Dan and I had a little over an hour to kill in the Mahé airport when flying back from the Seychelles to Abu Dhabi (and eventually to New York). The Salon Vallee De Mai Lounge in the Mahé airport offers complimentary entrance to Priority Pass members, so we went in for an adult beverage. This is my review of the Salon Vallee De Mai lounge (as of November 2022).
The Seychelles just before we left to fly home = (
THE SPACE
The Salon Vallee De Mai lounge is located on the second floor of the Mahé airport, up a short flight of stairs across from the Takamaka Rum bar. The entrance is quite pretty and keeps with the “tropical island” theme, which follows throughout the lounge. As you will read below, while some areas were lacking in the lounge, the decor was not one of them. From the ceiling to the tables and chairs, I was definitely getting “tropical vacay” vibes – too bad we were leaving! The check-in lady was lovely and answered all of our questions. Once inside, the lounge opens up into a large room scattered with tables and chairs spread throughout. The ones on the right side have great plane views!
Flying back from the Seychelles last November, Dan and I had an overnight layover in Abu Dhabi. Due to the flight times (arriving around 9:30 PM and leaving the next morning around 10:00 AM), we decided to stay in a hotel near the airport to get some sleep prior to our flight home. Turns out that the Abu Dhabi airport has its own hotel in Terminal 1, so we booked a room there for the night. This is my review of that room and hotel.
Back in the Seychelles. We were sad to leave!
LOCATION OF THE AIRPORT HOTEL
The Abu Dhabi Airport Hotel T1 International Departures hotel is located in Abu Dhabi Terminal 1. It’s easy to find and connected to the Al Dhabi Lounge. Terminal 1 is connected to Terminal 3 and travelers can walk between the two terminals without going through security – easy peasy. The walk takes about 10 minutes, maybe longer with mobility issues.
Dan waiting to get into the lounge next to the hotel. There was a line due to the crowds in Abu Dhabi this weekend.
I’ve visited the Prima Vista Lounge (formerly the “Passenger Lounge”) in Rome FCO’s Terminal 3 at least four times, and three times in the last nine months, but I’ve never written a review on it. So, here we are! In short, Prima Vista is a good lounge that has adapted well to Covid, but it’s FAAAAR from checkin. Don’t plan to spend too much time here for that reason alone (you’ll board by the time you arrive!). Entrance is free with Priority Pass, so there’s a plus!
Aeroporti di Roma! Always so exciting to land in Rome!
Dan and I flew through Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla airport this summer on our vacation to Montenegro. We connected in Belgrade after flying Air Serbia’s sole transatlantic flight from JFK, which is almost 10 hours long… Landing in the morning, we exhausted tired and ready for a rest and some food before flying the last 45 minutes to Tivat, Montenegro (50 minutes, also via Air Serbia).
Final destination: Perast, Montenegro.
Lucky for us, or so I thought, the Belgrade airport is home to a Priority Pass lounge, and not much else. After deplaning, we found the Business Club pretty easily; it was located quite close to where we entered the airport. Delirious, we did not do much looking around aside from locating the lounge.
Welcome to the Belgrade Business Club!
Checkin to the Business Club was quick and easy. We simply presented our boarding pass and Priority Pass card. A quick swipe and we were in!
Getting settled in the Business Club.
The Business Club is on the smaller side, and you can view the entire lounge at checkin. The lounge is separated into three main parts: a food service area, an eating and business area, and a lounging area. The most comfortable of these 3 areas is what I dub the lounging area. This area is slightly removed from the food and is filled with couch-like chairs and sofas. There are numerous coffee/end tables in this area, too, and it makes for a comfortable place to relax before your flight. There are TVs scattered throughout this area playing CNN. This area was pretty crowded when we landed on Saturday morning, so we set up shop in the business/food area (yes, odd pairing).
The kitchen/business area.
Crowded lounge area.
The business portion of the business/food area is comprised of several kitchen-style tables that are perfect for eating and drinking, they also make a good desk for getting some work done (there’s the combo!). Just behind these tables is a row of computers that can apparently be used for working. However, I didn’t see anyone using the computers when we visited.
Computers for use.
Next to the business area is the food, which I found to be lacking. We visited the Business Club twice during breakfast hours, which once spilled into lunch. At breakfast, the food options are slim, with a cold buffet and a few slices of cold cuts and cheese playing the starring role. There were also some pre-packaged tuna sandwiches in one of the fridges and some odd salad fixings. Hard pass.
Serbian meats.
Salad?
The aforementioned tuna sandwiches.
When lunch rolled around, the lounge staff, who were very nice, set out soup, pasta, and rice. Nothing looked too appetizing or tasty, so I skipped it all around. I believe Dan tried some of the pasta. He didn’t get sick, so that’s a win.
Lunch food.
The drink set-up was only slightly better, although since it was so early, I didn’t properly explore all the options. There was a decent espresso machine, as well as soft drinks and plenty of bottled flat and sparking water. There was also this really popular Serbian energy drink called Guarana. Dan tried one and seemed to like it. It was all the rage in Belgrade!
Non-alcoholic beverages.
More non-alcoholic beverages.
Guarana Serbian energy drink.
In terms of alcohol, I was excited to try the wine after noticing a sweet set-up in walking in. To my disappointment, this was simply a set-up and there were only single bottles of wine in the mini-fridges, as well as a few types of beer, including Leffe (not bad!). There was, however, a decent display of rakijaa, but it was all warm…. I would note that people were still drinking it, and I probably could have found some ice.
Rakijaa spread.
The faux wine spread.
Well-known Serbian wine from Aleksic – we visited this winery later in the trip!
Beer and water.
In addition to the above, the lounge has a small bookshelf with reading materials and basic clean WCs and the staff was pleasant and constantly replaced the limited food options. In a small, not-great airport, the Business Lounge was a welcome distraction and an easy place to waste a few hours. I probably would not pay to enter, unless I planned to drink a lot of warm rakija!
Reading materials.
STEAL OUR LOUNGE
Business Club Nikola Tesla Belgrade Airport: Between Gates A4 & A5. Open 5h30 – 13h. Complimentary access to Priority Pass members.
When passing through London Heathrow after an overnight flight from JFK, we spent a few hours in the SkyTeam Lounge in Terminal 4 before our connecting flight to Malta via Air Malta. We had a number of options through Priority Pass in selecting our London lounge, including a couple in Terminal 3 (where we landed), and multiple options in Terminal 4 (from where our Malta flight departed) – a branch of the Art & Lounge, a Plaza Premium Lounge, and the SkyTeam Lounge. We opted for the SkyTeam Lounge in Terminal 4 based on other online reviews, and we were not disappointed. The SkyTeam Lounge was a GREAT Priority Pass lounge! Side note – Heathrow is almost always a mess, so I always recommend lounging in your departure terminal rather than the arrival terminal and, more importantly, leaving LOTS of time between connections, especially coming from the US and then connecting elsewhere in Europe.
New Zealand Cider and views at the SkyTeam Lounge!
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