The much-delayed Terminal A at Abu Dhabi International Airport, now renamed Zayed International Airport, opened to much fanfare. The old Terminals 1 and 3 were crowded, with the new terminal much needed for the growing number of flights – less so from Etihad but low-cost carriers including Air Arabia and Wizz Air. Clearly, lounge space would be needed at the new terminal.
Two key lounge groups are currently in operation:
- Pearl Lounge – the airport-operated space used by Priority Pass, Dragon Pass, and non-Etihad airlines including British Airways.
- Etihad Airways lounges – split between the Business and First spaces. A review for this new lounge will come soon.
The airport supposedly operates a Diamond Lounge, which is listed on their website, yet I cannot find any information nor images online.
I accessed the Pearl Lounge on four occasions during connecting Etihad Airways flights across different operating hours – three times during peak/late evening, and once during quieter daytime hours. This gives a well-rounded view of the experience and on all occasions, I entered using a Priority Pass. My understanding is that there is a dedicated area for Business and First passengers, including those flying on British Airways.
In this post:
Confusing directions, crowded spaces
Navigating around the terminal is a bit of a maze. All shops have been crammed into the central atrium of the airport with confusing signage making it difficult to get around. In peak hours, this also results in the large terminal becoming extremely crowded in this space.
This carries over to the entrance of Pearl Lounge at Abu Dhabi where long queues form for passengers to enter. The lounge does make an effort to distinguish between premium passengers and those entering with a lounge scheme (which makes up a large chunk of people).
Due to the entrance overcrowding on one visit, combined with an inbound delay, I didn’t bother entering the lounge. On other visits, the longest I waited was about ten minutes.
Low ceilings, rambling corridors
The Pearl Lounge is split into key zones – interior and ‘terrace’. Starting with the inside area you immediately realise how low the ceilings are here despite the lounge being quite large. Most people tend to congregate around the buffet close to the entrance, resulting in the place feeling hectic as people return for food. Speaking of which, I thought it was some of the better Priority Pass lounge food I’ve had. With a heavy South Asian influence, most of the items stayed warm well without drying out or losing flavour.
Heading further into the lounge you’ll come across some areas which feel closer to corridors with seating placed erratically. Towards the rear of the lounge, there are some meeting rooms, which I did not picture nor did I enquire about.
While somewhat hidden, but just a few steps around a corner from the buffet, there is a bar area. The discrete location is likely to ensure some travellers from this majority-Muslim country are not offended by the presence of alcohol.
I didn’t opt for alcohol on any of my visits but did try their coffee. There are several self-serve machines dotted through the lounge, but it is almost always better to get a member of staff to make it. It was a decent coffee to get ready for my lengthy flights.
Outdoor space? Not quite
Behind emergency exit-esque doors, which I wasn’t entirely clear I could use, is the terrace space which most reminds me of the Turkish Airlines lounges in Istanbul. This area is open to the rest of the terminal, so don’t come to this area if you want a sound proofed environment.
What it lacks in soundproofing, it more than makes up for in natural light – so much you might even need a pair of sunglasses, contrasting with the dimly lit interior. You can also grab a drink and sweet foods, like cakes, making it a pleasant place to sit. That’s if you can find a seat in between people laying out and sleeping.
The only odd ‘feature’ here is the bank of departure boards, while the quantity is great – they are all crowded into one area. They would’ve been far better off having one set elsewhere on the terrace.
Dreadful showers
You must go up to a member of staff in the vicinity of the toilets to register for a shower, where you are quoted a lengthy time before being handed a buzzer. In most cases, waiting times for showers were not longer than half an hour even at peak times – just register early is my best advice.
I’ll always appreciate having a shower on a connecting flight, but these were pretty dreadful. Water temperatures were on the cooler side, which isn’t too much of a problem in this climate, but the pressure was a dribble – making the shower a pain to use. Fixtures were a little wobbly in places and water drained at a snail’s pace. These were issues I encountered on all my visits, which isn’t great considering my first time here took place just weeks after opening.
Concluding thoughts
This is a ‘just fine’ lounge – possibly good on a Priority Pass scale. Overall, it is a big improvement on the previous super-crowded lounge at the old terminal. Showers need an improvement, quickly. Meanwhile, the whole low ceiling vibe makes me think this was originally an office space that was converted to a lounge at relative last minute – rather than a dedicated lounge build.
If you’re heading through Abu Dhabi’s airport with a Priority Pass, pop in – but I wouldn’t arrive early for it, and neither would I say you’re missing out on much. I’ll cover Etihad Airways’ lounge in another review soon, as well as a few Etihad flights and the whole connecting experience.
Let us know what you thought in the comments? Likewise, if you’ve visited the supposed Business Class section, I’d love to hear if that was any better.
6 comments
Wow! Mediocrity personified! Not one for me. I’m fortunate. My best lounges, probably Qantas LAX & JAL NRT . No Priority card , just First & Emerald. All visits , textbook! Very few PAX . Perfect food , beverage & showers .
I was there just yesterday with my family, travelling in BA business so we went in the big open lounge.
It was fine as an open air lounge, but the choice of food was minimal and disappointing. They have an a la carte menu, but the choice on there was not at all to our liking, so much so that we all went in to the other lounge to see if they had anything better but they didn’t.
Our flight was 10.25 so maybe not the busiest time of day. We did not have to wait in any queue and straight in. There were hardly any seats taken either so we could choose exactly where to sit and within a minute a nice lady came over to serve us.
Wi-Fi was fast and coffee came quickly.
Other than that, it is what it is and a peaceful place to relax before your flight. We have been to many that are not nearly as nice but being brand new, Abu Dhabi and a Business/First lounge, we did expect a better choice of food.
Another quirk of the lounge is that the staff are instructed not to let you in if you have only a ‘standby’ boarding pass for your next flight. At peak times you can get round this by simply by-passing the queues behind them and entering the lounge anyway – the staff will be too busy to notice. Callum sums up the whole exoerience well – underwhelming.
I’m genuinely surprised at the undertones of a negative experience. I was in the Pearl lounge a couple of time this month, albeit on the business class side, and I had great experiences. You have to walk past the bar to get to most of the spaces (no attempt to hide the alcohol) but the table service was brilliant with a steady flow of G&T’s.
The cooked food offerings were the best option (the Tagliatelle & Basil Pesto with Parmesan Cheese edged past the Chicken Biriyani for me) although the buffet options were still more comprehensive than most BA lounges these days.
I tried to look into the other part of the lounge to see the difference. There looked to be a larger selection of buffet food in the priority pass area – I’m assuming they don’t cook meals to order in there.
We had the same chaotic entry experience but a lot of that was due to people trying to get into the business class area with their priority passes. Once they identified us as business class, they quickly rushed us through away from the crowd.
The toilets are shared between the two lounges so the shower experience would be the same.
My biggest gripe was the lack of power points to charge devices. They’re mostly on the seats around the outside of the lounge, but still lacking and scattered about.
For me, I’d have no reservations in returning and spending a few hours in there relaxing before a flight!
Everything Callum says is spot on, but I have 2 things to add. I travelled through AUH in May in BA First Class.
The “First Class” section of the lounge is a very small and overcrowded room, nothing comfortable about it at all. And there is no bar or full buffet in there, just a small stand of starters and a refrigerator of soft drinks. Needless to say, I got out of the “First Class” area and went out onto the terrace.
The terrace is much nicer but when I went to the bar and asked for a glass of champagne, I was told that this would be “chargeable”. It didn’t matter that I was on a First Class ticket. And the supervisor was very nasty in explaining that I am not entitled to special privileges.
So I would describe this lounge as a cheap welfare dump and will probably not bother going back if I ever need to depart from AUH. It’s too bad that BA and others can’t enter into an agreement with Etihad to let their passengers use that lounge.
I agree that it might be difficult to locate the Pearl Lounge but I do find the overall departure, arrival and transit experiences at AUH very straightforward, and great for getting a few steps in too! My top tip for those without lounge access – or even those looking for a bit of a scene change – would be to move away from the central mall area and wait for their flight on one of the gate piers, where there are some really comfortable seats with tarmac views, and cafes for a coffee, soft drinks and snacks.
The Pearl lounge is as you described. On one of my visits there I was escorted to the ‘exclusive’ business & first lounge which, in reality, was just one of the meeting rooms with some seating, a drinks cabinet and a small but tasty buffet. A la carte dishes were also on offer and the staff in there were very attentive. I had the lounge to myself but I imagine it would feel busy, even with around 10 people in it. (I’ve not been through AUH since BA started flying there again, so will be interested to see what they’ve done to cope with their First & Club passengers)
Looking forward to seeing your review of the new Etihad lounge as I’ve not been there yet.
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