al Qasr.

Dan at Al Nafoorah Al Qasr.

Al Nafoorah Al Qasr is located inside the Jumeirah Al Qasr, Madinat Jumeirah hotel – only about a 10 minute Uber drive from our hotel on the Palm Jumeirah. And like the Jumeriah Al Qasr, Al Nafoorah Al Qasr is a gorgeous restaurant. Having both indoor and outdoor seating, the interior of the restaurant is centered around an olive tree and is immaculately decorated. The outdoor seating is along a man-made waterway, complete with tourist sightseeing boats, with views of the Burj Al Arab. We sat outside and had a perfect table overlooking the Burj Al Arab, as seen above.

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Airport Lounge Review: Marhaba Lounge, Dubai International, Terminal 3, Concourse B

Dan and I spent a little over two hours in the Marhaba Lounge in Dubai International (DXB) Terminal 3, Concourse B in December 2024, after spending a week in the Maldives and a few days in Dubai. While we were sad to leave, the Marhaba Lounge provided a decent send off. We arrived in the Marharba Lounge before 6:00 AM (we had an 8:30 flight) and had a pleasant, albeit crowded, experience. We would certainly return.

Dubai.

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August 2024 Update – Airport Lounge Review: Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club, JFK Terminal 4

**AUGUST 2024 UPDATE**  I recently returned to the Chase Sapphire Lounge at JFK Terminal 4 on August 28, 2024, before an evening flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico. This post reviews my recent experience and updates my previous post from March 2024.

I arrived outside the Chase Sapphire Lounge around 5:00 PM on a Thursday in August (yes, just before Labor Day weekend). A small kiosk stood outside of the lounge entrance with an employee adding names to a waitlist. We waited behind two people. When it was our turn, the lounge employee asked for my Chase Sapphire card (not my Priority Pass – unclear if PP without Chase Sapphire was allowed) and took down my phone number, advising I would receive a text in about 40 minutes to enter the lounge with my guest. 55 minutes later, I received the text from Chase. Dan and I bypassed the waitlist line, which was even longer at this point (!), and checked into the lounge as normal.

The wait for the Chase lounge in August 2024… It was not pretty. The Centurion Lounge (next door) had no wait.

Totally different than my last experience, however, and which I totally appreciated, is that this time a staff member escorted Dan and me to available seats, and those were our seats for the duration of our visit. It honestly felt a bit like COVID times, ha. While this took away our ability to select an area in which to sit, it ensured that every guest had ample space and could actually enjoy the lounge without feeling totally crowded (a la the waitless Centurion lounge next door that I visited while waiting on Chase…). Food and drinks, again ordered via QR code on our phone, came out VERY quickly this visit, and all in it was a relaxing time (minus the wait). One other note for those waiting to access the lounge, Chase gave out complimentary soft serve ice cream to those waiting only (not once in the lounge), but didn’t tell anyone about this perk, LOL. I guest IYKYK. We will definitely ask for it next time – it looked good!

In any case, for those reading this for the first time, the Chase Sapphire Lounge in JFK’s Terminal 4 opened its doors in January 2024. We first visited in March 2024 en route to Nairobi Kenya for a safari! You can read the original post here. As I previously mentioned, the Chase lounge at JFK is very, very nice for a credit card lounge – tied with the Virgin Clubhouse for best lounge credit card access lounge in Terminal 4 IMO. Good food, fantastic drinks, and nice service. My only complaints are that its small (and I hear often has a wait to enter, as was the case on my recent visit in August 2024) and far from some of the “B” gates in Terminal 4.

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Airport Lounge Review: Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club, JFK Terminal 4

Read my updated August 2024 post here!

The Chase Sapphire Lounge in JFK’s Terminal 4 opened its doors in January 2024. I was very excited about this, as JFK Terminal 4 is a frequent terminal of ours, plus I had really been wanting to visit a Chase lounge! This timed up nicely with our recent flight from JFK to Nairobi, Kenya for a safari! In brief, the lounge was very, very nice. Tied with the American Express Centurion and Virgin Clubhouse for best lounge in Terminal 4. Good food, fantastic drinks, and nice service. My only complaints are that its small (and I hear often has a wait to enter) and far from many gates in Terminal 4.

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